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Research Design

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•Write a sentence that explains the meaning of each of the three types of research design.   Use the lecture material provided but put this in your own words.

•exploratory research

•descriptive research

•causal research
.

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Australia Talks - Find out where you fit, and how you compare to other Australians in 2021

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Find out how your opinions, feelings and experiences compare to other Australians by taking Australia Talks. Where do you fit?

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3 min video

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Class Discussion - Research in the Media

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Class Discussion - Research in the Media

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What have you seen in the media recently that uses research data?
• Climate change / weather
• Coronavirus coverage / stats
• Consumer trends

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Jeremy Fernandez is joined by Dr Norman Swan, Casey Briggs, medical experts and health authorities to bring you everything you need to know about the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine and to answer your questions.

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Jeremy Fernandez is joined by Dr Norman Swan, Casey Briggs, medical experts and health authorities to bring you everything you need to know about the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine and to answer your questions.

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What is an insight?
Research the definition of a consumer insight online and then find a marketing/advertising example you like  For example an ad on youtube.  Explain the consumer insight that you believe it is designed on.

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11 min read

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Consumer insights go beyond simply spotting trends in behaviour. It's more about understanding why people do what they do. That way, you can shift to marketing that's proactive rather than reactive, and anticipate their (and your) next move.

If that's the kind of knowledge you want to build your business on (and trust us, it should be), keep reading. We'll explain everything about the magic of consumer insights, where to get them and what you can learn from them. With some real-life examples and the right tools, you'll have your next campaign up and running in no-time.

What are consumer insights?

A consumer insight is specific information about the opinions and behaviours of consumers, that doesn't just explain what they do, prefer or think, but also the reason behind it. With this essential knowledge, you can create more effective marketing campaigns, better products and tailored services.

For instance, beauty brands do market research, and see that there's a downward trend of women in their twenties dying their hair. That's something they can work with.

But if you take a step further, from the market as a whole to the customers' minds, you can understand why this demographic is buying less and less hair dye. Perhaps they are hesitant because of the chemicals being used? Or there could be social and generational differences in whether people feel the need to dye their hair? That's where consumer insights can help you make a difference.

Now you can also try to rebrand and create products that match expectations better, with natural ingredients for instance.

Analysing consumer insights and human behaviours and not just market trends is essential if you want to set yourself up for success. After all, 'the market' is made up of humans. Get to know what makes customers tick.

So, if you want to step up your game, gathering consumer insights is the step that comes after market research. It analyses why things are happening, giving you a lot more information to base your next move on - product or messaging wise.

Why you should use customer insights in your marketing strategy

Customer insights make your marketing strategy more targeted. You get a clear idea of what to focus on in your current situation, and how to prepare for the future. It's much easier to resolve problems or face challenges if you know what has been the root cause of the problem, rather than just recognizing the problem.

According to Microsoft, organizations that leverage their customer behaviour to generate insights outperform their peers by 85% in sales growth.

So, if your existing data from market research leaves you unsatisfied, and you want to dive deeper into the trends you spot, turn to customer insight. They can help you answer questions like:

What do we need to succeed with that new target market?

Why are sales down in that target audience?

How would we need to change product X to make it attractive for young people?

What is our audience noticing first in a brand?

What does our new target market not like about the competitors?

You learn how to amplify your marketing efforts by improving your own brand and product, and by understanding what the competition is doing wrong - in the eyes of your audience.

Take control over the customer journey

Plus, consumer insights are useful in any stage of customers' journey and buying process. Even if people have never heard of your product or brand - or maybe especially then - you will want to know what's going on inside their heads. That way you can put yourself in the spotlight to enter the awareness first, making a great first impression - a customer journey they will treasure.

Personalize your marketing messaging

If you want personalization in your marketing and improve customer experience, you can't go without consumer insights.

If you want to target customers in a more unique way, you need a more in-depth understanding of what catches their eye, and what makes them choose The trick is: don't talk about your products or brand. Talk about your customers.

They're crucial for brand development

Build a brand that your customer base will love. Not just for its products and services, but also for the customer sentiment it sparks. Many consumers don't just gather information on a product, but want to connect with a brand. That's why good brand development is so important. Get to know your users and raise awareness by getting in their heads-and you can test the impact when you measure brand perception with things like consumer research platforms, customer profiling software and brand intelligence software.

Prevent misunderstanding in any marketing campaign

Nothing's more awkward than a brand trying to understand how a target audience thinks, without ever asking them. Have you ever seen a marketing campaign or ad that was somewhat obviously aimed at your demographic, but you couldn't help but roll your eyes?

Go beyond knowing what people want to see and understand why - then you'll know the how.

Predict churn and improve inventory planning

Spot a trend in sales? Make sure you always have your stock on point. By not only looking at the numbers, but also the buying reasons (and why people stop buying) you can optimize your inventory to a T.

Maximize customer lifetime value and customer retention

Understanding what your customers think now is great. But monitoring this over time is even better, especially if you want to build customer loyalty and boost customer retention. It will help you adapt your marketing and products exactly at the right time, so customers can't help but come back for more.

Branch out into new markets successfully

This is more or less a combination of all the reasons we mentioned above. If you want to enter a new market and reach new target consumers, make sure you get to know the people there really well before you make a move. This will help you decide whether it's a smart decision, and what your opening line should be.

5 key consumer insights examples that worked

It's time to dive into some real-world examples of how consumer insights can take your business to the next level. Here's how Attest customers have gathered valuable customer insights.

1. Evive Nutrition used consumer insights to take the States by storm

Evive Nutrition revolutionized healthy eating in Canada, and their next step was the US. After five years of building a successful brand, the business knew it was time to start testing the waters in the States.

Evive Brand Manager Amaël Proulx said: 'We expanded with the blue ocean strategy, meaning nobody is doing exactly what we're doing in the US, so we wanted to capitalize on our innovation and uniqueness with our cross-sales channels.'

The insight

To be able to 'wow' their new target audience, Evive Nutrition turned to Attest for customer insight. And with success!

'One of the most valuable learnings also had to do with the types of flavours the US found the most appealing. We were able to validate many of our assumptions when it comes to our communications.'
Why it worked and what you can learn from it
It's not just the customer insight that set Evive Nutrition up for success, it's also how they utilized them. They made sure everyone had access if needed, and everyone was up to speed.

2. Organic valley uses consumer insights to find the right flavours

A fast-paced F&B brand that continually develops and markets new products, needed some help in their decision-making process. Tripp Hughes, Senior Director of Consumer Strategy at Organic Valley, found that help for his team in Attest.

He uses it to fuel innovation, speed up iteration and nail down the most effective messaging. With consumer insights, he was able to develop a tasty new breakfast innovation, Egg Bites.

The insights

Hughes said: 'We were able to identify the top three flavours that we then wanted to bring into the pilot labs. But while our primary customer insight was around flavours, we also got back a secondary, unanticipated insight around how the consumers were clustered around the naming of products as well.'

But really diving into the customer insight, they found that it wasn't just about choosing the right flavour, it was choosing the right flavour in the context of a broader name.

'Spicy tomato salsa egg bites' reminded customers of the Mexican dish huevos rancheros. And so they were able to test 'spicy tomato salsa egg bites' versus 'Mexican egg bites with rancheros salsa'. They tested the same thing for New York pizza egg bites' compared to 'pizza egg bites'.

Why it worked and what you can learn from it

Such quick initial learnings through Attest saves Organic Valley between 10 to 20 times what it would cost to make the discoveries later down the line.

'The impact is coming in reduced time and improved next-round thinking that we're taking into focus groups where we've got a high-cost factor. '

3. Little Moons used consumer insights to identify their ideal customer base

When Japanese ice cream brand Little Moons went viral on TikTok, sales increased tenfold.

How could they leverage the momentum after the views stopped growing?

They had to know exactly who would be willing to buy Little Moons on a habitual basis. Would that be the average TikTok user? They dove into their consumer insights to find out who was calling the shots in the dessert aisle.

The insights

Little Moons carried out a consumer profiling exercise aimed at identifying the bigger spenders on ice cream, to know who their real customer base was.

Ross Farquhar, Marketing Director at Little Moons said: 'Our social media following would suggest our audience were late teens/early 20s females. But Attest consumer profiling identified that the people driving most of the volume in premium ice cream are actually affluent 30+ year olds with more disposable income.'

Why it worked and what you can learn from it

Little Moons recognised that in order to translate the trend into the business outcomes they wanted, they were going to have to take the story of what was happening on TikTok and show it to people who weren't on the platform - affluent shoppers who were perhaps a bit older.

4. GoCardless used consumer profiling to get closer to customers

Another important part of customer insight is discovering the challenges they face - with your product, or something related. GoCardless explored consumers' payment challenges to increase the effectiveness of sales and marketing conversations.

The insights

Online shoppers at the checkout can feel some really concerning pain points. GoCardless wanted to know what was really going on there, so that they could provide products that address the payment challenges they face and more effectively communicate the brand's value proposition.

Why it worked and what you can learn from it

Through Attest research the team established pain points across the payments process spectrum: from the cost businesses incur for payments, to international coverage and everything in between.

Every single solution they now launch is backed by research. This is helping them become the industry leader and has improved the maturity of their value proposition articulation, which they passed to their sales team, and which reflected in satisfied customers.

Siamac Rezaiezadeh, Director of Product Marketing at GoCardless said: 'Before using Attest, that framework was used in around 5-10% of sales conversations; after using Attest it's used in 25-30% of sales conversations.'

Do people still want red roses on Valentine's Day? Bloom & Wild dared to ask the question. And that got them record sales growth (and a lot of people had a more unique Valentine's Day than they've had in years).

The insights

Are red roses on Valentine's Day a cliché? Yes. And while it's still great to receive them, it can be incredibly hard to sell them. Are you really going to compete on price - and give your partner the cheapest option? Or would you like to give them something unique?

Through their customer insight project, Bloom & Wild learned that it was the last option, which helped them stand out from the crowd.

Why it worked and what you can learn from it

Charlotte Langley, Brand & Communications Director at Bloom & Wild said: 'We found that 79% of people would prefer to receive a thoughtful gift rather than something traditional, like red roses. 58% of people thought red roses were a cliché. So, that gave us confidence that we had correctly sensed growing reluctance towards those sorts of Valentine's Day clichés.

Flowers for spring? Groundbreaking. Roses for Valentines? Shocking.

The data didn't just help them improve what they offered and provide customer satisfaction, but it also got them some real press coverage, thanks to the daring No Red Roses Campaign.

All the best customer insight tools in one place

Find out how you can use consumer insight to get a deeper understanding of how to make your customers the happiest ones out there. Start with our free template to build a survey and access our audience of 125m people in 58 countries for the most thorough consumer insight research, quickly and easily.

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5 Consumer Insight Examples & What You Can Learn | Attest Blog

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Consumer insights go beyond simply spotting trends in behaviour. It's more about understanding why people do what they do. That way, you can shift to marketing that's proactive rather than reactive, and anticipate their (and your) next move. If that's the kind of knowledge you want to build your business on (and trust us, it should be), keep reading.

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Research & Insight  -            Lecture Topic 1          (for reference in Week Four's Quiz)

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Research & Insight  -            Lecture Topic 1          (for reference in Week Four's Quiz)

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Why do we conduct research?

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This is how to get better marks

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How to start using Grammarly Premium:
1. Go to  www.grammarly.com/edu
2. Click on JOIN YOUR ORGANISATION, at the top of the page
3. Then sign up with your mymacleay email

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Video - qualitative research / focus groups

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Video - qualitative research / focus groups

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How focus groups work

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Mod•U: Powerful Concepts in Social Science

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Preparing for Focus Groups: Qualitative Research Methods

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Same every week

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What did you learn today?
Add in comments below.

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5 min read

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Qualitative research interviews are depth interviews. They elicit detailed feedback from your leads and customers. Unstructured interviews reveal why people react in a certain way or make certain decisions. According to The Hartford, qualitative research provides an anecdotal look into your business. That provides an important form of data.

Why Your Business Should Use a Qualitative Interview Process

Qualitative research helps business owners:

Identify customer needs

Clarify marketing messages

Generate ideas for improvements of a product

Decide to extend a line or brand

Gain perspective on how a product fits into a customer's lifestyle

How Is Conducting Qualitative Research & Quantitative Research Different?

Quantitative research concerns measurable quantities and numbers. It involves close-ended questions. Answer possibilities include yes or no, true or false, or various set choices. Qualitative research is descriptive and concerned with understanding behavior. It invites people to tell their stories in their own words.

Examples of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research helps researchers understand the social reality of individuals, groups and cultures. Qualitative research for businesses involves understanding consumer behavior. It can involve ethnographic techniques, including participant observation and field research. It also includes phenomenology, understanding life experiences using written or recorded narratives. Qualitative research also includes in-depth interviews.

What Is a Qualitative Interview?

A qualitative interview is a more personal form of research compared to questionnaires. The interviewer can probe or ask follow-up research questions of the interview participant. In some cases, subjects may start to interview the interviewer. This fosters deep discussion of the interview topic.

Why Are Interview Techniques in Qualitative Research Effective?

Qualitative research interviews help you explain, understand and explore opinions, behavior and experiences. Qualitative research can provide insights into a phenomenon. Qualitative research discoveries can be further researched and analyzed to influence business decisions.

How Are Interviews in Qualitative Research Formatted?

Qualitative research interviews may take place one-on-one or in focus groups. Learn how to run a successful focus group. Interviews span around 30 to 90 minutes. The interview can take place in person, over the phone or through video chat. The interviewer collects information about opinions, behavior, attitudes, feelings, preferences and knowledge.

How to Conduct Interviews in Qualitative Research

1. Determine your goal.

2. Target people to interview.

3. Design interview questions.

4. Prep the interview.

5. Conduct the interview.

6. Transcribe and analyze the interview.

7. Optimize and evolve your interview guide.

The First Step in Qualitative Research: Determine Your Goal

Determine what you want to study:

A current or potential product, service or brand positioning

Strengths and weaknesses in products

Purchasing decisions

Reactions to advertising or marketing campaigns

Usability of a website or other interactive services

Perceptions about the company, brand or product

Reactions to packaging and design

How Can You Decide a Goal for a Qualitative Interview?

Have your business team ask the following questions:

What information do you want to get?

Why do you want to pursue in-depth information about this research topic?

Why is a qualitative interview process the best solution for this research?

How will you use qualitative data to improve your business?

How to Determine the Right Interview Participants

When looking for people to talk to for a qualitative interview, consider your goal. If you want to expand a product line, interview existing customers about their needs. If you're researching marketing, ask new customers how they found your business. Match interview subjects with the goal of the interview.

How to Design Interview Questions for Qualitative Research

When you're creating an interview guide, it's a good idea to:

Plan structured interviews with open ended questions.

Avoid leading questions.

Create interview questions that are clear and easy to understand.

Make research questions focused but flexible.

Design questions that align with data collection and data analysis goals.

Tips for Preparing a Qualitative Research Interview

Preparation improves interview effectiveness. Tips to prepare include:

Create an interview guide. The guide should include questions, question intent and answer-based paths to take.

Choose a setting where the subject feels comfortable.

Build rapport with interview participants.

Have a reliable way to record the interview.

Rehearse the interview first.

Environmental Concerns for Qualitative Interviews

The setting of a qualitative interview also affects the quality of the interview. Consider the needs of the subject. For example, if you're interviewing a teenager, a formal boardroom may not be the best setting. Some cultures may not value direct eye contact. An interview that's non-face-to-face may be better.

How to Make Qualitative Interview Subjects Comfortable

For long interviews, offer water and breaks to participants. Be polite and respectful when interacting with interview subjects. Let interview participants know the purpose of the research. Explain exactly how you'll use their answers. Address terms of confidentiality if necessary. Thank participants after the interview and let them know what to expect next.

What Are Interview Techniques in Qualitative Research?

Qualitative research techniques include:

Start interviews with "get-to-know-you" questions to put the interview participant at ease.

Pay attention.

Use active listening techniques.

Watch for body language cues.

Pivot questions as needed.

Acknowledge emotions.

Avoid interrogation.

Ending interviews, ask subjects if they have anything to add.

What Is Active Listening in Interviews in Qualitative Research?

Active listening techniques include:

Make eye contact.

Lean in and use body language to show you're listening.

Don't get distracted by devices.

Use verbal affirmation.

Paraphrase answers for reflection.

Reference earlier answers.

Avoid interrupting.

Embrace pauses.

Ask for clarification.

Pay attention in the moment.

Tips for Transcribing a Qualitative Interview

It's best to transcribe and analyze a qualitative research interview right away. This helps you optimize future interviews. Transcribe the interview word for word. Note non-verbal interactions in your transcription. Interactions like pauses and laughter can provide deeper insights into responses.

How to Analyze a Qualitative Interview

Analyze your qualitative research data early. That way, you can identify emerging themes to shape future interviews. Consider adding these to each interview report:

The goal of the interview

Details about the interview participant

Questions asked, summarized responses and key findings

Recommendations

Relate the analysis to the goal of the qualitative research interview.

Optimize the Interview Guide for Qualitative Research

Each interview can help you improve the efficiency and effectiveness of future ones. Adjust your interview guide based on insights from each previous interview. Keep all versions of your transcriptions and interview guides with notes on them. You can reference these for future qualitative research.

Get Reliable Transcription Services for Qualitative Research Interviews

As mentioned, you should transcribe qualitative research interviews as soon as possible. There are several reasons for this.

You can gain insights that help you shape your interview guide. You might identify questions to add or questions to clarify.

Your interview participants may not be appropriate for this type of qualitative research. Finding more targeted interview subjects may be better.

Answers may evolve the qualitative research goal and/or data analysis.

At Rev, we understand the need for fast transcription for accurate market research. We provide a turnaround time of as few as 12 hours, no matter how big your project is. We guarantee 99%+ accuracy.

Learn about Rev's market research transcription. We can help make your qualitative research project a success.

Download our FREE Qualitative Research Interview Checklist

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How to Conduct Interviews in Qualitative Research

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Qualitative research interviews are depth interviews. They elicit detailed feedback from your leads and customers. Unstructured interviews reveal why people react in a certain way or make certain decisions. According to The Hartford, qualitative research provides an anecdotal look into your business. That provides an important form of data.

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Article - conducting qualitative research

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Article - conducting qualitative research

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5 min read

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Customers don't think like we do. And similarly, what we may think looks or sounds right for our company and website, or what may be a primary motivator of visitors, could (and is most likely) completely off.
Elizabeth Wellington explains;
"Customers give information that reveals their attitudes (how they think they should behave) rather than behaviors (how they actually make decisions)"

But conversions and the path that leads to those conversions is highly driven by the customer. The image of a funnel is what comes to mind when many think of conversions, however, because the customer is irrational and highly distracted, it looks more like this:

There are ways of conducting qualitative research to gather customer data and understand more about what they are thinking, what is motivating them.

When is a qualitative approach needed:

Little is known or present understanding is inadequate

Making sense of complex situations or social processes

Learn from participants about their experiences (beliefs, motivations, opinions)

Construct a hypothesis/theory from data

Understand phenomena deeply and in detail

You're essentially putting an organized framework on the messiness of life:

"Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit." Henry Adams

But one must be wearied with some of the results because surveys and polls aren't always accurate. Results of those qualitative studies aren't always accurate. There is a science in the way that you ask and how you ask it (the method to use).
Susan Farrell explains;

"Write neutral questions that don't imply particular answers or give away your expectations." Keep it short. Every extra question reduces your response rate, decreases validity, and makes all your results suspect."

Qualitative research participants often answer something, but there subconscious and actions do something entirely different. Many studies have been conducted on how faulty relying on qualitative data can be. Participants tend to say the first thing that comes to mind or what they think they want. But you dig deeper to realize that there's a lot more than you must be uncovered, and what they think they want or why they think they choose is a product or service isn't the true motivation.

So although it's important to assume the majority of qualitative research participants aren't maliciously telling untruths, it happens often enough to make you really think about why it's happening and what you can do about it.

It's also very possible that they simply don't remember an answer. If you are asking a question about whether or not someone will buy from you again in the future (or subscribe to your service), you are likely to get a positive response that doesn't mirror the true future.

These all point to one overwhelmingly clear pattern: a clearly poorly designed qualitative research method. Some questions shouldn't be asked in that specific format, or the way the question is asked almost forces a specific kind of response, leading to a greater change of untruths. Growing up in the 1990's and early 2000s, I had to fill plenty of forms and always got asked the question of my ethnicity. I could never figure out where I belonged exactly - in what group. It felt limiting and likely lead me to select what felt right but wasn't actually right.
So let's break it down - why do participants lie and what can you do about it?

1. Participants care about appearances: When you ask for demographical details, income details, employment details, people hate appearing like they're worse off than others.

2. Participants want to stay socially viable: If there is something socially unacceptable, people will tend to tell untruths about the reality of their situation. Think about a topic like voting - it's socially undesirable to be a citizen that simply does not vote or participate.

3. Participants are sensitive too: Social and personal questions, including illegal behaviors, may lead participants to tell untruths about realities they deal with.

4. Participants aren't malicious and want to "help:" If they think that's the answer the research wants to hear, they will give the answer they believe the research "needs" in order to please or help them.

5. Participants are human which means greedy: If there is something in it for them, or they think there is, they will shape the answer to meet their needs.

Ok, this is a little disheartening, but qualitative research is still quite invaluable. The key is how to use it, using what method, how to conduct it and analyze it. But first...

The basics: what is qualitative research?

Image Source: qualitativeresearch

Elizabeth Wellington describes it well:

"In his book "How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market," Zaltman characterizes this part of the mind as a "wonderful, if messy, stew of memories, emotions, thoughts, and other cognitive processes we're not aware of or that we can't articulate." As customers, we make decisions from that convoluted (and unexamined) place. Without the amygdalae - the instinctual part of our brain that generates emotions - we wouldn't be able to make any decisions at all."

It's a not a single approach, but rather a very broad systematic collection and organization and interpretation of textual information.

There is no one way to conduct qualitative research. It is definitely complicated. The wrong question can lead to useless data. It definitely requires much organization and categorization. And finally, qualitative data requires deep interpretation and the many methods of doing that. A well-formed question is the key to good research and often leads to more research and more questions. When you consider what a good research question is, consider that it should include the following qualities:

It is inductive, exploratory

It's impartial in the statement, and there are no underlying hints given

Careful focusing on a single idea, don't overdo it by asking too much

Here are the 9 tips for conducting deep, meaningful qualitative research:
Image Source: qualitativeresearchprocess

1. Set a goal

Never begin a qualitative research activity without having oriented yourself with what it is you are trying to learn and achieve. Otherwise, you will not be able to formulate the right question, nor come up with the correct mechanism and/or setting to conduct your research.

If you know your goal, and you are familiar with the different methods of conducting qualitative research and the application of those methods; which will be covered later in this blog, you will have a better outcome with the research. Ultimately whatever method of research you select based on your goal, will help identify what processes must be followed for the best results.

Finally, part of your goals should include who the participants that you are targeting are. Throwing a wide net to all visitors of a website is less meaningful then selecting a segment depending on the question(s) being asked.

2. Consider the Outcomes

There are few possible products or outcomes that can come out of qualitative research. The outcomes are highly dependent on the type of qualitative research you conduct as well. Some of the outcomes you can expect include:

Recurrent themes and hypotheses

Survey instrument measures

Taxonomies

Conceptual models (theories)

"Not everything that can be counted counts; not everything that counts can be counted." Albert Einstein

One thing to understand about qualitative research is it's almost never about the numbers, but rather the overall meaning. You're essentially capturing a specific aspect of social or psychological life.
According to Priscilla Esser and Ditte Mortensen:
"When you're sharing results from qualitative user research efforts, you're most likely focusing on creating an understanding for the lives people lead, the tasks that they need to fulfill, and the interactions they must effect so as to achieve what they need or want to do."

So, what does that mean for you? Well for one, there are some important considerations to keep in mind, which will better help you interpret the data:

Don't expect a single answer. You will always get a multitude of answers that you must decipher. Looking at the data, don't look at it from a quantitative analysis perspective, because it's not like that. You're a merely telling a story. Your story may not be entirely true; however, it MUST be: plausible, coherent, and if you want some truth behind it and a stronger case: quantitative data to back it up.

3. Know the context to better understand the responses

A key area to think about when it comes to qualitative data is that it's relative.

"Truth can be compelling without being absolute." Remember ultimately that many truths are relative, especially considering qualitative data.

So, you need to understand and think about context when you conduct and analyze the data coming from qualitative research.

Context includes:

Source of traffic - understand the journey that brought them to your site will help you understand why they answer what they answer. A great place to start is by analyzing the sources of traffic that brought these visitors to your site in the first place. That way you can understand their journey that much better.

Bias - There's no way around it, qualitative data is tainted with bias. While quantitative data enjoys an absolute truth because numbers are numbers, qualitative data is quite the opposite. Trying to gauge human bias in your sample group is important for context.

Subjectivity - we always say as a golden rule to optimization is that you want to get from subjectivity to objectivity and data-driven changes. However, it's important to recognize that qualitative data is quite subjective during the analysis process. That's why you want to try and pain some of that qual data with analytics or other qual data to provide objectivity to a particular issue you uncovered.

4. Eliminate Researcher Bias

You're biased. Everyone is. As a researcher, however, this bias can stand in the way of asking the right questions and seeing other perspectives. So, our recommendation is to have some sort of a questionnaire or checklist before going into the research to ensure that you practice good reflexivity:

Consider 5 factors how participants will view you (presumptions)? Because you are the company asking, how will that affect the answers they give?

Then consider the 5 factors that impact the way you analyze data (as a researcher). Consider what assumptions you, as the researcher, have about life, people, website or business, and how those factors may shape your reading of the data.

That brings us to two important terms that everyone who conducts qualitative research should know: Ontology and Epistemology.

Ontology refers to what is nature of the research vs. the reality. Ultimately, the researcher's philosophical assumptions about the nature of reality.

Epistemology refers to what is possible to know and how we can generate meaningful knowledge. So, the researcher's assumptions on the best ways to inquire to find out the truth. Being aware of these two terms helps you understand that you too have a bias. Knowing it and understanding what will help combat it can give allow for a better chance to ensure your research will not be polluted.

Knowing these two terms will help you construct "3 fundamental questions to your research:

The ontological question: What is the form and nature of reality?

The epistemological question: What is the basic belief about knowledge (what can be known)?

The methodological question: How can the research go about finding what she believes can be known?" (Guba, Lincoln 1994)

5. Beware of subjectivity

Ultimately, researchers often fall into the mistake of subjecting histories, assumptions, and values into research the research they conduct. This is why as researchers we must be consciously practicing reflexivity.

Reflexivity refers to the reflective process in which a researcher considers how the findings were produced, taking into consideration the prior knowledge, and our role in it.

6. Understand the Who?

The second most important consideration is the Who of your research. While quantitative research often samples large groups of people randomly, there is a lot more purpose and specificity to the selection of smaller samples for qualitative research. Because the samples are smaller, they must be less random.

Image source: Slideshare

Data Sampling: There are many ways of sampling data, however, for the purpose of this article, we will talk about two ways:

1. Probability sampling: This is selecting a truly random, yet statistically representative sample that can be generalized to a better understanding of the greater population (market) This is used in quantitative data collection.

2. Purposeful sampling: selecting "information-rich cases" (Patton 1990) for deeper research. From these smaller, yet sought-out samples, you can learn a great deal about issues that are central to the research. The purpose is to "select information-rich cases whose study will illuminate the question under study." (Patton) This is used in qualitative data collection.

Determine key informants: Again, the aim is at being purposeful when it comes to sampling. Seek out, specific individuals.

Breadth not representatives: You aren't looking for general public, yet people with the extreme circumstance that make them eligible for the study. For instance, I'm looking to understand what makes individuals loyal to my brand. The average loyal customer shops 2 - 3 times a year. I would seek out those customers who shop over 8 or 9 times a year.
Sample size

depends on the complexity of inquiry and type of qual research (cannot be clearly determined in advance)

determined by "theoretical saturation (a point at which no new concepts emerge from data)"

7. Select the right Qualitative Research method

Image Source: methodsuxdesign

Qualitative research involves many different formats and methods, each with a specific use and aim. The methods include face-to-face or phone interviews, focus groups, observation (natural settings), textual (polls, surveys).
According to Ditte Mortensen:
"Qualitative methods such as interviews, ethnographic field studies, and (to some degree) usability tests are often more exploratory and seek to get a more in-depth understanding of the individual users' or user group's experiences, motivations, and everyday lives."

Interviews

Interviews should be considered as "conversations with a purpose." There are two ways to conducting interviews. Face-to-face or via phone. While in today's digital world, people are less likely to conduct face-face, the chances of accuracy are always less likely when you can't view the person and their expressions when they answer.

Topics and issues to be covered are specified in advance, in outline form; the interviewer decides sequence and the outline increases the comprehensiveness of the data and makes data collection somewhat systematic for each respondent. Logical gaps in Important and salient topics may be inadvertently omitted. Interviewer flexibility in sequencing and wording questions can result in the wording of questions in the course of the interview. data can be anticipated and closed. Interviews remain fairly conversational and situational. substantially different responses from different perspectives, thus reducing the comparability of responses.
Useful for:

Individual perspectives and experiences

Sensitive topics

Situations where there is perceived danger of reprisal

Topics that cannot be investigated through surveys

Gathering in-depth information about a topic

Focus Groups

When we think focus group, a lot of times the picture of a group of people evaluating some sort of product that is going to be rolled out pops into mind.
According to the Marketing Research Association,
"A focus group is the meeting of a small group of individuals who are guided through a discussion by a trained moderator (or consultant). The goal of the focus group is to get beyond superficial answers and uncover insights on consumer attitudes and behavior."

The key behind focus groups is trying to generate narrative data in a focused discussion. The nature of this format is about the group dynamics offering a wide range of perspectives and views on a common experience. Because many people are participating, it helps to activate forgotten details. It's also revealing in the way people speak about issues.
Useful for:

Characterizing social and cultural norms

Sharing and comparing

Revealing how people talk about an issue

Exploring sensitive topics

Observation

Observation is defined as the recording o f the behavior of the sample. Many usability experts use observation and eye-tracking tools when they conduct a study online to specifically gauge more of the participant's facial and body language. Although participants may say they weren't frustrated by a feature or experience post the observation, their body language, and facial expressions tell a different story. It is best used when applied to visitors in their natural environments. For instance, if a company that offers teachers classroom management tool wants to understand more about how and when teachers use their product answering questions about the agility of the software, they would send a team to classrooms using the software and observe over a number of days how the teacher interacts with it.
Useful for:

Individual perspectives and experiences

Difficult to gauge through interview experiences

Complimenting usability studies

Topics that cannot be investigated through surveys

Gathering in-depth information about a topic

Textual (polls and surveys)

The go-to for most marketers because it's easiest and least invasive. However, with all of the positives, the responses you can be getting about certain questions may need to be taken with a big spoonful of salt. Of course, if you know how to use polls and surveys, and what type of questions work with this format, it can prove useful. What's also key to polls and surveys is first identifying, of course, the goal, but then the segment that would best provide you with the answers that have the greatest specificity and accuracy.
Useful for:

Specific segment perspectives and experiences

Broad topics

Situations where participants can feel free to criticize

Demographical data

Keep your online surveys as short and concise
The vast majority of the customers have a tendency to avoid long surveys. People do not have the patience nor the time to click through and answer any questions. There's a higher likelihood that people will fill out short and clear surveys. From my own experience, if I see a question to rate an experience, for example, where I need to click through in order to get to another screen where the question is listed, I will likely opt out. Let it be easy and visible from the outset to increase response rate.

Image source: Econsultancy

Response rate

For qualitative data, the response is more heavily focused on the quality, and not the quantity. For surveys and polls, there is a possibility to tap into a greater number of participants. However, the aim should not be solely focused on the number of respondents, but rather if you were able to get quality responses from the specific segment you were after.

That being said, with some kinds of polls and surveys (especially quality or experience assurance or NPS) you need to factor quantity as well. There are several factors that determine the validity of a survey. Population size, margin of error, confidence level, sample size, and response rate.

The Response rate: Number of valid responses / total number of people invited to respond. When you make an investment about anything, you expect high ROI (return on investment) of a project right? The response rate is the ROI of a survey. You need high response rate to be sure that you are collecting valid data.
Checkout 34 ways to improve your survey response rate:
By implementing some of the above strategies, you can improve your response rates from 30% to 55%.

PeoplePulse, IBM's innovation center, ran B2B online surveys from 2000 to 2001. After some changes in their survey structure, they managed to double their response rate. The two variables they tested on the surveys were offering incentives and shortening the survey. The incentive increased response rates 10-15%.

8. Asking the right questions

Depending on the goal and format you will be conducting the qualitative research, your questions will vary. Whether it's interviews, focus groups, or surveys, questions need to be identified clearly prior to beginning the process.

You've considered your goal, thought about the biases that may pollute your reading of the responses and consider who it is you are asking: your job now is to think about the questions.

When it comes to asking research questions, a lot of bias towards the "answer you expect" can sway your approach to constructing sound, unbiased questions.

Here are some tips to consider:

Use a verb: Remember, your role is to ask them to describe, characterize, understand, consider. That line of questioning will put the ball in their court.

Identify the topic of interest: Be clear about what the actual topic is first, then ask the question, in order to give them context.

Non-directional neutral language: Remember, many times we inject our personal feelings into a question which will, in turn, create a bias in the responses.

Define the sample and setting: How will you conduct your research - what method? The question may differ based on those decisions. A statement of why you are conducting the research is helpful at this point: like the goal is to XXX.

As precise as possible: Most of the work happens in the question construction phase, if you rush and create a haphazard question, you are likely to get haphazard answers that add no value to your research.
Samples:
To explore the views of men who read XXX skin research blog

To understand XXX visitor views on XXX

To describe and classify the factors that determine motivations of visitors for xxx

To understand the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, preferences, and barriers regarding XXX amongst XX visitors

To characterize barriers to XXX among male/female visitors, who are currently enrolled, registered, new, returning, oligarchs,

Mass communication theory has some good ideas on how to structure the questions you will be asking.

They recommend formatting it into what I would describe as almost a data tree structure.

The Research Problem

Goal: or qualitative purpose statement

Determine method of research that is best suited to achieve the goals

The research questions (that narrow the purpose):

To hone in on the right questions, Mass Communication Theory suggests using the following scripts to identify the relation between the question and the qualitative purpose statement:

"Central question script (use only one):

"What does it mean to _________________ (central phenomenon)?"

"How would ______________ (participants) describe (central phenomenon)?"

Sub-question script: "What _________ (aspect) does __________ (participant) engage in as a _____________ (central phenomenon)?"
Other tips for asking questions
Take a look at a chart NN Group mentions how to ask open-ended questions:

Here are the possible questions to be asked upon buying process:

What matters to you when buying product/service?

How long did the buying process take on average? Do you think it is short/long?

What are we doing worse/better compared to our competitors?

Which hesitations did you have before buying? Are there still any, please clarify?

What made you buy from us?

What would you recommend us to better improve our product/service for next time?

Andra Baragan states:
"When surveying your customers, you don't want to just survey anyone and everyone. The best way to do it is to survey only recent customers because they won't hold a biased opinion, and their experiences with you are still fresh. If possible, survey them immediately after they purchase. The faster you survey post-purchase customers, the more accurate your results will be."

9. Conduct Qualitative Data analysis

The part of digital marketing that always baffles me is the amount of data available for analysis but left unused. There is so much effort that goes into the creation of research, but by the time it's said and done, marketers feel exhausted and don't pay close attention to what the results are really saying.

The key to conducting qualitative data analysis is to ensure there is sufficient, quality data. Looking at that data, there are several ways to analyze it. You will have likely considered the analysis needed for your specific qualitative research method previous to receiving the results.

Thematic analysis: identifying themes and patterns of meaning across a dataset in relation to a research question

Grounded theory: Questions about social and/or psychological processes; focus on building theory from data.

Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Analysis aimed at seeking insights into the meanings that events and experiences hold for people.

Discourse analysis: Analysis of understanding more about how certain terms are being used. What is said and why it might be said?

Narrative analysis: Analysis based on seeking greater understanding of unique perspectives brought on by individuals. It is based on seeing how individuals make meaning using stories. How these individuals make sense of their external and internal world
Conclusion
Whoever said qualitative data was easy or required little precision or attention to detail are the same people that sold AB testing as an easy-to-use tool that any marketer can simply apply to their activities. It is very precise, very scientific, and very driven by knowing who you are targeting, being conscious of your biases, and constructing sound problem statements, goals, and questions.

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9 Tips to Conducting Accurate Qualitative Research

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