What is Qualitative Research?
Qualitative market research explores and explains consumer behavior, opinions, and beliefs through techniques of depth interviewing of individuals or groups, observing people in natural settings or laboratories, and by analyzing diaries, verbal expressions or images that respondents create.

Qualitative research can:
• Lead to deeper understanding of the consumer mindset
• Develop hypothesis about a product or service
• Provide flexibility, allowing for changing areas of exploration as the study progresses

Qualitative research cannot quantify insights or statistically project findings to the population under study because:
• The nature of qualitative research necessitates small samples
• The line of questioning can change across interviews
• Recruiting is rarely completely representative

 

When to use Qualitative Research?

Qualitative research helps you discover underlying motivations, feelings, values, and perceptions. When you need to learn ’how many” or ’how much” quantitative research is appropriate. Some examples of how to use qualitative research are:

• Investigating product/service/brand positioning
• Identifying strengths and weaknesses
• Exploring alternative communication messages
• Understanding purchase decision dynamics
• Brainstorming/Idea generation
• Evaluating advertising or public relations campaigns
• Probing opinions of current societal or public affairs issues
• Pre-survey, developing hypothesis to be quantified in a follow-up study
• Post-survey, in depth exploration of quantitative findings


 Types of Qualitative research
The most typical forms of qualitative research are:

Focus groups

An informally moderator led discussion in which recruited respondents talk about the research topic terms. The discussion is usually comprised of eight to ten people, last about one to two hours, and is held in a focus group facility with an observation room with a one way mirror for observers.

Dyads and Triads

 These special forms of research involve a moderator leading either two or three respondents in a focused discussion of the specific topic. Both situations allow more detailed probing by the moderator and can yield rich results into insights and behavior.

Mini-groups
These groups are similar to larger focus groups, but usually have 4 or 5 respondents. Guided by a moderator, they allow for more in-depth conversation on the research topic.

In-depth Interviews

 These are one-on-one situation in which a moderator asks a series of open-ended questions to the recruited respondent. Generally used more at the exploratory phase of a project rather than for hypothesis-testing, in-depth interviews can be an excellent way to conduct communication checks on advertising, packaging, etc. Sometimes these interviews are conducted in-context (in home, at a store) to observe and understand specific behaviors or processes.


Ethnographic/Observational Interviews

 The researcher works in the world of the respondent. Often done “in home”, this research captures a respondent engaged in specific behavior (i.e. making a cake, cleaning the floor, changing a tire) through the use of a video camera while being interviewed. In some cases the observation can take place in a store, a bar, or a restaurant an may involve either a video camera or a tape recorder.

The "About Qualitative Research" information was provided by QRCA, the Qualitative Research Consultants Association. For more information visit our "Resources" section.