Qualitative Research is used to explore, describe or understand certain phenomena. It is loosely structured and open to interpretations.

For example, to understand what a low-cost car

means to an Indian consumer, this kind of

investigation would be required.

Quantitative Research
Predicts the occurrence of a certain phenomena. It is formatted and structured and usually conclusive.
When the data to be studied needs to be quantified and subjected to a suitable analysis in order to generalize the findings to the population at large or to be able to quantify and explain and predict the occurrence of a certain phenomena. For example, to measure the purchase intentions for Nano as a function of the demographic variables of income, family size and distanced travelled, one would need to use quantitative methods.

Classification of qualitative methods

Qualitative Research Procedures

Direct (Non disguised)

Indirect (Disguised)

Observation

Focus Groups

Depth Interviews

Content Analysis

Projective Techniques

Sociometry

New

Association Techniques

Completion Techniques

Construction Techniques

Expressive Techniques

Choice / Ordering

Methods of Qualitative Research

Observation Method: Observation is a technique where the consumers behavior
is recorded, usually without his knowledge. For example, a video camera in a retail store can be used to record a customers behavior while buying the products. Asking for a particular brand, looking for specific colors, fabric or prices are recorded in the camera.

Also, camera records facial reactions or eagerness or lack of interest when a piece is displayed to the customer. Viewed later, this video tape can be interpreted for the purchase factors, purchase behavior, brand preference, price, color preference etc.

The obvious advantage of this technique is that it is actual consumer behavior that gets recorded rather than their statements of purchase intention.

Content Analysis This technique involves studying a previously recorded or reported communication and objectively breaking it up into more manageable units that are related to the topic under study.

It is peculiar in its nature that it is classified as a primary data

collection technique and yet makes use of previously produced or secondary data. However, since the analysis is original, first hand and problem specific, it is categorized under primary methods.

Some researchers classify it under observation method.The only difference being that one analyses communication that is ex-post facto rather than live.

One can content-analyse letters, diaries, minutes of meetings, articles, audio and video recordings etc.

The method is structured and systematic and thus of

considerable credibility.

Focus Group Method A highly versatile and dynamic method of collecting information from a representative group of respondents. The process generally involves a moderator who maneuvers

the discussion on the topic under study.

There are a group of carefully selected respondents who are specifically invited and gathered at a neutral setting. The moderator initiates the discussion and then the group carries it forward by holding a focused and an interactive discussion.

Key elements of a focus group Size: size of the group should not be too large or too small. Ideal recommended size is 8 to 12 members.

Nature: from a similar background

Acquaintance: It has been found that knowing each other in

a group discussion is disruptive and hampers the free flow

of the discussion and it is believed that people reveal their

perspectives more freely amongst strangers rather than friends.

Setting: as far as possible, the external factors which might affect the nature of the discussion are to be minimized. Thus the space or setting should be as neutral, informal and comfortable as possible. Time period: the conduction of the discussion should be held in a single setting unless there is a before and after design which requires group perceptions. The ideal duration of conduction should not exceed one and a half hour. The recording: there should be video-recording so that it can be replayed for analysis and interpretation.

The Moderator: is the key conductor of the whole session, the nature, content and validity of the data collected are dependent to a large extent on the skills of the performance. The moderator tries to maximize the group performance.

Moderating skills for the moderator: Ability to listen attentively and have a positive behavior that encourages others to discuss. At the same time, he/she must be detached and give no indication about his personal opinion in order to skew the discussion.
He/she needs to make others feel comfortable, thus the language used should be in the subjects area with no use of technical words at all. He/she needs to be flexible in approach so that the discussion flows naturally rather than becoming compartmentalized into a question answer session. At the same time, he/she also needs to act as translator in case some ones point is not understood or interpreted correctly.

Personal Interview Method Personal interview is a one-to-one interaction between the investigator/interviewer and the interviewee. The purpose of the dialogue is research specific and ranges

from completely unstructured to highly structured

Typical Usage: Problem definition Exploratory research Primary data collection

Projective techniques the basic assumption is the idea of projecting oneself or ones feelings on to ambiguous objects.

Instead of asking direct questions, these methods involve indirect questioning and focuses on relatively ambiguous stimuli.
The purpose of the research is to present a situation to the respondents to project their underlying needs, emotions, beliefs and attitudes onto this. The ambiguity of the situation is non-threatening and thus the person has no hesitation in revealing his true inner motivations and emotions.

Qualitative vs quantitative methods

Research stage Qualitative Quantitative Study objective Exploratory, investigative Definite, conclusive and predictive Structured, controlled conditions Large/representative samples

Research design

Loosely structured

Sampling plan

Small samples

Type of approach

Loosely structured

Formatted & structured

Data analysis

Textual and non-statistical

Statistically tested and authenticated Conclusive and action oriented

Study deliverables

Explanatory and supportive

Projective techniques the basic assumption is the idea of projecting oneself or ones feelings on to ambiguous objects. Instead of asking direct questions, these methods involve indirect questioning and focuses on relatively ambiguous stimuli.

The purpose of the research is to present a situation to the respondents to project their underlying needs, emotions, beliefs and attitudes onto this. The ambiguity of the situation is non-threatening and thus the person has no hesitation in revealing his true inner motivations and emotions.

Association techniques
It involves presenting a stimulus to the respondent

and the respondent needs to respond with the first

thing that comes to his/her mind. The method is essentially borrowed from clinical

psychology, the most well known being the

Rorschach Inkblot test.

Completion techniques It involves presenting an incomplete object to the respondent, which can be completed by the respondent in any way. Old age is Working at IBM is ... McDonald is.. Another extension of the technique is story completion. Here, the

individual is given an incomplete story or idea. One provides a

background for a possible topic. However, the possible end is left openended. The subject is supposed to complete the story and provide a conclusion. The theoretical assumption is that the completion of the story/sentence reflects the underlying attitude and personality traits of the person.

Construction techniques
It might appear similar to completion technique,

however here, the focus is on the completed object,

which could be a story, a picture, a dialogue or a

description.

Choice or ordering techniques It involves presenting the respondents with an assortment of stimuli in the form of pictures or statements related to the study topic. The subject is supposed to sort them into categories based on the study instructions given.

Expressive techniques Here, the expressions used in attempting the exercise are

significant. The subject needs to express not his/her own feelings and
opinions but those of the protagonist (s) in a given verbal or visual situation. The presumption is that people are uncomfortable giving personal opinion on a sensitive issue but do not mind or are less inhibitive when it is in the third person.

Sociometric analysis This technique has the group rather than individual as its unit of analysis. It involves measuring the choice, communication and interpersonal relations of people in different groups. The computations made on the basis of these choices indicate the social attraction and avoidance in a group.

Sociometric Matrix The matrix in this case is nxn matrix, where n is the number of people in the group. The choice matrix is based upon the answer given by the subjects to the sociometric question. Example: to a five member group, we ask a sociometric question from the group indicate two people would you like to take in your project team. A selection is marked as one otherwise the person gets a score of 0.

Sociometric matrix(team choices)

Nimit Nimit 0 Shanti 1 Pooja 1 Ravdeep 0 Asmit 0 Rini 0 2

Shanti 1 0 1 1 1 1 5

Pooja 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

Ravdeep 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Asmit 0 1 0 1 0 1 2

Rini 0 0 0 0 1 0 1

The summation at the bottom indicates the number of times the person was chosen by his/her friends/colleagues. The choices are to be read row-wise, for example, Nimit

chooses Shanti and Pooja, while Shanti chooses Nimit and

Asmit.

The formula for measuring the popularity or choice status of a person

= the choice status of person j

=the sum of choices in column j

n= number of people in the group who were asked the sociometric question.

The person could be permitted to choose as many as he/she wants from the group for the task.

In case of unlimited choice The formula for measuring the Group cohesiveness

=Group cohesiveness

=sum of mutual choices (or mutual pairs)

In case of limited choice

d= the number of choices each individual is permitted (in the study case only 2)

It can also be used effectively to measure the social

and organizational prejudices that people might have. In a community or social group one is able to

measure the star or potential leaders or opinion

leaders as they would have substantial influence in

impacting the attitude of the group towards a

product, brand or organizational change..