Quantitative vs. Qualitative Marketing Research, a Quarter-Century Later

In 1988 Macro published a position paper,  Quantitative vs. Qualitative Marketing Research.   A clear-eyed summary of the differences, limitations and best uses of both research approaches – these fundamentals continue to be part of every research practitioner’s DNA.  In the late 80’s, pre-internet, qualitative research was largely limited to focus groups and one-on-one in-depth interviews, the best uses for which are described as:

• To generate ideas and concepts (lists of possibilities)
• To uncover consumer language in order to subsequently ask consumers the right questions in a way they most accurately understand

While qualitative work typically includes small numbers of respondents, and thus is not statistically reliable for evaluating pre-existing ideas, quantitative research is best for:

• The issues to be tested are known
• The language used by consumers to describe these issues is known

“Generally, quantitative research is not appropriate as an initial learning phase, or as a method to develop creative ideas. Quantitative research is essentially evaluative, not generative.”

These truths apply today, and the task of managing the appropriate interpretation of qualitative vs. quantitative data among who consume research information and recommendations is always a critical element of our discipline.

The Internet and subsequent explosion of social media and mobile devices has multiplied exponentially the amount of both qualitative and quantitative data being generated.  The bar for the marketing researcher is now higher, requiring a broader set of knowledge to serve clients by facilitating the best ways to answer their questions and reach information objectives amidst numerous data gathering techniques as well as what is sometimes referred to as “Big Data”.

Big Data is, however, a catch-all phrase for what used to be known as “Knowledge Management” (KM) – and we researcher’s need to remember not to let our clients on either side of the vendor/corporate fence lose the “forest for the trees.” Big Data and KM describe, for example, a corporation’s efforts to make sense of all inputs – behavioral (sales), open-ended customer service inquiries, as well as primary research.  With mobile and social, the difference now is there is simply a vastly greater amount of data to make sense of.

Which brings us back to our fundamentals and qualitative vs. quantitative research.  Because we now live in a digital world, there are many more ways now to gather both quantitative and qualitative information.  In their blog detailing new qualitative techniques, Jay Zaltzman and Betsy Leichilter provide an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of new techniques that go far beyond the traditional in-person focus group, including mobile diaries,  mobile ethnographies, online text chat and many others.   Currently smart phones and tablets are the focus of many start-up efforts to reach people for answering questions, both structured and unstructured.  While mobile usage trends have outpaced the research industry’s ability to capture people in the best context for gathering information, our business is catching up fast – driven by many new technological efforts.   One much-talked about trend is executing a large survey in shorter, simpler “chunks” per respondent on mobile devices and pulling the data set together post-field – assuring quantitative validity while offering an appropriately “usable” survey experience on mobile.  For an up-to-the second, (released today), overview of how people are being reached for research in this new era, register and check out Greenbook Blog’s GRIT report – available here.

Most importantly, remember your qualitative vs. quantitative fundamentals.  With the research business in a true state of change, (some think it has already completely changed and all we are doing is waiting to see how the players shake out), there has never been a more challenging and interesting time to be a marketing researcher.   In this maelstrom of techniques and terabytes of data, the key differences of qualitative vs. quantitative marketing research are still true, and perhaps more important than ever.

For a detailed look at the benefits of qualitative research, check out the article by Richard McCullough in Market Research magazine from 2011, Insights and Opportunities.