146 >part II The Design of Business Research

>Exhibit 7-1 Some Appropriate Uses for Qualitative Research

Decision Arena Questions to Be Answered

Job Analysis • Does the current assignment of tasks generate the most productivity?
• Does the advancement through different job levels incorporate the
necessary training to foster the strongest performance?

Advertising Concept • What images should we use to connect with our target customers’
Development motivations?

Productivity Enhancement • What actions could we take to boost worker productivity without gen-
erating worker discontent?

New Product Development • What would our current market think of a proposed product idea?
• We need new products, but what should they be to take advantage
of our existing customer-perceived strengths?
• Which products will create the greatest synergy with our existing
products in terms of ROI and distribution partner growth?

Benefits Management • Should our compensation plan be more flexible and customizable?
• How do employees perceive wellness-prevention programs as com-
pared to corrective health programs in terms of value?

Retail Design • How do consumers prefer to shop in our store? Do they shop with a
defined purpose, or are they affected by other motives?

Process Understanding • What steps are involved in cleaning a wood floor? How is our product
perceived or involved in this process?

Market Segmentation • Why does one demographic or lifestyle group use our product more
than another?
• Who are our customers and how do they use our product to support
their lifestyle?
• What is the influence of culture on product choice?

Union Representation • How do various departments perceive the current effort to unionize
our plant? Where and what are the elements of discontent?

Sales Analysis • Why have once-loyal customers stopped buying our service?

The Distinction
To understand the distinctions between qualitative and quantitative methodologies, let’s define the
latter. Quantitative research attempts precise measurement of something. In business research,
quantitative methodologies usually measure consumer behavior, knowledge, opinions, or attitudes.
Such methodologies answer questions related to how much, how often, how many, when, and who.
Although the survey is not the only methodology of the quantitative researcher, it is considered a
dominant one.
The purpose of qualitative research is based on “researcher immersion in the phenomenon to be
studied, gathering data which provide a detailed description of events, situations and interaction be-
tween people and things, [thus] providing depth and detail.”6 Quantitative research is often used for
theory testing (Will a $1-off instant coupon or a $1.50 mail-in rebate generate more sales for Kellogg’s
Special K?), requiring that the researcher maintain a distance from the research to avoid biasing the
results. Qualitative research—sometimes labeled interpretive research because it seeks to develop
understanding through detailed description—often builds theory but rarely tests it.
Besides the purpose of the research, this process sets up several key distinctions between qualita-
tive and quantitative research, elaborated in Exhibit 7-2, including level of researcher involvement;

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 >chapter 7 Qualitative Research 147

>Exhibit 7-2 Qualitative versus Quantitative Research

Qualitative Quantitative

Focus of Research • Understand and interpret • Describe, explain, and predict

Researcher Involvement • High—researcher is participant or catalyst • Limited; controlled to prevent bias

Research Purpose • In-depth understanding; theory building • Describe or predict; build and test theory

Sample Design • Nonprobability; purposive • Probability

Sample Size • Small • Large

Research Design • May evolve or adjust during the course of the • Determined before commencing the project
project
• Uses single method or mixed methods
• Often uses multiple methods simultaneously or
• Consistency is critical
sequentially
• Involves either a cross-sectional or a longitudinal
• Consistency is not expected
approach
• Involves longitudinal approach

Participant Preparation • Pretasking is common • No preparation desired to avoid biasing the

participant

Data Type and • Verbal or pictorial descriptions • Verbal descriptions

Preparation
• Reduced to verbal codes (sometimes with com- • Reduced to numerical codes for computerized
puter assistance) analysis

Data Analysis • Human analysis following computer or human • Computerized analysis—statistical and mathemat-
coding; primarily nonquantitative ical methods dominate
• Forces researcher to see the contextual • Analysis may be ongoing during the project
framework of the phenomenon being
• Maintains clear distinction between facts and
measured—distinction between facts and
judgments
judgments less clear
• Always ongoing during the project

Insights and Meaning • Deeper level of understanding is the norm; de- • Limited by the opportunity to probe respondents
termined by type and quantity of free-response and the quality of the original data collection
questions instrument
• Researcher participation in data collection allows • Insights follow data collection and data entry, with
insights to form and be tested during the process limited ability to reinterview participants

Research Sponsor • May participate by observing research in real • Rarely has either direct or indirect contact with
Involvement time or via taped interviews participant

Feedback Turnaround • Smaller sample sizes make data collection faster • Larger sample sizes lengthen data collection;
for shorter possible turnaround Internet methodologies are shortening turnaround
but inappropriate for many studies
• Insights are developed as the research
progresses, shortening data analysis • Insight development follows data collection and
entry, lengthening research process; interviewing
software permits some tallying of responses as
data collection progresses

Data Security • More absolute given use of restricted access • Act of research in progress is often known by
facilities and smaller sample sizes competitors; insights may be gleaned by competi-
tors for some visible, field-based studies

Source: This exhibit was developed from material extracted from Judith Langer, The Mirrored Window: Focus Groups from a Moderator’s
Point of View (Ithaca, NY: Paramount Market Publishing, 2001); Hy Mariampolski, Qualitative Market Research: A Comprehensive Guide
(Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2001); David Carson, Audrey Gilmore, Chad Perry, and Kjell Gronhaug, Qualitative Marketing
Research (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2001); and Norman K. Denzin and Ynonna S. Lincoln, editors, The SAGE Handbook
of Qualitative Research, 4th ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, April 27, 2011).

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 148 >part II The Design of Business Research

sampling methodology and size; data collection processes, including participant preparation and
researcher and research sponsor involvement; data type and preparation; data analysis and timing;
processes for reaching insights and meaning; time frame of insight discovery; and the level of data
security.7
Unlike the case with quantitative data, both the researcher and research sponsor often have more sig-
nificant involvement in collecting and interpreting qualitative data. The researcher may serve as a par-
ticipant or a catalyst, as a participant observer, or as a group interview moderator. The research sponsor
may observe (in some cases via Webcast of interviews directly to the sponsor’s desktop computer),
influence interview questions, and add interpretations and insights during the process. By contrast, with
large quantitative studies, the researcher who interprets the data and draws conclusions from it is rarely
the data collector and often has no contact at all with the participant.
Since researchers are immersed in the participant’s world, any knowledge they gain can be used to
adjust the data extracted from the next participant. In quantitative research, identical data are desired
from all participants, so evolution of methodology is not acceptable.
Quantitative data often consist of participant responses that are coded, categorized, and reduced to
numbers so that these data may be manipulated for statistical analysis. One objective is the quantitative
tally of events or opinions, called frequency of response. Qualitative data are all about texts. Detailed
descriptions of events, situations, and interactions, either verbal or visual, constitute the data. Data
may be contained within transcriptions of interviews or video focus groups, as well as in notes taken
during those interactions. But by definition they generate reams of words that need to be coded and
analyzed by humans for meaning. While computer software is increasingly used for the coding process
in qualitative research, at the heart of the qualitative process is the researcher—and his or her experi-
ence—framing and interpreting the data.8
Qualitative studies with their smaller sample sizes offer an opportunity for faster turnaround of
findings. While speed should never be the primary reason for choosing a methodology, qualitative data
may be especially useful to support a low-risk decision that must be made quickly.
Multimillion-dollar strategies may lose their power if the competitor reacts too quickly. Data secu-
rity is therefore of increasing concern. Both group and individual interviewing, the mainstay techniques
of qualitative research, can be conducted in highly secure environments. In comparison, once a quan-
titative survey or field observation or experiment is started, it is quickly common knowledge among a
research sponsor’s competitors. Although the data might not be known, the area of inquiry often can be
determined. For example, in a test market—an experimental quantitative design—a research sponsor’s
competitors can often observe and extract insights right along with the sponsor.

> The Process of Qualitative Research

The process of developing a qualitative project is similar to the research process introduced in Chap-
ter 1. However, three key distinctions suggested in the previous sections do affect the research pro-
cess: (1) the level of question development in the management-research question hierarchy prior to
the commencing of qualitative research, (2) the preparation of the participant prior to the research
experience, and (3) the nature and level of data that come from the debriefing of interviewers or
observers.
The qualitative researcher starts with an understanding of the manager’s problem, but the
management-research question hierarchy is rarely developed prior to the design of research methodol-
ogy. Rather, the research is guided by a broader question more similar in structure to the management
question. Exhibit 7-3 introduces the modifications to the research process.
Much of qualitative research involves the deliberate preparation of the participant, called preex-
ercises or pretasking. This step is important due to the desire to extract detail and meaning from the
participant. A variety of creative and mental exercises draw participants’ understanding of their own
thought processes and ideas to the surface. Some of these include:
• Placing the product or medium for in-home use (with instructions to use the product or
medium—e.g., a magazine—repeatedly over the preparation period before the interview).

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