2. Business Research Methods
Exploratory Research Design

3. Why Conduct Exploratory Research?
Diagnose a situation
Screening of alternatives
Discover new ideas

4. Techniques for Exploratory Research
Experience surveys
Observation
Pilot studies

5. Experience Surveys
Ask knowledgeable individuals about a particular research problem
most are quite willing

6. “If you wish to know the road up the
mountain, you must ask the man who
goes back and forth on it.”
- Zenrinkusi

7. Observation …may happen during field visits.
…may also take visual form.

8. Field Observation Meaning is extracted from field notes.
Field notes are the researchers’ descriptions of what actually happens in the field.
These notes then become the text from which meaning is extracted.

9. Visual Observation
Researchers may observe employees in their workplace, consumers in their home, or try to gain knowledge from photographic records of one type or another.

10. Observational research is keenly advantageous for gaining insight into things that respondents cannot or will not verbalize.

11. Pilot Study A collective term
Any small scale exploratory study that uses sampling
But does not apply rigorous standards

12. Pilot Studies Focus Group Interviews Projective Techniques
In-Depth Interviews

13. Projective Techniques
Word association tests
Sentence completion method
Third-person technique
Role playing
T.A.T.
Picture frustration version of T.A.T.

14. “A man is least himself when he talks
in his own person; when given a mask
he will tell the truth.”
--Oscar Wilde

15. Word Association Subject is presented with a list of words
Asked to respond with first word that comes to mind

16. Word Association Examples
GREEN

17. Word Association Examples
CAR

18. Sentence Completion People who drink beer are ______________________
A man who drinks light beer is ___________________
Imported beer is most liked by ___________________
A woman will drink beer when____________________

19. Thematic Apperception Test T.A.T.
A test that presents subjects with an ambiguous picture(s) in which consumers and products are the center of attention; the investigator asks the subject to tell what is happening in the picture(s) now and what might happen next.

20. Thematic Apperception Test T.A.T.

21. Focus Group Interviews
Unstructured
Free flowing
Group interview
Start with broad topic and focus in on specific issues

22. The Evolution of Focus Groups:
1st Period (1920 to 1950) – Social Science Origins
Origin in the social sciences
Group interviews used for developing survey instruments
Extensively used in the world war to generate propaganda material, create training manual for troops.
2nd Period (1950 to 1980) – Marketing
Social scientists moved to experimenting with other techniques.
Development in marketing research.
Referred to as ‘group-depth’ interviews.
Mainly used to develop commercial products, judge product responses.
3rd Period (1980 onwards) – Widespread Application
Widespread application in applied social research especially in health
Use in understanding promotion of contraceptive use
Used extensively to evaluate health education programs, evaluation research, intervention research not only in health but also in education research
The AIDS epidemic in researching sensitive issues in sexual behaviour.

23. Focus Groups can precede quantitative research as when :
They are done to understand the vocabulary or local terminology
To identify the problem and generate the research hypothesis
To understand the socio-cultural context of the research topic
Or used parallel with quantitative research when :
Triangulate the information obtained using different methods
To have a deeper understanding of the topic
Can follow quantitative research to gain :
Insights into the issues emerging from a survey
To help in interpreting the result of a quantitative survey
Can be used also as ‘stand-alone’ techniques :
To explore new research issues
To understand the diversity and variations in people’s behaviour, beliefs, values

24. The Focus Group Team :
A team effort with perfect understanding and co-ordination between the various members –
The Researcher
The Moderator
The Recruiter
The Note-taker (Observer)
Selection of the Participants :
Probability based sampling is not required as not meant to be used to describe how an entire population would respond to a question.
Sample size is also irrelevant as is not to study the distribution but the range and variation of responses.
Preferred way of selecting participants is by ‘Purposive or Convenience (Opportunistic) Sampling’.

25. How many participants ?
Essence is the discussion and interaction, optimal size of the group should be between 6 to 10 participants
What should be their characteristics ?
Key to a successful focus group is the composition of participants –
similar background – then talk more openly
no hierarchy with the participants, no obvious power relations
group is homogenous enough to allow for a free and lively discussion
How many focus groups to conduct ?
Not necessary to pre-decide
Conduct as many as required to reach point of information saturation
Preparatory stage of focus group (selection and composition) is the most important and unfortunately the most neglected by researchers

26. Advantages of Focus Groups :
The main advantage of focus groups is their ability to generate a lot of information far more quickly and at less cost then individual interviews
Uses group discussion – which is a natural form of communication in communities
Limitations of Focus Groups
Results of focus groups cannot usually be used to make statements about the wider community – they indicate a range of views and opinions but not their distribution
The findings from a focus group are for the group as a whole and cannot be individualized to the participants of the group. Thus the unit of analysis the group and not the individual
Participants often tend to agree with fellow responses (even if that is not how they really feel) – hence findings of focus groups should always be interpreted with caution
Focus groups have limited value in exploring complex beliefs of individuals or in getting information on personal experiences – where in-depth interviews may be better
Focus groups results indicate what is socially acceptable in a community (norms) as opposed to what people actually do (behaviour)

27. Outline for a Focus Group
Establish a rapport
Begin with broad topic
Focusing on specific topic
Generate discussion and interaction

28. The Moderator Develops rapport - helps people relax Interacts
Listens to what people have to say
Everyone gets a chance to speak

29. The Focus Group Moderator
Maintains loose control and focuses discussion
Stimulates spontaneous responses

30. Advantages of Online Focus Groups
Fast
Inexpensive
Bring together many participants from wide-spread geographical areas
Respondent anonymity
Transcript automatically recorded

31. Disadvantages of Online Focus Groups
Less group interaction
Absence of tactile stimulation
Absence of facial expression and body language
Moderator’s job is different

32. In-Depth Interview
A one-on-one interview between a professional researcher and a research respondent conducted about some relevant business or social topic.
the interviewer’s role is critical in a depth interview. He or she must be a highly skilled individual who can encourage the respondent to talk freely without influencing the direction of the conversation.
Probing questions are critical.

33. It is time-consuming.
The text need to be analyzed and interpreted by the researcher.
Analysis and interpretation of such data are highly subjective.

34. Advantages
Depth interviews provide more insight into a particular individual than do focus groups.
Since the setting isn’t really social, respondents are more likely to discuss sensitive topics than are those in a focus group.
Depth interviews are particularly advantageous when some unique or unusual behavior is being studied.