Research Methods (Teodor Rusinov's Work)

[PART 1]

There are two types of data, quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data is based around numbers. It also comes around in large amount and is straight to the point, however the quality is poor as it is not detailed. An example of quantitative data is a chart. Charts usually have basic information that is brainstormed into a bunch of numbers. Qualitative data is based around detailed written answers. Data is a lot richer than quantitative data, however it takes longer to extract. An example of qualitative data are questionnaires and interviews.

There are two types of research, primary and secondary. Primary research is when you research something first hand. You know that the results are original and valid, as you got them yourself (internal validity). Secondary research is the research that someone has done for you. This information may or may not be valid, as you never know how the person has acquired the data (issue). This makes the data unreliable.

Although underused in research, focus groups is an effective form of qualitative data. Focus groups are groups of people who are selected and assembled by researchers to discuss their opinions about the data that the researchers are after. The data that the focus groups give is reliable, as the people are talking from their own personal experience with certain products. The down side of focus group research is that the people that are being reached are often unapproachable, which takes a lot of time for the researches to gather more approachable people.

Example of research methods:

Surveys and Charts[Quantitative] Questionnaires and Interviews[Qualitative]

Charts and Surveys are great for answering simple questions(what?). They are usually completed anonymously, so they are great for making a research on sensitive topics that people don’t talk about openly. It is also a quick way of getting data.The data collected is usually very poor as people do not like to write in detail, when doing a survey. The answer is limited, as the question itself sometimes is not formed in the correct way, for the correct targeted audience.

Questionnaires and Interviews are great for answering questions like how and why and are the best solution to getting to the bottom of a complex issue. They produce a rich information, as the answers are fairly detailed. The more an interview is intimade, the richer the data will be, as people are more open to talk about their opinions.Questionnaires and interviews are very time consuming. It takes a lot of time to collect a detailed answer from a number of people. It's usually not anonymous, but it can be at times.

Overall, every research method has its positives and negatives. By knowing the positives and negatives of every side, it is easier to conduct a research with the technique which is more applicable to certain situations (wether a richer data is required or just basic data)

[PART 2]

The first step to determining what type of product you are going to make an advert on is to find out what the audience wants, as they are being targeted to buy our product. This questionnaire and interview aims to create patterns on which product is more likable and appealing to the audience. The first question in both interviewees create a pattern, as both people prefer a spray over the other products listed below. It is very important to ask the interviewees about their preferrence and what attracts them, as the research conducted will help you to produce your product.

[PART 3]

Questionnaires and Interviews are quite different. Questionnaires ask a question that would usually require a one word answer, while Interviews require a more complex answer, richer in detail. For example the second question, in the questionnaire, the answer is simply Spray, while in the Interview, Deli explains in better detail why he prefers body spray over antiperspirants. We can see that even though the questionnaire has 8 questions, compared to the 6 in the Interview, the questionnaire has a lot less detail than the interview. If we compare the last questions of both research methods, the questionnaire's question is answered in one word, while in the interview, the question is answered in a great detail. Overall both research methods are good, depending on what kind of data you are in need of. Interviews are good in getting rich, insightful data, while questionnaires are good in answering a simple question In the fastest way. By conducting the questionnaire and the interview, we have gathered information about what our final product will be like. We see patterns that are formed between both interviewees. Both interviewees prefer body spray over other products, which concludes that our final product should be a body spray. Also in both answers, we see that both people prefer to see something luxury in a body spray commercial, such as an expensive brand or celebrity endorsement(pattern).