Types of Research
Types of research:
There are different types of marketing research
depending on the objectives that the research is designed to achieve and the
sources of data which are to be used. Marketing research may also be either
qualitative or quantitative depending on the form of data generated and the
degree of mathematical accuracy level to which it is subjected. The most widely
used category of marketing research is based on the functional objective of
investigation.
Marketing research can be
defined as:
1. Basic vs. Applied Research
2. Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research
3. Exploratory, Descriptive and Causal (EDC) Research
4. Predictive Research
1. Basic vs. Applied Research
2. Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research
3. Exploratory, Descriptive and Causal (EDC) Research
4. Predictive Research
1.
Basic vs. Applied Research
Basic or Fundamental Research: It is also known as Fundamental or
Pure research. It is Scientific in research and applicable on universal level.
Basic
research is mostly conducted to enhance knowledge. It covers fundamental
aspects of research. It is theoretical. It adds knowledge in existing research.
The main motive of this research is knowledge expansion. It is a non-commercial
research and doesn’t facilitate in creating or inventing anything but its results
may be used in commercial purpose.
For example- Any
experiment is a good example of basic research. Law of demand.
Applied or
Problem solving Research: Applied research focuses on analyzing and
solving real-life problems. This type of research refers to the study that
helps solve practical problems using scientific methods. This research plays an
important role in solving issues that impact the overall well-being of humans
because its application is implemented in real life problems. It works in development
of technology and products or services.
For example- Finding a
specific cure for a disease or Political or Economical problem based.
2.
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research
Qualitative
Research: Qualitative research is a process that is about inquiry
that helps in-depth understanding of the problems or issues in their natural
settings. This is a non- statistical research method.
For
example – Motivation level of people.
Qualitative
research is heavily dependent on the experience of the researchers and the
questions used to probe the sample. The sample size is usually restricted to 6-10 people in a sample. Open-ended questions are asked in a manner that one
question leads to another. The purpose of asking open-ended questions is to
gather as much information as possible from the sample.
Following
are the methods used for qualitative research:
1. One-to-one interview
2. Focus groups
3. Ethnographic Research
4. Content/ Text Analysis
5. Case study research
Quantitative Research: Qualitative research is a structured way of collecting data
and analyzing it to draw conclusions. Unlike qualitative research, this
research method uses a computational, statistical and similar method to collect
and analyze data. Quantitative data is all about numbers.
For example- Age, Height, Numbers based
research.
Quantitative
research involves a larger population as more number of people means more data.
In this manner, more data can be analyzed to obtain accurate results. This type
of research method uses close-ended
questions because,
in quantitative research, the researchers are typically looking at measuring
the extent and gathering foolproof statistical data.
Online surveys, questionnaires,
and polls are preferable data collection tools
used in quantitative research. There are various methods of deploying surveys
or questionnaires. In recent times online surveys and questionnaires have
gained popularity. Survey respondents can receive these surveys on mobile
phones, emails or can simply use the internet to access surveys or
questionnaires.
3. Exploratory, Descriptive and Causal
Research
a. Exploratory Research:
Exploratory research gives valuable
insight, generates ideas and hypotheses rather than measuring or testing them.
“Exploratory research is concerned with identifying the real nature of research
problems. Problems are undefined and perhaps of formulating relevant hypotheses
for various tests”. It develop platforms to descriptive and causal research.
Ex. Sales are declining
b. Descriptive Research:
Descriptive research is concerned with
measuring and estimating the frequencies with which things occur or the degree
of correlation or association between various variables. It has been seen that
market research reports are often descriptive and they measure market size,
market structure, and the behaviour and attitudes of consumers in the
marketplace. In general as the data obtained by descriptive research is put to
various statistical analysis, it is very necessary to make a list of the
variables to be investigated and how these variables will be measured. Primary
data is collected in this research. It describe the statistical data and researcher
has no control over variables.
Ex. What product features are attracting
our customers?
c. Causal Research(Experimental or
Explanatory) :
Causal research is basically concerned with
establishing cause and effect relationship and an attempt to explain why things
happen.
Ex. Will customer buy our product in blue
packaging in India?
Ex. 2- To what extent the price elasticity
of demand or the degree to which advertising campaigns have affected the sales
may be explained by causal research.
However, there are two important aspects of
causal research:
(i) Necessary condition and
(ii) Sufficient condition which should be
kept in mind.
An event may be considered as the cause of
another event, if its occurrence is the necessary and sufficient condition for the
latter event to take place. A necessary condition means that the caused events
cannot occur in the absence of the causative event. A sufficient condition
means the causative event is all that is needed to bring about the caused event.
4. Predictive Research:
The main purpose of predictive research is
to arrive at a forecast or prediction or some measurement of interest to the
researcher. The ultimate target may be the future sales level of the firm.
Other goals of predictive research may involve industry sales level, projection
or growth or defining of firm’s product line and the use of a test market to
predict the likely success of a new product.
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