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Introduction to Research Design and Exploratory Research
Jeremy Kees, Ph.D.
Stages in theResearch Process
Determine Research Design
Analyze and Interpret the Data
Design Sample and Collect Data
Formulate Problem
Design Data Collection Method and Forms
Prepare the Research Report
Overview of Research Design
Exploratory• “discovery”
Descriptive• “relationships”
Causal• “cause-and-effect”
Example:Kees, Jeremy, Paula Bone, John Kozup and Pam
Scholder Ellen (forthcoming), “Barely or Fairly Balancing the Black Box? Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Internet Promotion,” Psychology and Marketing.
Descriptive Research
• Describe what is going on or exists
• Estimate how groups of consumers might behave
• Examine relationships between two or more variables
• Predict
Descriptive Research
• Two Basic Types1. Longitudinal
2. Cross-Sectional
Causal Research
• Helps us determine if one or more IVs (treatment, predictors) causes or affects one or more DVs (outcome variables)
• Most demanding design—strongest conclusion
• Requires the highest degree of understanding of the problem
Exploratory Research
CausalResearch
DescriptiveResearch
•Formulate problems more precisely•Develop Hypotheses•Establish priorities for research•Eliminate impractical ideas•Clarify concepts
•Literature search•Experience survey•Analysis of select cases•Interviews•Ethnographies•Focus groups•Etc.•Describe segment characteristics
•Estimate proportion of people who behave in a certain way•Make specific predictions
•Longitudinal study•Panels•Sample Survey
•Provide evidence regarding causal relationships•Rule out all other explanations •Laboratory experiment
•Field experiment
Uses Types
Overview of Research Design
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Descriptive Research
Exploratory Research
Causal Research
Relationship Among Research Designs
Qualitative versus Quantitative Research
Data• Quantitative = numeric data• Qualitative = non-numeric data
– Caveat – all qualitative data can be coded and all quantitative data is based on judgment
• Common Assumption:– Qualitative Data = preliminary
– Quantitative Data = confirmatory
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Qualitative Research
To gain a qualitative understanding of the underlying reasons and motivations
Small number of non-representative cases
Unstructured
Non-statistical
Develop an initial understanding
Objective
Sample
Data Collection
Data Analysis
Outcome
Quantitative Research
To quantify the data and generalize the results from the sample to the population of interest
Large number of representative cases
Structured
Statistical
Recommend a final course of action
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research
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• Focus groups: small group discussions led by a trained moderator
• Objectives:• Generate ideas• Understand consumer vocabulary• Reveal consumer needs, motives,
perceptions, and attitudes on products and services
• Understand findings from quantitative studies
Focus Groups
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• Advantages:• Generation of fresh ideas• Client interaction• Versatility• Ability to tap special respondents
• Disadvantages:• Representative of the population?• Subjective interpretation• High cost-per-participant
Focus Groups
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Group Size 8-12
Group Composition Homogeneous respondents,
prescreened
Physical Setting Relaxed, informal atmosphere
Time Duration 1-3 hours
Recording Audiocassettes and/or Video
Moderator Observational, interpersonal, and communication skills of the
moderator
Focus Group Characteristics
Procedure for Planning and Contacting Focus Groups
Determine the Objectives and Define the Problem
Specify the Objectives of Qualitative Research
Develop a Moderator’s Outline
Conduct the Focus Group Interviews
Review Tapes and Analyze the Data
Summarize the Findings and Plan Follow-Up Research or Action
State the Objectives/Questions to be Answered by Focus Groups
Write a Screening Questionnaire
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• Focus group moderator: a person who conducts the entire sessions and guides the flow of group discussion across specific topics desired by the client
• Characteristics:• Experienced• Enthusiastic• Prepared• Involved• Energetic• Open-minded
Moderator’s Role
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• In-Depth interview: is a set of probing questions posed one-on-one to a subject by a trained interviewer so as to gain an idea of what the subject thinks about something or why he or she behaves a certain way
• Protocol analysis: involves placing a person in a decision making situation and asking him or her to verbalize everything he or she considers when making a decision
Other Popular Qualitative Techniques
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Focus Groups
•Group dynamics, expect more creative•Some probing•Relatively inexpensive•Ready industry
Interviews
•Not influenced by others•Max probing, great depth•Expensive•Time consuming•Candid, sensitive topics
•Qualitative•Flexible•Probing•Richness of data•Gets at the “Why” of customers’ behaviors•Generates ideas•Clarifies other project results
Popular Qualitative Research Methods
Still Other Qualitative Methods
• Ethnographies– developing understandings of the everyday
activities of people in local settings
• Observation– Insight into actual, not reported, behaviors
• Projective Techniques– participants are placed in (projected into)
simulated activities in the hopes that they will divulge things about themselves that they might not reveal under direct questioning
“Alternative” Techniques
• Implicit Association Test– https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/Kees, Jeremy, Elizabeth H. Creyer, and Eric S. Knowles (2005), “Re-
Examining Smokers’ Perceived Vulnerability to Disease: Self-Report Measures May Not Tell the Whole Story,” In Karin M. Ekström and Helene Brembeck (Eds.), European Association for Consumer Research Proceedings, Göteborg, Sweden.
• Resistometer
• Eye Tracking
Mystery Shopping
Mystery shoppers are people who pose as consumers and shop at a company’s own stores or those of its competitors to collect data about customer-employee interactions and to gather observational data; they may also compare prices, displays, and the like
Mystery Shopping
Purpose of Mystery Shopping• Evaluate customer service• Measure employee training• Recognize good employees• Monitoring the competition• Prepare for competition
Mystery ShoppingLevel 1 – mystery telephone call. Mystery shopper calls the client
location & evaluates the level of service received over the phone following a scripted conversation.
Level 2 – mystery shopper visits the establishment, makes a quick purchase (e.g. gas, a hamburger, etc.) & evaluates the transaction & image of the facility. Little or no customer-employee interaction required.
Level 3 – mystery shopper visits the establishment and, using a script or scenario, initiates a conversation with an employee. No actual purchase is involved. Examples: discussing different cellular phone packages, reviewing services provided during an oil change, etc.
Level 4 – mystery shopper performs a visit that requires excellent communication skills & knowledge of the product. Examples: discussing a home loan, the process for purchasing a new car, visiting an apartment complex.
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Sam’s Club MS Protocol1. Were there lots of carts or flat beds in the parking lot and
not in the cart corral?2. Make sure you pass by some associates on the sales floor
during your shopping trip. Did they acknowledge you in some manner, either by eye contact, smile, nod, or verbal greeting when you came within 10 feet of them?
3. Did any associate ask you if you found everything you were looking for?
4. As you approached the cash registers in the checkout area…
1. Did the checkout area appear to be busy (long lines, activity)?
2. If yes, did you see an associate directing members to certain checkout lanes? If no, explain.
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4. Were you checked out within 5 minutes? Start timing when you enter the checkout line. Stop when handed your receipt. ___Min. ___Sec.
5. Were boxes or bags available near the front of your checkout lane for packing items?
6. Mark the following observations that you made of the Cashier Associate:
Smiled and greeted you Called you by name at any time Thanked you Checked the bottom of your cart for additional
merchandise Name of cashier ____________
Sam’s Club MS Protocol
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7. As you were leaving the club, did the exit greeter thank you for your business?
8. Mark the following observations you made of the restroom:
1. Clean sinks and toilets2. All dispensers full (soap, toweling, toilet paper)3. Relatively free of litter4. Equipment and stalls operable5. Floors clean
9. Was the club clean and relatively free of litter?10. Were the price signs on the merchandise in the
club visible and easy to read?
Sam’s Club MS Protocol
Qualitative versus Quantitative Methods
Theory• Is the goal to test new or existing
theory?
Qualitative versus Quantitative Methods
Level of Understanding Sought• Complex / Sensitive issues are tough to
examine with quantitative methods
Kurtz, David, Jeremy Kees, and Travis Tokar (2004), “An Examination of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivational Factors that Affect Research Productivity of Marketing Academicians,” Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education, 4, 9-15.
Qualitative versus Quantitative Methods
Detail versus Generalizability• Quantitative Methods
– Generalizations to other populations and/or situations
• Qualitative Methods– Rich Understanding
Qualitative versus Quantitative Methods
Philosophy• Epistemological Assumptions
– Contextual Factors
• Ontological Assumptions
– What is reality?
Tonight…
• Identify your research objectives for your focus group
• Get started on a script
• Think about who you’re going to recruit (8-10 people or so) for 10/3