Our Research-Pyramid approach to research employs a mixed-methods design using qualitative and quantitative techniques. Applied PhD Research & Marketing can meet your qualitative research needs including focus groups, interviews, and other unstructured data analysis. We will be with you every step of the way from research design, moderation, and analysis of the open-ended data to improve your marketing efforts.
How can qualitative research help your organization?
The qualitative research stage will help your organization:
- Obtain insight from key stakeholders inside and outside your organization
- Generate a deeper understanding of important issues
- Identify question content areas to include in the quantitative research stage
We design our qualitative research to address your research objectives by engaging key informants that are most likely to have insight critical. The semi-structured conversations are useful for providing staff the opportunity to participate in the initiative and building consensus within your organization. What does this mean for your organization? The result is a social as well as a research process that is more likely to get actionable strategic results.
What qualitative research methodologies does APR offer?
Check out some of our most common qualitative research methodologies used for clients that span industries such as healthcare, financial services, retail and omnichannel, and non-profit/government organizations.
Advisory Committee
When a new project is launched, APR strongly encourages the creation of an internal Advisory Committee. This Advisory Committee typically consists of key client personnel who have a vested interest in ensuring a sound research process, one that results in actionable strategic and tactical decisions. Importantly, the Advisory Committee is our first step in the relationship-building process – converting research clients into partners. We have found that this initial stage is critical for gaining consensus within and across the client organization – – particularly when the results must be turned into actionable strategies and tactics.
Focus Groups
“Group think” is an important part of the research journey. Unlike depth interviews which tend to be one-on-one conversations with individuals, focus groups allow for a broader range of interaction-based discussions with target customers and potential prospects. Similar to depth interviews, focus groups are often used to develop a better understanding of key issues to study, potential topical areas, and a range of survey-based needs. Of significance, focus groups can also be readily used to test creative strategies, product concept testing, taste tests, and a host of other tactical initiatives.
Online Forums
Given the digital age, online forums provide a cost effective and quick method of gathering detailed feedback to open-ended questions. We enlist a panel of participants who respond to questions that we pose, receive feedback regarding what others say, and provide follow-up comments. We have also utilized online forums through real-time interactions and threaded discussion groups. Regardless of the technique, online forums have become a key component of our research arsenal.
Observational Studies
Sometimes it is more important to see what people do than to hear what they say. APR has observed over 4,000 people in action as they shopped for items, pondered decisions, moved through stores, and how they paid for items. These views of “people-in-action” provide valuable insight into the design of the retail footprint, understanding their decision process, developing in-store communication collateral materials, and any of a wide range of other strategic and tactical initiatives. Combined with other qualitative and quantitative research components, observational studies help “close the loop” from attitudes through behaviors.