Research Techniques

By Daniel Little

Research Introduction
The following slides will explain :

What is Research?

Purposes/uses of Research

The Different types of Research

Explanation/Examples of Different types of Research Evaluation/ onclusion

What is Research?

Research is a systematic way of investigating ! studying materials/sources to gain information that is then used to esta"lish facts and support various conclusions# Research can also "e studying people$s "ehaviour and response to products#%uestions or happenings&

Purposes/uses of Research
To test the validity of instruments# procedures or experiments& Tailor products and services to clientele& 'ain customer feed"ac(

Different Types of Research

Primary

)econdary

*ualitative *uantitative

Primary Research

This is information that has "een collected and analysed "y yourself# this can "e done #for example# using: *uestionnaires# )urveys and physical o"servations& Advantages primary research is uni%ue results that have not "een collected& you can tailor the %uestions and results# to some extent #to your needs& Disadvantages Time consuming to cover all "ases of information you want to collect an "e difficult to get people to carry out %uestionnaires/surveys and answer correctly/truthfully and this can s(ewer results

Questionnaire

Primary research examples...

+ was as(ed to create a %uestionnaire # to gather peoples music tastes# + used survey mon(ey# online software that can "e used to create %uestionnaires!surveys that can distri"uted electronically&,survey on left # results "elow-

Questionnaire

...continued

)urvey .on(ey The software )urvey .on(ey allows you to create a survey using a template "ased design with your own %uestions # once this has "een done the finished survey can "e pu"lished using a lin( on social media that allow$s people to fill in the survey and the results will "e logged using the software& )urvey .on(ey then allows the user to analyse the data "y organising the results into charts/graphs that can "e edited to portray the information in numerous ways e&g pie charts#"ar charts etc&

Secondary

)econdary research is research that has already "een collected "ut collated and summarised to "e used for another purpose or presented in a different way&+n mar(et research terms secondary research includes the re/use of a primary parties wor( "y a secondary party& )econdary Research can include: reports# newspaper articles# 0ournals and government and 1'2 statistics& Advantages )aves time # as information has already "een collected Widely availa"le Disadvantages )ome sources unrelia"le 3ard to find information tailored to research you wish to collect unli(e primary research&

Secondary Research Examples....

+ was as(ed to answer a series of %uestions using secondary research#for example#4Which Current UK film has taken the most money at the box office4 to answer this %uestion i used a online article which included a complete list of 5ox office figures in the 67 for 89:;& ,see image-

...continued
+nformation Trail
This is the information trial that + used to (eep a trac( of all the various sources that + used to collect my answers to my %uestions,see last slide-# + documented the 6R< #date used#description of the source and any further notes& The purpose of this is so + could validate my sources and also return to them at a further date if + needed anymore information&

Qualitati e

*ualitative research is specific data that involves people$s opinions or views on something& *ualitative data can "e collected using focus groups& Advantages

*ualitative research gives the researcher more informative answers #as it as($s peoples opinions& *uestions/answers are not restricted and can "e redirected in real time "y the moderator& Disadvantage

peer pressure/personal "ias can influence results& =ssumptions cannot "e made that the views of the focus group represent that of a larger group # as it is "ased solely on their opinions&

Qualitati e Research Examples

= >ocus 'roup is essentially a interview of a small group of people "y a trained moderator used to gauge perceptions opinions#"eliefs and attitudes&

The people within a focus group tend to share certain attri"utes or demographics in order to control the test&

=n example in which a focus group would "e useful would "e helping to target a we"site towards its desired audience&+f you were doing a we"site on roc( clim"ing # it would "e very useful to have :9 mem"ers of a roc( clim"ing group and as( %uestions a"out what they li(e a"out the sport #favourite clim"ing spots #e%uipment they used etc the interviewer could then ta(e the information and use the results to improve their we"site&

Quantitati e

*uantitative research is measura"le due to the use of data/num"ers #unli(e %ualitative# su"se%uently this can easily "e represented in charts/graph$s & To o"tain *uantitative information mainly closed ended %uestions are used# the data is then analysed "y how many people have selected the various answers again unli(e %ualitative which allows people to use their own answers& Advantages Easy to analyse results an "e conducted on a large scale at not too great expense& Disadvantages 3as to "e conducted more fre%uently to stay up to date as statistics change more often&

Quantitati e Research Examples

This is a online survey for a +T repair company# used to improve its services "y having it$s customers complete them& The results of this survey# for example# could show the company that :9 customers were very satisfied# however another :9 customers were only satisfied with the service this would show that there is room for improvement regarding their service&

!onclusion...
+n conclusion primary and %ualitative research in my opinion appear to "e the "est forms on the "asis that primary research has "een collected fresh and is tailored to the researchers need# %ualitative gives more in depth answers and topics can "e explored fully rather than a generalised answer from %uantitative "ased research #for example#?the service was exceptional4 is "etter than %uite satisfied response from a multiple choice %uestion& 3owever secondary research has an advantage over primary in that # the research is widely availa"le and has already "een collected saving time and in some cases money as primary research has to "e conducted from scratch#including planning the %uestions and set up# to conducting the interviews/surveys# to analysing the fresh data&

...!onclusion !ontinued
=n advantage %uantitative has over %ualitative however is that the information can "e represented more easily in charts/graph as the answer$s have "een standardised often using numerical answers unli(e for example answer$s from a focus group which #more often than not# are li(ely to "e varied from each mem"er of the group to the next&