Research key concepts

The emphasis is on understanding

Qualitative information is harder to define but the emphasis is on 'understanding' rather than simple measurement. For example, quantitative research may tell you that Advert A is recalled more often than than Advert B, but how does A work as an advert and why is it more effective than B? This is when qualitative research is needed.

Much qualitative research is concerned with empathizing with the customer and establishing the meanings he or she attaches to products, brands and other marketing objects. Another focus is motivation. For example, why does one product meet customer needs over another - and what are these needs that are being met?

Qualitative research is conducted amongst a smaller sample compared to quantitative research. In the case of attitudes to brands, for example, qualitative research may determine a specific view held about the brand, whereas quantitative research would tell us what proportion holds that view.

Quantitative and qualitative research work in tandem. The qualitative element frequently takes place at the front end of the study, exploring values that need measuring in the subsequent quantitative phase.

Qualitative research may offer a diagnostic understanding of what is wrong, while the quantitative research provides hard data across different respondent groups that can lead to specific recommendations with measures that can be used as controls to determine the effectiveness of actions.

It explores attitudes, behavior and experiences through such methods as interviews or focus groups. 

It attempts to get an in-depth opinion from participants. 

It generates statistics through the use of large-scale survey research, using methods such as questionaires or structured interviews. 

The emphasis is on measurement

Quantitative research is concerned with measurement of a market, including the calculation of market size, the size of market segments, brand shares, purchase frequencies, awareness of brands, distribution levels, and so on.

This quantitative data is required at varying levels of accuracy and the methods used must be capable of achieving this.

Specifying the research question is the methodological point of departure of scholarly research in both the natural and social sciences. Sub-questions are narrower questions that help to answer research questions.

Action research refers to a wide variety of evaluative, investigative, and analytical research methods designed to diagnose problems or weaknesses—whether organizational, academic, or instructional—and help educators develop practical solutions to address them quickly and efficiently.

Quantitative Research is used to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data or data that can be transformed into useable statistics. While Qualitative Research is primarily exploratory research. It is used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations.

Primary research involves the collection of original primary data by researchers. While Secondary research (also known as desk research) involves the summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research rather than primary research, in which data are collected from, for example, research subjects or experiments.