There are many ways to skin the market research cat!
Tools available to the market researcher are many and varied and there are new ones appearing all the time. Some of the more recent ones rely on emerging technologies, such as SMS (mobile text) or e-mail.
However, ultimately they all tend to fit into two main categories:
Quantitative
This focuses on the occurrence and the statistical relationship of variables and tends to use structured questionnaires with the same questions being asked of all those interviewed.
Because of the nature of the approach, there is little opportunity for deviation with the result that shades of opinion are captured in less detail.
Typically, quantitative research uses large respondent samples and as a numerically based approach, the results are invariably statistically analysed.
An example of a quantitative study would be any one of the many Customer Service 'surveys' companies ask us to take part in from time to time, where we might be asked to rate the company's performance as 'excellent', 'good', 'poor' or 'very poor'.
Quantitative surveys can be conducted in a number of ways such as:
Self-completion: Through the post or handed to the respondent directly
Face-to-face: In the street or at home and administered by an interviewer
Telephone, web or e-mail
Omnibus: Where a very limited number of questions are asked as part of a larger survey
Generally, quantitative techniques are well suited to gathering data on various forms of market phenomena, such as what share of a given market a company enjoys.
They are less adept at gaining an in-depth appreciation of a person's or representative group's opinion on a given subject. This is better approached qualitatively.
Qualitative
Rather than focussing of the level of occurrence of opinions or actions, this approach focuses on understanding their meaning.
Personal contact between the primary researcher and the respondent is a pre-requisite and there is a requirement for a wide-ranging discussion of the subject in order to capture all the relevant issues that might impact on it.
Because of this, qualitative discussion guides are less structured than quantitative questionnaires; the questioning not being restricted to a pre-ordained set.
Respondent samples are typically much lower than in quantitative studies and the results are dependent on the researcher's ability to interpret respondent responses and report these clearly.
An example of how this approach might be used would be where a researcher questions a consumer why they have chosen a particular brand of detergent (rather than how many packets they buy each year).
Qualitative research techniques include:
Discussion or Focus Groups: Conducted or 'moderated' by a researcher, typically with 8 to 10 consumers
Depth Interviews: Conducted with a single consumer by a researcher
Paired / Triad Depth Interviews: Conducted with two / three consumers by a researcher
Mini-Groups: Conducted with four or five consumers by a researcher
Venues for these activities vary.
However, many Focus Groups and some Depth Interviews take place in specialist facilities that allow clients to observe the consumers through one way mirrors or video links.
They can be held in hotel rooms or even homes though and depending on the nature of the research, these alternatives may offer a less formal approach that might be beneficial in some circumstances.
Qualitative techniques are adept at gaining detailed insights into consumer behaviour, attitudes and opinions. They are particularly fruitful providers of Consumer Insights, which can seed highly differentiated new product ideas.
They are not well suited to the collection of numerical data such as how often a product is purchased or even how much a product is expected to cost. This is because the sample numbers are low and these types of data are better collected quantitatively.
