7/30/2019 Qualitative vs Quantitative Market Research - Latimer Appleby, Market Research Consultants

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Qualitative vs Quantitative marketresearch: A Latimer Appleby UsefulGuide

Qualitative and quantitative market research approaches arecomplementary; however they do have quite distinct purposes, which

we can summarise as follows:

Quantitative research is more about answering the What?,Where?, When?, Which? and, to some extent, the How? questionsthat brand and business owners face.

Qualitative research, by contrast, seeks to explore the Whys? that

typically are manifested in the various behaviours we can measurethrough quantitative market research approaches.

There are also differences, between the approaches, in question design,data collection and the analysis and interpretation phases that takeplace as part of a any market research project:

NB The term qualitative research is frequently shortened to qual andquantitative research is frequently shortened to quant.

Question design

In terms of question design, qualitative studies rely on indirect,projective, open-ended questions, in contrast to the direct, structuredquestions we see in quantitative research.

Data collection

In terms of data collection qualitative studies are conducted amongst arelatively small number of respondents, interviewed at length and indepth.

Quantitative studies tend to involve interviewing a large number ofpeople and, typically, from a pre-coded questionnaire.

Analysis and interpretation

When it comes to analysis and interpretation, qualitative analysis looksat the total pattern of responses in an evolutionary interview.

Quantitative studies typically analyse responses to questions across a

larger number of people.

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When to use qualitative research?

The types of marketing problems that may require more of a qualitativefocus include the following:

Creative development work, for example: strategy definition,executional guidelines

NPD research, for example: gap analysis, concept exploration,packaging development

Market exploration studies, for example: consumer perceptions,segmentation hypotheses/ generating hypotheses, understandingtarget market needs

Tactical studies, for example: packaging, general strategic exploration,pre-quantification, image analysis

When to use Quantitative research?

The types of marketing problems that may require a quantitative focusinclude anything that requires measurement, such as the following:

Advertising pre-testing Communication effectiveness tracking Retail / market sizing / auditingValidating / checking qualitative hypotheses Quantifying target market / audience Best by Test, product evaluations Customer satisfactionIf you are in doubt as to which approach to use, it is always best to start

with the brief or what you are looking to achieve from the research firstrather than be concerned about how you will obtain the insights youseek. At Latimer Appleby, we use a method-neutral approach whichmeans we work with our clients to find the most appropriate way toresearch each problem and select the qual and quant researchtechniques (or combination thereof) accordingly. Please feel free tocontact us for further information.

Free qualitative vs quantitative research guide from Latimer Appleby,the market research consultants.