QUALITATIVE MARKETING RESEARCH Qualitative research is a set of research techniques, used in marketing and the social sciences, in which data are obtained from a relatively small group of respondents and not analyzed with statistical techniques. This differentiates it from quantitative research in which a large group of respondents provide data that are statistically analyzed.Depth Interviews • • • Interview is conducted one-on-one, and lasts between 30 and 60 Minutes. Best method for in-depth probing of personal opinions, beliefs, and Values. Very rich depth of information • Very flexible • • • • probing is very useful at uncovering hidden issues They are unstructured (or loosely structured) - this differentiates them from survey interviews in which the same questions are asked to all respondents. Can be time consuming and responses can be difficult to interpret Requires skilled interviewers - expensive - interviewer bias can easily be introducedProjective Techniques • • These are unstructured prompts or stimuli that encourage the respondent to project their underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings onto an ambiguous situation. They are all indirect techniques that attempt to disguise the purpose of the research Examples of projective techniques include: 1. Word association - say the first word that comes to mind after hearing a word - only some of the words in the list are test words that the researcher is interested in, the rest are fillers - is useful in testing brand names - variants include chain word association and controlled word association 2. Sentence completion - respondents are given incomplete sentences and asked to complete them3. 4. Story completion - respondents are given part of a story and are asked to complete it Cartoon tests - pictures of cartoon characters are shown in a specific situation and with dialogue balloons - one of the dialogue balloons is empty and the respondent is asked to fill it in 5. Thematic apperception tests - respondents are shown a picture (or series of pictures) and asked to make up a story about the picture(s) 6. Role playing - respondents are asked to play the role of someone else - researchers assume that subjects will project their own feelings or behaviors into the role