(11) PDC Using Observation, In-Depth Interviews, and Other Qualitative Techniques

substance and approach to the problem at hand

usually an in-depth investigation with a small number of participants

find a reason for a phenomena, no analytical purpose

requires a high skill level of the investigator

must meet the following 3 criteria:

1. it serves a research purpose

2. it is systematically collected and recorded

3. it is subjected to checks and controls on validity and reliability

gain insights so that furher study can be done using active techniques

sometimes is the only method available to use

challenges:

the behavior is not always observable

ambiguity of results

validity?

unstructured and undesguised, with helpful results

IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS

intensive, unstructured personal interrogation

flexibility on the researcher to ask many questions relating to the area of interest

may be videotaped or audiotaped

laddering

used to find underlying attributes that distinguish things,people, or organizations.

hidden issue questioning

used to uncover the feelings about sensitive issues of individuals

symbolic questioning

used to identify underlying meanings

Cons:

cost and time

demands on the researcher

FOCUS GROUPS

same as in-depth interview, but there is more than one participant

usually 8 to 12 participants

may be videotaped and/or can be observed through a one-way mirror

online focus groups

used to test new products

evaluate performance of exiting products

brainstorm hot ideas

test traditional research

can obtain real time information

cost efficient

need a moderator that is highly experienced with awesome social skills

the moderator and the client need to have aligning objectives in order to produce the best results from the study

needs adequate involvement by management for success

OTHER TECHNIQUES

protocol techniques

find out what the important components are in a decision-making situation, in the mind of an individual

projective techniques

place indiviuals in simulated situations and are asked to describe the situation

word association techniques

what comes to mind when a word is said

i.e. BMW

the qualitative techniques mentioned here could be appropriate for our project, but resources available may limit what we can do

doing observational studies on students or even those who live in uptown Saint John could be very beneficial

definitely if we were to use these techniques, we would have to use a less sophisticated supplier, if any

qualitative research is rapidly growing which is causing a number of vendors to appear

some suppliers offer very sophisticated, full-service facilities