Principles and Practice of Marketing - Assignment Example

Principles and Practice of Marketing Introduction: A good marketer is one who uses the insights from others to help improve and interpret the past performance and improve the future performance. Developing any study or researching into any area need strong research methods to be used. Since market research plays such an important role in the success of any study, this paper aims at discussing two major research methods that are adopted by most students and managements for academic as well as management research. The paper aims at discussing the two major methods, i.e. quantitative research and qualitative research. Firstly, a brief of the two methods has been discussed, following which a comparison of the two methods is discussed taking into account the academic and management researches. Research Methodology: A paradigm can have various meanings. It refers to “your basic beliefs” and your approach to the world which affects the way you define your research and how you collect and analyse data (Collis & Hussey, 2003, p. 47). There are two basic types of research, namely, qualitative and quantitative research, i.e. phenomenological paradigm and positivistic paradigm. Hussey and Hussey (1997) consider these two methodologies to be at the two extremes of the research continuum. Qualitative Research: “Phenomenological” is based on the word “phenomenon” which means a fact that happened or an event that was witnessed. With the phenomenological approach the focus is on “understanding the human behaviour from the participant’s own frame of reference” (Collis & Hussey, 2003, p. 53). As this approach is related to an event within a context of time and place, the aim is to investigate an event by carrying out your own research to “construct new theory to explain the phenomenon” (Collis & Hussey, 2003, pp. 56-57) or use existing theory. The aim and focus with this approach is “on the quality and depth of data” (Collis & Hussey, 2003, pp. 56-57). In simpler terms, qualitative research takes into account an in-depth view of behaviour patterns of people. It aims at finding the reasons behind each aspect of behaviour or trend that is displayed. It becomes an answer to the how and what for the decision making unlike quantitative method being results of questions related to the what, when and where aspects (Jobber, 2004). Qualitative or phenomenological methods tend to produce rich intensive data relating to small numbers of people and moreover, they tend to provide more contextual data – which adds value to other data – while acknowledges the fundamental complexity of certain social phenomena (Walker, 1985). Hence, qualitative research need not have a very large sample; however a focused sample is necessary which helps the classification of data into patterns so as to form the basis for interpretation of results and for report making and organizing the results (Saunders, et al, 2000; Housel & Nelson, 2005). Quantitative Research: With the positivistic paradigm, the emphasis is on using measurement to find out the relationships between facts and causes of the phenomenon. This is “an essential element of the research process under this paradigm” (Collis & Hussey, 2003, p. 57). This approach is useful when there is a need to conduct statistical analysis (Collis & Hussey, 2003, p. 56). A positivistic approach will be used and the researcher will be independent, will not be influenced by the subject of research, and will take “the role of an objective analyst” (Saunders & Lewis & Thornhill, 2000, p. 85). Simply, quantitative research is a systematic method of investigation of quantifiable properties and entities (Jobber, 2004). It is a scientific method used both in social as well as other research forms. Generally, quantitative research is a repetitive process for evaluation of results and hypotheses. It is a positivistic approach that “Seeks the facts or causes of social phenomena, with little regard to the subjective state of the individual” (Hussey & Hussey, 1997, p52). The chief aim of quantitative research is use of applied mathematics techniques, hypotheses, theories and tools so as to have quantifiable results. The results are measured and scaled indicating the connection between mathematical models and empirical expressions of relationships that are quantitative in nature (Saunders, et al, 2000). Comparative Study: Over the years, there have been a number of discussions and arguments about the type of research that should be used for academic and business researches. The doubts have clearly been on whether qualitative or quantitative research should be used and which of these are more effective. Before discussing the qualitative and quantitative methods in light of the academic researches and in light of management researches, it is essential to get a brief overview of the differences of the two methods. The table below provides a clear explanation of this: Comparative Study of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods Dimension of Comparison Qualitative Research Quantitative Research Type and Style of Research Exploratory Causal or Descriptive Analysis Type and Style The analysis is generally subjective and is interpretive Here the analysis tends to be statistical and is more of summarization Style of Questions Probing and involves direct contact with the respondents which permits more detailed questioning Non Probing and here the respondents tend to answer simple close ended questions Sample Sizes Small and limited Large and can be very variant Information Collectable High as the questions can be probing and open ended Can vary from research to research Administration This form of research requires special interviewing skills Here not much special skills required, tends to be more focused on development of good survey instruments Basis of research These researches tend to be more text base These tend to be more number based Response Options Here the responses tend to be more unstructured or semi structured response options Here the response options are fixed Statistical Involvements Less or no statistical involvement is present in this form of research Here there is a higher use of statistical tests for the analysis Validity and Reliability Can be valid and reliable however it is mostly dependent on the skills and rigor of the researchers This form of research is also considered to be valid and reliable and is dependent on the instrument used and the sample size chosen Time and Costs Involved The time spent is light during the planning phase however can be much higher during the analysis phase. Costs involved are minimal. The time spent here is highest during the planning stages of the research and is lesser during the analysis phase. The costs involved can be high especially in the case of surveys, etc Types of research methods Focus Groups, in – depth interviews, telephonic interviews, reviews Surveys Primary Process Here this is a inductive process used for the formulation of the theories Here this is more of a deductive process used and is mostly to test already specified concepts, and hypothesis that build theories (Hussey, J. and Hussey (1997), Walker (1985), Saunders, et.al (2000), Housel& Nelson, 2005)) The above table provides a clear and concise view of the differences of quantitative and qualitative methods of research. According to Denzin & Lincoln (cited in Silverman 2005), “qualitative investigators think they can get closer to the actor’s perspective through detailed interviewing and observation” (p. 10). With qualitative researchers, the emphasis is on the close relationship between the subject of research and the researcher where the value is in the social reality and the meaning of the social event or phenomenon. However, in comparison, quantitative researchers focus on the measurement and analysis of facts and causes. The qualitative approach relies on the quality and depth of data and does not focus on the “measured (if measured at all) in terms of quantity, amount, intensity, or frequency” (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000, p. 8). In addition, as Waters (2001) explains, the quantitative approach is based on “simplified representations of reality where real features are depicted by symbols” (p. 8). The two methods have proved to be very effective both when mutually exclusive as well as when they complement each other. Mutually exclusive, the qualitative method proves to be very effective as it involves getting interviews from experts, which allows the research to be based on theories as well as with a feel of the practices. This allows the researcher to gain an understanding of how the techniques are used by experts and areas that need to be concentrated on more are explained by the experts thus making it a well researched project. In terms of the quantitative research, this generally takes into account the views of a number of people, i.e. like customers, employees and others who are in focus of the study. The higher number of respondents helps increase the validity of the research and the reliability of the research as well. Together the two methods complement each other. This has been clearly explained further in the paper with the discussion of research triangulation. Over the years, Lincoln and Guba (1985) have argued that sustaining the trustworthiness for a research report is dependent on factors like issues, and quantitatively these are referred to as the validity and reliability. Over the years the focus of measuring the reliability and the validity of a research has been replaced by the idea of trustworthiness. This basically refers to establishing a confidence in the findings. Maxwell (1992) argues that methods and procedures do not assure validity to the research in general, but they are critical to the process of excluding validity threats which lead to increasing creditability of the conclusions. The concept of validity of qualitative research has been defined as, ‘... a contingent construct, inescapably grounded in the processes and intentions of particular research methodologies and projects’ (Winter, 2000, p.1). Maxwell (1992) argues that validity is a goal rather than a product. This goal encounters some threats which are made by evidence, not methods. In order to exclude these threats, validity, as an important component of the research, must consist of a certain strategies. These strategies require the researcher to identify the specific threat in question and to develop ways to attempt to rule out that particular threat. The validity threats and the way they can be dealt with is a key issue in a qualitative research proposal. In dealing with validity threats Maxwell (1992) argues that qualitative researchers usually consider these threats as particular events or processes, rather than as generic variables. Comparatively, the validity of a quantitative research is very different as the results are based on the surveys. There are two main forms of validity here, i.e. internal validity where the results are gained as a degree of certainty which is observed as a result of an experimental treatment. Here the validity is enhanced with an increased control of other variables. The other form of validity is an external validity. Here the real world is taken into picture and this is more general in nature. The validity is based on the controlled setting of the research in this case (Collis & Hussey, 2003). Conclusions: As seen in the above discussion it is clear that for academic researches and business related researches, there have been a number of arguments. A number of researchers who have been in the field for a long time have shown interest and have been grounded to quantitative analysis. These researchers have been from a background of social science disciplines and this mostly has been their academic nature (Collis & Hussey, 2003). Experts believe this to be the ability to measure the complexity of the human behaviour which leads to an inclination towards quantitative researches. However it is important to note that the breath of the quantitative researches do not in a number of ways provide in depth analysis that are required for academic researches and management researches. Hence it is here that the subjective issues like customer perception and other similar areas of studies. Although the quantitative researches tend to provide a deep analysis for the researches, it is important to note that expert opinions are also an important part and hence the qualitative research becomes essential as well. The best way to ensure that a holistic view is provided in a research is to use a triangulation method. “Triangulation can overcome the potential bias and sterility of a single-method approach”, (Hussey & Hussey, 1997, p4). Hence triangulation will prove to be most effective here for the research and will also lead to provide the readers with a focused and trustworthy research as well. Triangulation in simple terms is a method of reinforcing the points that have been found in one method and ensuring all methods (quantitative as well as qualitative methods) lead to similar answers thereby making the response insightful and reliable as well (Collis & Hussey, 2003). In conclusion, aiming for validity in a research should remain the goal of the researchers and the threats that relate to the validity can be overcome by strategic planning and good design of the paper. As has been clearly understood by the above discussion, validity plays a very important role in any research and hence every researcher requires considering this, to ensure the paper is well received and is recognised to be trustworthy and reliable (Collis & Hussey, 2003). Also another very essential aspect that needs to be considered is the triangulation which has a major impact on creating a high level of reliability for the research that is conducted and created a sense of trustworthiness as well. 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