Personal interview questionnaire suitable when open ended questions are asked

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1 Chapter 4 Primary Data Collection Data Collection Methods for Quantitative Research Surveys The biggest advantage of the survey method is that at a time a lot of information(or data) about a single respondent can be obtained. The versatility of this method enables the researcher to mould the survey method to the research objectives Personal Interview Face to face or Door to door interview Direct marketing through executive interviewing Shopping center interviews Self administered interviews Purchase intercept technique (PIT) Omnibus surveys Advantages of Personal Interview Personal interview is preferred when a large amount of information is required and the question may be complex, and have to be clarified with pictorial and mechanical aids Personal interview questionnaire facilitates a higher degree of flexibility with the involvement of the interviewer to arouse interest, increase participation and support with the respondents Personal interview questionnaire suitable when open ended questions are asked When an exhaustive list of households or individuals are not available, the interviewer can be assigned specific streets or residences as per census, meet and talk to the required residents and obtain the information Limitations of Personal Interview Personal interview work out to be quite time consuming, administration problems, and get costly Interviewers will have to find ways to track down and to find respondents, minimize

2 refusals by being physically present at their door step and at times at odd times also Telephone Interview Selecting of study participants telephone numbers Making the telephonic call Introduce and gain support with the target study participants Work out and clarify the convenient time of the respondent for interview Schedule a call report Advantages of Telephonic Interviews Since most interviews are conducted within a given time period, no time is lost in travelling or locating respondents Daytime can be made more productive by scheduling the call times according to convenience of respondents It is possible to make, if required more call backs at a very less cost by making use of the wide area telephone services, which allows unlimited calls in a given area This approach enables the interviewer to reach long distance respondents at their convenience Since telephonic interviews provides anonymity permitting the respondent to reply with greater ease to personal queries Limitations of Telephonic Interviews In the absence of usage of visual or mechanical aids, this approach may not be suitable for complex marketing problems In the absence of a face to face interaction, the interviewer has to be alert to verbal cues to judge the reaction and understanding of the respondents Since telephonic interview have to be kept as brief as possible, the interview talk may have to be hurried and more or additional information may be difficult to be obtained There are chances of sample bias because some people may not have access to telephone and cannot be contacted Mail Surveys

3 Under this method, questionnaires are mailed to potential study participants, who complete and return them by mail. Unlike the personal and telephone interviews, mail surveys involve the broad identification of the individuals to be sampled before the actual data collection begins. The priority is obtaining a current and valid mailing list of potential study participants Advantages of Mail Surveys The mail survey is cost effective More accurate results can be obtained since the questionnaire is answered at the discretion of the respondent thereby ensuring that the replies are likely to be more thoughtful and others could be consulted for discussions and other necessary information The method is appropriate when seeking answers to sensitive issues like sex, living together, Aids etc. provided the respondent is convinced that the answers will be kept in confidence Limitations of Mail Surveys In the absence of the interviewer there remain some unanswered questions like Who actually answered to the questionnaire? Who were involved in the consultations sessions? What is the time lag between the receipt of the questionnaire and reply sent? The respondent is not able to receive clarification on certain confusing questions The sequence of question may not be maintained by the respondent because they could look ahead to see where the questions are leading Mail surveys can be used only when a mailing list is available. There could be misses due to omissions, duplications etc. There is no control over the response rate Types of Surveys Fax Surveys Advantages

4 Fax will indicate a sense of urgency and people may respond faster to fax as compared to mail surveys Savings in use of paper and printing because usually one cover letter and questionnaire only need to be printed for fax transmittal Faster receipt of return of questionnaire, if sent back by fax. Limitations If the return of fax surveys involve monetary expense, the respondent may not respond Lack of privacy in case of fax questionnaire could result in only partial or no cooperation of the respondent Fax survey costs may shoot up and get affected by the quality of both the sending and receiving equipment Survey Research with the Aid of Computer Technology With the advent of computers, researchers are including Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) for the purpose of survey research Some of the interviewing errors like selecting the wrong respondent in a household, forgetting to ask a question etc. can be avoided with the use of CATI Advantages Computer controlled telephone interviews ensures quicker and more complete data available to the researcher Limitations Computer controlled questionnaire will involve more expenses when compared to the traditional paper and pencil questionnaire Lot of care is to be exercised to ensure that the computer programme is carefully written and that money and time is not lost if the system becomes overloaded and crashes Retail Auditing This method helps to establish the distribution levels and sales through retail outlets This measurement of sales per outlet is worked out by counting stock at the start and end

5 of a period and then procuring details of the deliveries made in the intervening period Certain Data Collection Methods and Their Characteristics Sampling and Quantitative Research Usually it is understood that sampling is the basis of all quantitative Market Research For instance, quantitative data is being collected from respondents to measure say the frequency of purchase or awareness of brands Sample It is very important to define the population because samples are usually drawn from a population. The population definition will differ depending upon whether it is a consumer research or business to business research The validity and accuracy of a sample depends on its size and how it is selected Sampling accuracy will also depend on how the sample is drawn Random sample one in which each member of the population being sampled has an equal chance of being selected And so, in Marketing Research one usually settles for a sampling method which is approximate but less than strictly random Quota sampling where researchers are instructed to cover a sample which includes representatives. Stratified Sampling involves stratified samples with representation of each strata or layer in the market Qualitative Research Methods The most common data collection techniques of qualitative research are: Group discussions Individual in-depth interviews Projective techniques Group Discussion This group will consists of around eight respondents holding a meeting to discuss and develop the subjects of interest, under the guidance of a skilled researcher

6 (moderator/facilitator).

7 Limitations Not appropriate for certain intimate products Not suitable when it is logistically difficult to bring a group together Individual In-depth Interviews When the subject include intimate products rather than group discussions it will be preferable to go for one-to-one depth interviews, carried out by a skilled researcher with an unstructured approach Limitations A lot of time need to be spent in planning, arranging venues and recruitment interviewing Requires the efforts of skilled staff in analyzing the recordings and notes taken of the fieldwork. Involves a lot of cost in recruiting skilled interviewer and staff Projective Technique In projective techniques, the researcher presents an ambiguous unstructured object, activity or person and the respondent is asked to interpret and explain the same In marketing especially projective techniques are used to understand The seasons behind certain consumer behavior or attitudes Why are consumers/buyers involved in the act of buying/owing/using a particular product (or brand) or service The projective techniques take the form of: Word Association Technique Sentence Completion Tests Picture Interpretation or Thematic Apperception Test Third Person Technique Role Playing

8 Case Studies Observational Research Method Simply stated Observation process is involved in recognizing and noting people, objects and occurrences rather than asking for information However there are two issues to be borne in mind when opting for a observational method of research The observational form should be consistent measuring instrument Certain essential components must go to the observational form in order to be clear about what is being observed Who exactly are to be observed? What exactly is to be observed (brand / information being sought by customer etc.) What is the schedule of the observation? (Which day of the week? / What time) Where is the observation to take place? (Location)