Why Qualitative Market Research Works
We know from many talks with clients and colleagues how difficult it can be to understand why qualitative research works “despite” the low number of respondents (often no more than 30 persons).
Here are some answers as we see it:
- It depends on the questioning: suitable questions are those concerning backgrounds, behavior patterns, motives and so on - we take a look behind the curtain.
- The respondents can answer in their own words: they are influenced neither by pre-worded response categories nor hindered because personal answers are not shown, for example, or because response categories seem ambiguous
- By having the possibility to put thoughts into their own words, participants are more actively involved in the discussion and are more strongly prepared to reveal something about themselves than in a standardized interview
- Differentiated views that frequently occur in reality can be verbalized and explained
- Moderators and interviewers can probe (“What did you mean by that?”) and so avoid misunderstandings, gain deeper insights and look behind rationalizations
- The possibility of observing non-verbal and unconscious reactions (facial expressions, body language, voice intonation etc.) and taking these into account for interpretation
- Projective techniques can be used, which make rational censuring of the answers more difficult and so give insights into the main wishes, attitudes, expectations, motivations and images that respondents actually have.
