Market Research Process:What is Qualitative Research?
Search This Site Custom Search Qualitative research helps you answer the question 'why'; quantitative research design helps you answer the question 'how much or how many'. The question is which one to use for your research: which is better? The answer is that each has a specific purpose that is quite unique. The market research process is quite different (not better or worse, but different) for each of the qualitative and quantitative methodologies. However, each method does complement the other. All market research processes are formatted similarly:
What is Qualitative Research?It is about focusing on the 'what' and the 'why'; the issues, the problems, the questions. Qualitative research gathers both structured and unstructured information from focus groups, interviews, comment forms, notes, videos and more. It doesn't focus on statistics or numbers (that is what quantitative research does). For example, a qualitative survey might look at what causes buyers to choose one brand over another (price and quality being perceived to be equal). It can be a slow process to 'sift' through the data to find relevance to the subject being researched. Qualitative research gathers information on attitudes, values, behaviors, motivations, culture and lifestyle. When to Use Qualitative Research?Qualitative research is most appropriate to use when trying to study and understand attitudes, values, behaviors, feelings and perceptions. It is particularly strong at capturing customers' needs, language and messaging. Specifically, this research is successfully used in new product development, product line extensions and improvements, brand improvement, product positioning, product differentiation, marketing strategy development, buyer decision analysis, marketing promotion effectiveness, market segmentation, and measurement of perceptions and attitudes and more. Use qualitative research when you need to understand what is important (and why) to your customers. This research is most useful when you can speak to a large, and diverse, number of respondents – this will ensure that you receive a broader and deeper perspective on what matters to your customers (or other respondents). Look for response patterns and similarities; and strong responses (whether negative or positive). What is Quantitative Research Design?Quantitative research design should be used when it is necessary to measure, count, and verify statistical information. It is also useful in ranking or determining the importance of customer needs or satisfaction parameters. Quantitative research uses a scientific approach and mathematical modeling. The advantages of quantitative research are that it can be designed quickly, is accurate (and provides measures of error), can be conducted fairly quickly, and analyzed quickly as well. Whereas qualitative research can provide more depth, more data on perceptions and feelings, and behaviors than quantitative research, it takes longer to design, to conduct and to analyze. Ideally, the market research process will include both qualitative and quantitative research design. Qualitative and Quantitative ResearchQualitative research is often subjective and used best at the early stages of a project: for example, new product development, new product launch, change of services, etc. Whereas quantitative research is designed to be objective and used best at the later stages of a project: for example, confirmation that what customers said they wanted (in the qualitative survey) is what they actually are buying or doing. Make sure you clearly understand the differences between the two research methods and that you understand the advantages and the disadvantages of using them in your market research process. The decisions you make, and the actions you take, for your business need to be based on good research for your specific issue or challenge.
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