Introduction to Research Design
and Exploratory Research
Jeremy Kees, Ph.D.
Stages
in the
Research
Process
Formulate Problem
Determine Research Design
Design Data Collection
Method and Forms
Design Sample and Collect Data
Analyze and Interpret the Data
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 Types
1. 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
Overview of Research Design
Uses
Exploratory
Research
•Formulate problems more precisely
•Develop Hypotheses
•Establish priorities for research
•Eliminate impractical ideas
•Clarify concepts
Descriptive
Research
•Describe segment characteristics
•Estimate proportion of people
who behave in a certain way
•Make specific predictions
Causal
Research
•Provide evidence regarding causal
relationships
•Rule out all other explanations
Types
•Literature search
•Experience survey
•Analysis of select cases
•Interviews
•Ethnographies
•Focus groups
•Etc.
•Longitudinal study
•Panels
•Sample Survey
•Laboratory experiment
•Field experiment
Relationship Among Research
Designs
Descriptive Research
Exploratory Research
Causal Research
8
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
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Objective
To gain a qualitative
understanding of the
underlying reasons and
motivations
To quantify the data and
generalize the results from
the sample to the population
of interest
Sample
Small number of nonrepresentative cases
Large number of
representative cases
Data Collection
Unstructured
Structured
Data Analysis
Non-statistical
Statistical
Outcome
Develop an initial
understanding
Recommend a final course of
action
10
Focus Groups
• 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
11
Focus Groups
• Advantages:
• Generation of fresh ideas
• Client interaction
• Versatility
• Ability to tap special respondents
• Disadvantages:
• Representative of the population?
• Subjective interpretation
• High cost-per-participant
12
Focus Group Characteristics
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
13
Procedure for Planning and Contacting
Focus Groups
Determine the Objectives and Define the Problem
Specify the Objectives of Qualitative Research
State the Objectives/Questions to be Answered by Focus Groups
Write a Screening Questionnaire
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
Moderator’s Role
• 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
15
Other Popular Qualitative
Techniques
• 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
16
Popular Qualitative Research Methods
Focus Groups
•Group dynamics,
expect more creative
•Some probing
•Relatively inexpensive
•Ready industry
•Qualitative
•Flexible
•Probing
•Richness of data
•Gets at the “Why”
of customers’
behaviors
•Generates ideas
•Clarifies other
project results
Interviews
•Not influenced by others
•Max probing, great depth
•Expensive
•Time consuming
•Candid, sensitive topics
17
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), “ReExamining 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 Shopping
Level 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.
Sam’s Club MS Protocol
1.
2.
3.
4.
Were there lots of carts or flat beds in the parking
lot and not in the cart corral?
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?
Did any associate ask you if you found everything
you were looking for?
As you approached the cash registers in the
checkout area…
1.
2.
Did the checkout area appear to be busy (long lines,
activity)?
If yes, did you see an associate directing members to
certain checkout lanes? If no, explain.
23
Sam’s Club MS Protocol
4.
Were you checked out within 5 minutes? Start
timing when you enter the checkout line. Stop
when handed your receipt. ___Min. ___Sec.
Were boxes or bags available near the front of
your checkout lane for packing items?
Mark the following observations that you made of
the Cashier Associate:
5.
6.





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 ____________
24
Sam’s Club MS Protocol
7.
8.
As you were leaving the club, did the exit greeter
thank you for your business?
Mark the following observations you made of the
restroom:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Clean sinks and toilets
All dispensers full (soap, toweling, toilet paper)
Relatively free of litter
Equipment and stalls operable
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?
25
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