Advantages of a dynamic group is often losing to a group larger than this Less

Advantages of a dynamic group is often losing to a group larger than this - Less than this might be used if session is highly exploratory Pros Cons - Good for getting in-depth information - Enables complex issues to be discussed - One person’s experiences or feelings often stimulate others - Process highlights differences between consumers - Allows for spontaneity - Results cannot be quantified - Not representative - Difficulty getting attendees - Minority viewpoints may not be heard - Need for skilled and experienced moderator

Depth interviews - Rationale: aims at gaining insights; represent ideas, not people - Format: one-on-one (at place of business, consumption, etc.) - Duration: 30+ minutes - Tools: interview guide, schedule, tape interview - Appropriate when:  Confidential or emotionally charged or embarrassing subject matter  Strong, socially acceptable norms exist  Need to be able to understand complex or detailed behavior  Interviewing professional people  When groups are hard to schedule Pros Cons - Can uncover deep insights about underlying motives - Result in a free exchange of information and there is no social pressure to conform - As a result of probing, it is possible to get at real issues when the topic is complex - Skilled interviewers are expensive and difficult to find - The data obtained are difficult to analyze and interpret - The length of the interview combined with high costs limits the number of depth interviews Focus groups v Depth interviews

Projective techniques - Definition: indirect techniques that encourages respondents to project their underlying motivations, beliefs, and attitudes regarding the issue of concern - Rationale: Certain issues are not amenable to direct questioning - projective techniques provide a mechanism for uncovering “subconscious” response, e.g., car purchase motivations - Format (common projective techniques)  Association Techniques – word association  Completion Techniques – sentence completion  Construction Techniques – story  Expressive techniques – third person technique - Tools: Visual props, scenarios, open-ended questionnaires Pros Cons - Mask the real purpose of the study - Good in addressing personal, sensitive issues - Capturing what is going on at subconscious level - Requires highly skilled interviewers - Skilled interpreters are also required to analyze the responses - Serious risk of interpretation bias - Tend to be expensive - Engaging in unusual behavior Quantitative (descriptive) Research Survey: information obtained by questioning respondents Observation: information obtained by observing behaviour or phenomena Survey research A structured questionnaire given to a sample of a population and designed to elicit specific information from respondents - Used when research involves sampling a large number of people and asking them a series of questions - Can be conducted in person, telephone, through mail questionnaire, electronically - Range of the topic can be investigated using surveys and questions regarding behaviour,