Research Methods
Primary Research
Secondary Research
• Carrying out your own reasearch means that you can address specific issues to your situation • This type of research is desinged to collect the exact information you need. • This can benefit you hugely. For example secondary research may not fit your needs, such as different age groupings. This problem would not occur with primary research since you control the research design • Not only does primary research enable you to focus on specific issues, it also enables you to have a higher level of control over the information that is collected. • In this way the marketer can decide on issues such as the size of a project, its location and the time frame to when the task needs to be completed. • Unlike secondary research where you may pay for information that is not needed, primary data collection is focused on the issues specific to you • This makes it more efficient • Information which has been collected by you using primary research is yours and is generally not shared with everyone else, this means it is kept hidden from competitors.
• It is easy to access. Most data is stored online and is convenient and is simple to find. • Low cost to aquire • Most people are often attracted to secondary dat because getting this information is much less expensive than conductng your own. • Secondary researtch is often used before larger scale primary research to help clarify what is to be learned. • Secondary data collection is often used to help set the stage for primary research. In the course of using this information you may find the exact information you were looking for. • This means it can eliminate the need to carry out any of your own primary research • The originators of secondary reasearch often provide details on how the information was collected. They may also include the difficulties they encountered. For example, the secondary research may be a report written by a large market research company, and some diffuculties may have been the number of people not willing to take part in the proceedures.
Disadvantages
Disadvantages
• It can be very expensive. There is a great deal of time effort and funds neede to carry out this reasearch • Collecting this reasearch is hugely time consuming and requires planning. • This means that the results take longer than it would to collect data from secondary research. • Some research can potencially offer information that could prove to be quite valuable , however can be outof reach due to the scale that it would need to be conducted. • You may not be able to access everyone you need in order to get your results.
• When conducting primary research most of the elements are controlled by you. However this is not the case when it comes to data collected by others • Some of the origins of the information may be questionable. So you would have to check the validilty of the information. • Secondary data is often not presented in a form that exactly meets your needs. For instance you may find a report on how different age groups feel about a certain product. Unfortunately, you may find that the way the research divides the age groups (e.g., under 13, 14-18, 19-25, etc.) does not match how you desingnate your age groups (e.g., under 16, 1721, 22-30, etc). • This may cause the information to loose its use. • Since the research may not be specific to your needs, an argument can be made that the research spending is inefficient. That means you may not recieve a satifactory of information for what is spent.
Advantages
Advantages
Quantative and Qualative Research Quantitative research is about asking people for their opinions in a structured way so that you can produce hard facts and statistics to guide you. To get reliable statistical results, it’s important to survey people in fairly large numbers and to make sure they are a representative sample of your target market.
Qualitative research is about finding out not just what people think but why they think it. It’s about getting people to talk about their opinions so you can understand their motivations and feelings.
Questionaires The advantages of questionnaires
• Practical • Large amounts of information can be collected from a large number of people in a short period of time and in a relatively cost effective way • Can be carried out by the researcher or by any number of people with limited affect to its validity and reliability • The results of the questionnaires can usually be quickly and easily quantified by either a researcher or through the use of a software package • Can be analysed more ‘scientifically’ and objectively than other forms of research • When data has been quantified, it can be used to compare and contrast other research and may be used to measure change • Positivists believe that quantitative data can be used to create new theories and / or test existing hypotheses • The disadvantages of questionnaires • Is argued to be inadequate to understand some forms of information - i.e. changes of emotions, behaviour, feelings etc. • Phenomenologists state that quantitative research is simply an artificial creation by the researcher, as it is asking only a limited amount of information without explanation • Lacks validity • There is no way to tell how truthful a respondent is being • There is no way of telling how much thought a respondent has put in • The respondent may be forgetful or not thinking within the full context of the situation • People may read differently into each question and therefore reply based on their own interpretation of the question - i.e. what is ‘good’ to someone may be ‘poor’ to someone else, therefore there is a level of subjectivity that is not acknowledged • There is a level of researcher imposition, meaning that when developing the questionnaire, the researcher is making their own decisions and assumptions as to what is and is not important...therefore they may be missing something that is of importance The disadvantages of questionnaires • Is argued to be inadequate to understand some forms of information - i.e. changes of emotions, behaviour, feelings etc. • Phenomenologists state that quantitative research is simply an artificial creation by the researcher, as it is asking only a limited amount of information without explanation • Lacks validity • There is no way to tell how truthful a respondent is being • There is no way of telling how much thought a respondent has put in • The respondent may be forgetful or not thinking within the full context of the situation • People may read differently into each question and therefore reply based on their own interpretation of the question - i.e. what is ‘good’ to someone may be ‘poor’ to someone else, therefore there is a level of subjectivity that is not acknowledged • There is a level of researcher imposition, meaning that when developing the questionnaire, the researcher is making their own decisions and assumptions as to what is and is not important...therefore they may be missing something that is of importance
Structured Interview Advantages • Standardised questions make the process efficient. All respondents answer the same questions so that answers can be easily compared and trends observed. • The structured interview can be easily repeated to check the reliability of the data. • The interview can expand his line of questioning. The respondent can give more detailed responses. • Structured interviews offer a richer, more comprehensive view of an issue. • The trained interviewer can rephrase questions or alter tone or manner to suit the interviewee. Disadvantages • The interviewee is limited as to what answers he can give. • The interview effect – the personality of the interviewer may influence what answers are given by the interviewee. This may make the results unreliable. • The interview effect – The interviewee may misrepresent the truth to make himself seem more socially acceptable. • The process is more complex, more time consuming and more expensive than a structured approach. You are also likely to target a smaller sample. • Unstructured interviews are difficult to repeat if you need to test the reliability of the data. • The interview effect and the interviewee effect may occur (see structured interviews). • The interviewer needs to be skilled at ‘opening up’ the conversation.
Semi Structured Interview “ Semi-structured interviews are conducted with a fairly open framework which allows focused, conversational, two-way communication. The interviewer follows a guideline but is able to follow topical trajectories in the conversation that may stray from the guide when it seems appropriate. Not all questions are designed and phrased ahead of time. The majority of the questions are created during the interview, allowing both the interviewer and the person being interviewed the flexibility to go into details when needed. Conducting a good semi-structured interview requires a thoughtful planning which includes: identifying respondents, deciding on the number of interviews and preparing the interviews. After having conducted the interview, a comprehensive analysis is needed.”
Unstructured Interview
Focus Group
Advantages
A marketing research technique for qualitative data that involves a small group of people (6-10) that share a common set characteristics and participate in a discussion of predetermined topics led by a moderator. There are opportunities to conduct focus groups with the use of focus group software.
• The interaction between the interviewee and the interviewer allows for more valid data. This is because the interviewer can ask follow up questions • Also the interaction allows the interviewer to develop a relationship with the interviewee which could mean they are more open and honest with their answers • Ambiguities in an answer can be probed to further understand the meaning of that answer • The interviewer can change the questions if, over the course of the study they think the hypothesis should change or they want to take the study in a new direction Disadvantages • With unstructured interviews you need a trained interviewer who can only interview one interviewee at a time, this means this method is time-consuming and costly • The interviewer won’t ask exactly the same question every time, so it could be said that this method is less reliable • The changing questions also mean it is difficult to replicate the study. • The data is qualitative which means it is hard to analyse and compare with other pieces of data
Observation
“Observation is a systematic data collection approach. Researchers use all of their senses to examine people in natural settings or naturally occurring situations. Observation of a field setting involves: prolonged engagement in a setting or social situation.”
Secondary Sources Secondary Source: A secondary source is a document that is written about the primary source. These are often documents that report, analyze, discuss, or interpret primary sources. Here are some examples I found online: If I perform a survey of Aims students and report the results in an essay, I am the primary source for this information. If someone else reads my essay and decides to use the same information I reported in his/her essay, this becomes a secondary source. If a scientist performs research and writes a report about the findings, this is the primary source for the information. If someone else evaluates the way the research was performed and/or the findings, this is a secondary source. I f I am writing a literature analysis paper, quoting the book or author I am analyzing is a primary source. Quoting or paraphrasing opinions about the book or its significance from literature professors and/or critics is a secondary source.