Qualitative Analysis - Report Example

Qualitative Analysis The objective of this analysis is to determine common trends in participant responses, in order to arrive at a conclusion as to whether or not they would enjoy wearing the Emma Fong summer day wear collection. This analysis covers two specific respondents, who have provided responses to a detailed interview dealing with their habits and preferences, in order to extract their potential as future Emma Fong customers. This analysis is primarily qualitative. A quantitative approach would view reality as objective and singular, while reality is subjective and multiple under the qualitative paradigm (Hussey and Hussey, 1997:48). It is based upon constructivism and multiple truths are assumed under this approach (Sale et al, 2002). Reality could assume various shapes and forms, because reality is viewed as being socially constructed rather than one objective reality. Qualitative evaluation data usually refers to raw, descriptive information about: programs/products and the people who participate in/use them or are affected by them and; programs/products and the people who develop or use them (Patton, 1987). According to Mintzberg, qualitative research designs “permit the researcher to get close to the data, to know well all the individuals involved and observe and record what they do and say.” (Mintzberg, 1979:586). In the context of this particular study, the data has been collected through detailed interviews; hence the information available on each participant is fairly comprehensive and covers a range of issues pertaining to their shopping habits and factors influencing their purchase decisions. One of the advantages of this study is that it uses primary qualitative data. A problem that arises in the context of secondary data is the unfamiliarity of a researcher with the data, because an analysis carried out using secondary data demonstrates the lack of insider understanding about the context within which such data was produced (Bryman 2001). Qualitative research is “endlessly creative and interpretative” (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000:7). Qualitative data usually occurs in the form of free flowing text, and different kinds of analysis can be done. One method is to create a word concordance, this is one by finding all the places in the text where a particular word occurs and the context within which it occurs. (Denzin, p. 269). For the purposes of coding in this study, six different variables are isolated that could have an impact on the kind of clothes which are likely to be selected for purchase by the participants, as follows: (a) Places where participants spend most of their time (b) People influencing the choices (c) Leisure activities they enjoy (d) Comfort levels desired in clothes (e) Convenience of shopping location (f) Personal Style of the customer Places where most time is spent: On the basis of the above, it may be noted that Participant 1, AY, spends most of her time at work in the city in a very relaxed environment, while Participant 2, MJ, spends most of her time at school or at home. The choice of clothes would therefore differ, while MJ might prefer trendy, casual clothes, AY might be required to select slightly more formal clothes. Although her work environment is relaxed, she would still be expected to conform to an office dress code, while MJ might have a higher degree of flexibility and freedom to experiment with trendy, young styles. People influencing choices: In terms of people influencing choices, AY’s close group of friends appear to be the significant influences. For MJ, the strongest influences are from the family. She goes shopping with her mother and grandmother. She has an especially high opinion of her grandmother’s tastes in fashion. Leisure activities: Where leisure activities are concerned, AY enjoys shopping, reading and socialising, going to new places and eating out at new places with her friends. MJ on the other hand, prefers to go out with her family and their outdoor haunts are generally theatres and concerts. This suggests that MJ’s choices in clothing may be more formal because of the kind of activities she prefers and the company she keeps with older people, while AJ’s choices may be more informal. Yet, both these participants do spend a lot of time indoors at home; hence their choices in everyday wear are likely to be clothes that are reasonable in cost, yet comfortable for wearing continuously around the house. Comfort: AY appears to desire high levels of comfort because it makes her feel confident in herself, rather than being self conscious about being “fat”. She also appears to favour “flowing” dresses and loose tops as opposed to fitted clothes, which indicates that comfort is a high priority on her list. She wants to look good but perhaps not at the expense of her comfort. MJ appears to be guided in her choice of clothes more by the beauty of the outfits rather than pure comfort, as illustrated through her choice of the red orange 1950s dress. Convenience: AY appears to prefer to shop online, which suggests that she prefers a convenient location and also finds the Internet cheaper. In general, her budget for her retail shopping appears to be the same, whether or not her final choice is buying the clothes off the Internet or in a store. Her choice about whether to buy branded clothes at an expensive price or settle for cheaper clothes depends largely on her assessment of whether the clothes look good on her or not. The choice is also influenced by the kind of clothes she wants to buy; if she’s purchasing a dress for an evening out, the retail outlets are favoured, while everyday wear clothes are bought off the Internet. For MJ, convenience definitely appears to play a significant role in her shopping choices, because she opts to shop mostly on e-bay, because (a) she is able to pick up vintage clothing and (b) she finds it a bother to travel all the way out to the retail outlets, because she states they are located at inconvenient places. As opposed to AJ, she appears to be more conscious of brands and one of the reasons for her choice of e-Bay over retail outlets is because she feels their stock of branded items is not adequate. Personal Style of customer: AY’s personal style is a significant factor in her choice of clothes, because she personally prefers loose, flying styles. As opposed to this MJ appears to prefer vintage clothes, because modern styles do not seem to appeal to her all that much. She likes feminine, colourful outfits that have an air of timelessness about them, but does not generally like black because she finds it depressing. She opts to go shopping at a special vintage store where there is every possibility that she spends more money, hence she appears less budget conscious as opposed to AY. The similarity between the two participants is that both generally appear to favour vintage styles, which suggests that they prefer classical fashion, the tried and tested, as opposed to experimental or modern kinds of designs in clothes. Conclusions: As Trochim (2001) has pointed out, Qualitative methods lend themselves well to those studies where a special understanding of the issues is sought to be achieved and in the generation of a level of information that is fairly comprehensive. The above analysis has revealed both similarities and dissimilarities between the two participants. Both of them appear to prefer shopping on e-Bay because they are able to pick up clothes that suit their particular preference at a reasonable cost. Moreover, where everyday clothes are concerned, it may definitely be inferred that both participants are not likely to choose expensive clothes, neither would they be favourably disposed towards shopping at fashion outlets that are far away and not convenient. MJ prefers vintage clothes, while AY prefers flowing styles. This clearly provides an inference that where fashion choices are concerned, both preferences may prefer classical styles. In terms of outings and leisure activities, it could be inferred that clothes which are reasonably chic and could be appropriate in both an informal and fairly formal setting such as the theatre are likely to be appreciated by both participants. Based upon the findings in this analysis, it would appear that Emma Fong garments would be best appreciated by potential customers if they stay close to classical fashion styles that have withstood the test of time. Stylish clothes that are colourful and comfortable and appropriate in a variety of situations might also be appreciated by customers. M appears a more likely customer for Emma Fong because she is conscious of brand names, but presenting garments on e-Bay through a website might be a source of high volume of sales, especially if the garments are reasonably priced. References: * Bryman, A. (2001). Social Research Methods, UK: Oxford University Press. * Denzin, Norman K and Lincoln, Yvonna S, 2000. “Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials”, Sage. * Hussey, J.I. and Hussey, Roger, 1997. “Paradigms: analyzing qualitative data”, London: Macmillan Press * Mintzberg, H, 1979. “An emerging strategy of direct research”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 24: 582-589 * Patton, M, 1987. “How to use qualitative methods in evaluation”, London: Sage Publications * Sale, Joanna E.M., Lohfeld, Lynne H and Brazil, Kevin, 2002. “Revising the Quantitative-qualitative debate: implications for mixed methods research”, Quality and Quantity, 36: 43-53 * Trochim, William, 2001. “The Research Methods Knowledge base” (2nd Edn) Atomic Dog Publishing Read More