Introducing market research:

purpose and principles

Pernille Berg, Lund University and Niels Brock

8 November 2007 DTU

PART OF A NEW AND DISTINCTLY BOLD

COLLECTION

Consumer values and benefits

DemographicsWho are the consumers..

ValuesWhat do they believe in, what is important

to them

AttitudesHow do they act in

towards their surroundings in any

given situation

BenefitsWhat do they get from

your product, what needs are full filled when they use the

product

NeedsWhat do they need

to support their lifestyle..

Consumer InsightWhat do we know, specific about our users that translates into the needs.

• You can’t do anything without needs, so you can provide users with benefits.

• Steps from Demographics to Benefits

This slide is developed by: Steen Meyerhoff, Product Manager at Nokia Mobile Phones

The challenge is

‘how do we do that?’

How do we convert intangibles into tangibles?

Programme:

•Take me to the Market

•Trendy or set?

•Show and share

•Wrapping up

Ideo’s innovation process

Source: www.ideo.com

It is the principles of connections, it is the circulating fluidity which is the social.

It is the recording and describing which constitute the method.

(Latour 2005)

Let the actors make their own set of associations! (Latour 2005)

Do we kill anything by using the following templates?

Methodology• Research philosophy

– Positivism, Realism (social) Phenomenology, Interpretivism

• Research approaches– Inductive or deductive

• Research strategies

• Time horizons

• Data collections methods

Methodological terminology

• Inductive• Deductive

• Quantitative methods

• Qualitative methods

• Triangulation

• Validity

• Reliability• Bias

• Selection criteria

ValidityWhat does it mean?

Relevance or in other words are the findings really what they appear to be about?

• External validity

• Internal validity

– ‘Validity of construction’

– ´Data validity’

– Validity of the research project

Reliability

What does it mean?

‘Can we trust the data which we have collected?’

• Is the collected data reliable?• How do we collect the data?• Are the measurements/readings correct?• Are the arguments of the analysis/interpretation well-

founded?

Methodology

• What was the research setting?

• Why did you choose that particular setting?

• How many participants/respondents?

• How were they selected?

• What were their characteristics?• What interviews or observation schedules were

used?

Methodology

• How were the resulting data analysed?

• What were the characteristics of the interviewers and

observers and how were they trained?• How valid and reliable do you think that the

procedures were?• What instructions were given to participants?• How many

interviews/observations/questionnaires were there; how long did they last; where did they take place?

• When was the research carried out?(based on Saunders et al 2000: 419-420).

“It is crucial that enquirers do not in advance, and in place of the actors, define what sorts of building blocks the social world is made of” (Latour 2005: 41; my emphasis).

The innovations can be proposed by ordinary actors (Latour 2005).

How to find the right method?

•What do I need to know?•Why do I need to know this?•How can I obtain this knowledge?

“The presence of the social has to be demonstrated each time anew; it can never be postulated” (Latour 2005: 53).

Methods - what, why, how and when?

• Qualitative– Interviews

• Single interviews• Expert interviews• Group interviews• Focus group interviews• Telephone interview

– Casestudy– Observations

• Participant observations• Non-participant observation

Qualitative Methods

• One way of demonstrating ‘figuration’.

Advantages – In-depth knowledge, nuances– Obtain ‘understanding’ (Verstehen, Weber), – Build theoretical framework yourself (grounded

theory, Glaser and Strauss)

Qualitative Methods

• Disadvantages– Depth but no width– Not representative– Not scientific– Difficult to analyse and present– Going native– Become biased

Qualitative Methods

• How do we conduct qualitative research?– Craftsmanship (Peter Dahler-Larsen)

• Diligence and patience– Transparency (Peter Dahler-Larsen)

• Make sure you can account for every part of your primary data collection process

– Reflexivity• Field dairy / log book

– Ethics• Remember any kind of personal interaction has

ethical implications• How to conduct qualitative research ethically

Qualitative Methods

• Ethical Issues– Participation

• informed consent/confidentiality

– Interview situation• confidentiality issues and consequences of

interview interaction

– Transcription• confidentiality and what is a loyal written

transcription of an interviewee’s oral statements

Qualitative Methods

• Ethical issues– Analysis

• how deep and critical can your analysis be and should your subjects have a say in your interpretations (e.g. Action research)

– Verification• It is the ethical responsibility of the researcher to

report knowledge that is as secured and verified as possible

– Reporting• Confidentiality and what are the consequences

of the published report for the interviewees/organisation

Show and Share

“They translate the many expressions oftheir informants into their own vocabulary of social forces” (Latour 2005: 57).

Show and Share

The crucial and critical question!• What does it take in order to

transform impressions, observations, notes and statements to data?– “the mechanical aspect of qualitative

methods cannot be reified and made independent; it is in constant dialogue with the aspect of comprehension; that is to say the reasoning reflection of the concrete methodological steps” (Dahler Larsen 2002: 30).

Show and Share• Displays

– What is a display?• A visual presentation of your coding and categorization• A visual presentation which can take any form

– What is the purpose of a display?• It ensures saturation and bounding

– Rules of displays• Rule of authenticity

– The data in its original form• Rule of inclusion

– All the data that are within the categories you are presenting in your display must be listed and included.

– It is in the aberration, deviation, irritation and / or interruption that the impetus for new knowledge and realization lies

• Rule of transparency– It has to be transparent how you designed/constructed the display– (Dahler Larsen 2002)

Show and Share

• The value of displays– A display illustrates your prioritization– A display is closely connected to theory– A display is closely connected to data– The display structures, prioritizes and not least

condenses a large amount of data– The display illustrates how the data form the

basis of the deduced conclusions– The display is an amazing means of

communication• (Dahler Larsen 2002)

Show and Share• The value of displays during your research

– It contributes to prioritizing and forces you to stay focused– It facilitates and aids you in bounding and saturation – It facilitates and aids you in ensuring concentration of and

storing your data– It facilitates and aids you in identifying deficiencies and

anomalies– It facilitates and aids you in presenting and condensing data

and thus inference– It contributes in ensuring communicative validity– It conveys the connection / stringency between data and

conclusion– It contributes in ensuring that you can infer, argue and sustain

the over-all analytical point throughout your research analysis• (Dahler Larsen 2002)

How to ensure quality and validity in research?

• Criteria of craftsmanship– The scientific aspect of the research / analysis

is not dependent on the scope or nature of research / analysis but the way in which the research process has been conducted

– The criteria of craftsmanship basically refers to the way in which the research process in conducted with integrity

– The quality is contextual– It is almost a way in which you conduct a

discussion of validity

“when we attempt to trap chaos and convert it to our preconceptions, order! becomes an enormous effort. we try to eliminate fault or error. we try hard but the effort turns to dullness and the Formal” (balmond 2002: 222-223).

“the more subtle approach is to seek the notion that chaos is a mix of several states of order. what is an improvisation is in fact a kernel of stability which in turn sets sequences that reach equilibrium” (balmond 2002: 224-225).

“several equilibriums coexist. simultaneity matters, not hierarchy”(balmond 2002: 224-225).

cecil balmond, 2002, informal, london, prestel

Recommended literature

• Kvale, Steinar, 1996, InterViews, London, Sage Publications

• Latour, Bruno, 1999, ‘Knowledge as mode of existence’

• Latour, Bruno, 2005, Reassembling the Social, Oxford, Oxford University Press

• Latour, Bruno, 2007, ‘A plea for Earthly Sciences’, speech to British Sociological Association

Thank you!