Class 2 - Secondary Data Analysis and Qualitative Research

pros and cons of secondary data

pros:

• accessible

• inexpensive

• quick

cons:

• relevancy

• accuracy

methods - important questions

how was the data collected (context of where participant was), was there an adequate response rate (how many were asked vs how many responded), data quality, sampling technique, sufficient sample size?

how was the questionnaire designed (leading questions?), are the analyses appropriate for the questions, when was the data collected?

triangulation

• using different methods to assess the same problem

• there’s no perfect method, using multiple helps with accuracy

purpose and content

• why was the data collected

• how were the variables defined (ie. how was the construct measured?)

• whenever possible, use original source

secondary data sources

internal secondary data

customer databases

• sales calls, invoices, warranty activations, loyalty programs

data warehouse and mining

• company wide, operational, CRM, help discover patterns of data and inform marketing strategy

external secondary data

business sources

• company info (S&Ps, Moodys), AMA publications, EBSCO database, SSCI (social science citation index)

government sources

• census data (eg. household info., age, marital status etc.), categorized geographically

• world FactBook, FedWorld, Bureau of Labour Statistics, etc.

syndicated services

• data collected by market research firms that serve the information needs of many companies

syndicated sources

units of measurement:

households/ consumers

• panels - purchase, media

• surveys - psychographic and lifestyle, advertising evaluation, general

• electronic scanner services - volume data tracking, scanner panels, scanner panels with cable tv

institutions

• retailers, wholesalers - audits

• industrial firms - direct inquiries, clipping services, corporate services

panel surveys

• regularly conducted surveys

• predesigned questionnaire

• comprehensive

• representative or targeted

• participant has info about the survey, what’s going to be asked, purpose, etc.

syndicated panel surveys (or omnibus panels)

• don’t measure the same variable

• cross-sectional

• arious survey techniques

• targeted examples

pyschographics

psychological variables

• attitudes, values, beliefs, motivation, goals, physical needs

psychological measures of lifestyle (AIOs)

• varies in term of state or trait, traits are more stable

advertising evaluation

• assess ad effectiveness

• standardized measures

  • recall

  • persuasion

  • ad reactions

general surveys

general purchase and consumer behaviour

• politics, sports, business, health

survey pros and cons

pros:

• flexible, specific segment, predictive

cons:

• drawbacks of self report (gaps between what people report and what they actually do, why triangulation is important)

• biased questions?

media panels

used to select appropriate ads. track consumer behaviour after ad

• passively measures TV viewing

• Tv ratings and audience estimates

Purchase / Media Panels pros and cons

pros:

• higher quality data (panel vs sample survey)

• can be longitudinal

cons:

• not always representative

• biased behaviour due to involvement

scanner data

volume tracking scanner panel data

• occurs at point of sale, can be coupled with media panel

qualitative research

• largely unstructured and exploratory

• best when you don’t have a theory or hypothesis

• smaller samples, data is text (like a transcript of interview)

qualitative research procedures

direct (non disguised) (participants know general idea of study)

• focus groups

• depth interviews

indirect (disguised)

• projective techniques

  • association techniques

  • completion techniques

  • construction techniques

  • expressive techniques

focus groups

• trained moderator, minimally structured, unexpected findings

• groups of 8-12, respondents should have something in common, 1-3 hours, video recroded

• meant to facilitate conversation, want participants to be as similar as possible, prior experiences with product, don’t want people who have participated in a lot of focus groups

• moderator must be kind, sensitive, involved, encourage conversation, get specifics

practical applications of focus groups

• perceptions / preference

• impressions of new product

• generating new ideas

• creative concepts

• price impressions

depth interviews

• semi structured

• one on one

• want to uncover lived experiences

• build rapport and have a real conversation

• encourage elaboration, ask open ended questions

depth interviews pros and cons

pros:

• direct to respondent

• large exchange of information

• no conformity

cons:

• expensive and difficult to source

• quality depends on interview skills

qualitative analysis - coding

assigning meaning to passages of text, first analytic step of data analysis process

• segment emerging themes into categories

• make categories represent abstract (theoretical) ideas

• meaningful analysis or themes that emerge out of the data

two steps of qualitative coding

1. initial coding

2. focused coding

initial coding

• large quantities of raw qualitative data, reading through and finding themes

• remain open to explore possibilities

• guides core conceptual categories

  • what is this data a study of?

  • what does the data suggest?

  • from whose point of view?

  • what theoretical category does this indicate?

focus coding

• category development, try to abstract and turn into broader themes / categories

• direct, selective, conceptual

• identify most significant /frequent codes

• merge similar codes to form higher-level, more abstract codes (ie. broader overall themes that fit the data)

• stop this process at saturation (when you consistantly see the same results)

ethnography

a qualitative method involving the immersion of researchers into consumers' natural environments—homes, workplaces, or stores—to observe actual behaviors, routines, and pain points

• recording the life of a particular group, entials sustained participation and observation of their community or social world

• often includes supplementary data from documents, diagrams, maps, photographs, and sometimes formal interviews)

netnography

an interpretive, qualitative methodology that adapts ethnographic research techniques to study consumer behavior, online cultures, and social interactions within digital communities

• an ethnogrpahy conducted among online communities