Study Guide Marketing Research Test 4 Qualitative research and research objectives The data qualitative researchers analyze consists of text sometimes image rather than numbers Some researchers criticize qualitative research as soft lacking rigor and being inferior What increases the likelihood of good research is a deliberate thoughtful knowledgeable approach whether qualitative or quantitative methods are used While the reliability and validity of quantitative analysis can be evaluated numerically the trustworthiness of qualitative analysis depends fundamentally on the rigor of the process used for collecting and analyzing the data When magnitude of response and statistical projectability are important quantitative research should be used to verify and extend qualitative findings But when the purpose of a research project is to better understand psychoanalytical or cultural phenomena quantitative research may not offer a great deal of insight or depth For these topics qualitative research and analysis often is superior to quantitative research in providing useful knowledge for decision makers Differences between quantitative and qualitative analyses The most apparent difference stems from the nature of the data itself 1 Qualitative data analysis Is textual occasionally visual rather than numerical Tend to be ongoing and iterative data is analyzed as it is collected which may affect further data collection efforts in terms who is sampled and what questions are asked Good qualitative researchers employ member checking Is largely inductive the categories themes and patterns analysts describe in their reports emerge from the data Qualitative researchers differ in their beliefs about the use of quantifying their data Qualitative researchers use different techniques for data collection 2 Quantitative data analysis The goal of quantitative analysis is quantifying the magnitude of variables and relationships or explaining causal relationships Understanding is the goal of quantitative analysis Quantitative analyses are guided entirely by the researchers The categories themes and patterns are defined prior data collection Quantitative data analysis is numerical Data reduction in qualitative research The amount of data collected in a qualitative study can be extensive Researcjers must make decisions about how to categorize and represent the data This results in data reduction The most systematic method of analysis is to read through transcripts and develop categories to represent the data When similar topics are encountered they are coded similarly Categorization and coding of data that is part of the theory development process in qualitative data analysis Consists of many interrelated processes Categorization and coding Comparison Theory building The role of tabulation Iteration and negative case analysis Key Terms Categorization 1st step in DR Code Sheet Codes Comparison Integration Placing portions of transcripts into similar groups based on their content Lists the different themes or categories for a particular study Labels or numbers that are used to track categories in a qualitative study Developing and refining theory and constructs by analyzing the differences and similarities in passages themes or types of participants Moving from the identification of themes and categories to the development of theory Recursive A relationship in which a variable can both cause Selective Coding and be caused by the same variable Building a storyline around one core category or theme the other categories will be related to or subsumed to this central overarching category Iteration Working through the data several times in order to modify early ideas Memoing Writing down thoughts as soon as possible after each interview focus group or site visit Deliberately looking for cases and instances that contradict the ideas and theories that researchers have been developing Negative Case Analysis Options for displaying qualitative data Qualitative researchers typically use visual displays to summarize data Data displays are important because they help reduce and summarize the extensive textual data collected in the study in a way that conveys major ideas in a compact fashion Displays may be tables or figures Tables have rows or row by column formats that cross themes and or informants Figures may include flow diagrams traditional box and arrow causal diagrams often associated with quantitative research diagrams that display circular or recursive relationships trees that display consumers taxonomies of products consensus maps which pictures the collective connections that informants make between concepts or ideas and checklists that show all informants and then indicate whether or not each informant possesses a particular attitude value behavior etc While displays of qualitative findings are quite diverse some common types of displays include the following A table that explains central themes in the study A diagram that suggests relationships between variables A matrix including quotes for various themes from representative informants Methods for verifying qualitative data The iterative process and negative case analysis continues through the verification phase of the project The process includes checking for common biases that may affect researcher conclusions In addition to actively considering the possibility of bias in the analysis researchers also must establish credibility for their findings Verification Conclusion Drawing Credibility in Qualitative Research Quantitative researchers establish credibility in data analysis by demonstrating that their results are reliable measurement and findings are stable repeatable and generalizable and valid the research measure what it was intended to measure In contrast the credibility of qualitative data analysis is based on the rigor of the actual strategies used for collecting coding analyzing and presenting data when generating theory The terms validity and reliability have to be redefined in qualitative research In qualitative research the term emic validity means that the analysis presented in the report resonates with people inside the studied culture or subculture Similarly cross researcher reliability means the text and images are coded similarly among multiple researchers However many qualitative researchers prefer terms such as quality rigor dependability transferability and trustworthiness to the traditionally quantitative terms validity and
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