Qualitative Market Research Analyst & Business Counseling

Although there are many ways to perform market research, most businesses use one or more of five basic methods: surveys, focus group, personal interviews, observation, and field trials.

Various market research methods are used to find out information about markets, target markets and their needs, competitors, market trends, customer satisfaction with products and services, etc. The type of data you need and how much money you’re willing to spend will determine which techniques you choose for.

Market research methods are divided into the following categories:

1. Questioning:

• Qualitative marketing research – used for exploratory purposes. This method gathers non-numerical data from a relatively small number of participants. The data is not analyzed using statistical techniques, but summarized and interpreted by researchers. The most common methods employed in qualitative research are focus group interviews and in-depth interviews.
• Quantitative marketing research – used to draw conclusions . It covers all projects in which numerical data is either directly aimed for or used in the process of providing final answers. A survey that asks a series of closed questions is a typical and probably most popular quantitative research method.

2. Observation:

• Ethnographic studies – Examples include product-use analysis and computer cookie traces
• Experimental techniques – Examples include purchase laboratories and test markets.

Specific market research methods are designed to balance data quality, direct costs, professional fees and timeframe. The methodology should take an approach that is replicable, manageable and as economical as possible given the research objectives.

Market research is an important tool that supports business decision making. Whether you’re deciding to expand internationally or create a new product, let Roe Smithson & Asociados Ltda help you gather the data you need to make your next business be a success.

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A Focus Group Interview is a relatively cheap and fast method of conducting qualitative market research, but it’s more than just a way to gather data from a number of respondents at the same time.

It involves a largely free-flowing, unstructured discussion by a group of people for the purpose of eliciting ideas or reactions to a topic such as service expectations. It is an effective qualitative method because as a group dynamic, it helps to stimulate ideas that might not be raised in a discussion with only one person.

Focus group interviews often simply called “groups” are group discussions:

• The group normally has between 8 and 12 participants
• The discussion lasts for up to two hours although an extended, several-hour long version is sometimes used
• All participants get paid for participation, and the level of this compensation depends on the characteristic of the group
• The discussion follows an agenda: a list of topics or areas to be covered
• Often conducted at specialized facilities, where it is possible to audio and video tape and observe from behind a one-way mirror, which enable other researchers and clients’ representatives to observe the discussion without being visible
• Participants are always aware of the possibility of being observed and need to agree to the recording
• A professional moderator, using a carefully prepared topic guide, leads the discussion in order to develop useful information

Whether your goal is to expand into new markets, introduce a new product or service, or gauge customer reactions, even the smallest businesses can benefit from a simple but well-planned market research study. The choice of method, be it focus groups, depth interviews, telephone focus groups, or a combination varies depending on your information needs.

Roe Smithson & Asociados Ltda helps you understand your market, your customers, your competitors, and larger industry trends by means of specialized methods of market research and focus group in Chile.

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Focus groups are a powerful means to evaluate services or test new ideas as it is possible to obtain a great deal of information during a focus group session such as:

• Information on how groups of people think or feel about a particular topic.
• A greater insight into why certain opinions are held.
• Help improve the planning and design of new programs.
• Provide a means of evaluating existing programs.
• Produce insights for developing strategies for outreach.

There are three phases in conducting a focus group :

1. Conceptualization – Includes the determination of a purpose, a target, and the development of a plan.
2. Interview – Includes development of questions, moderating skills and participants.
3. Analysis and reporting – Evaluation of the results of the discussions as well as description and presentation of the meaning of the data.

According to the knowledge and expertise of Roe Smithson & Asociados Ltda. some of the advantages of focus groups are:

• Individuals come together and express diverse views on the topic: useful not only to find the range of views, but also for the participants to learn from each other, and to generate a sense of social cohesion.
• Relatively easy to undertake. Generally requires less preparation and is comparatively easy to conduct.
• Provide data more quickly and at lower cost.
• Researcher can probe for clarification and solicit greater detail as it allows clarification, follow-up questions.
• Data uses respondents’ own words; can obtain deeper levels of meaning, make important connections, identify subtle nuances.
• Very flexible; can be used with wide range of topics, individuals, and settings.
• Results are easy to understand and more accessible to lay audiences or decision-makers than complex statistical analyses of survey data.

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