搜索
[16]Whentousequalitativemethods:anewapproachDennisJ.CahillPresident,NorthUnionAssociates,Inc.,Cleveland,Ohio,USAExplorestheapplicationofqualitativeresearchasaplausibilitycheckforquanti-tativeresearch.Usesthecaseexampleofasurveycon-ductedbyAmericanLIVESforDouthitCommunications,lookingintoaspectsofthehousepurchaseprocess.Outlinesatypologyoffivecategoriesofpeopleintherealestatemarket,whichwasdevelopedfromthesurvey.Concludesthatneitherquali-tativenorquantitativetech-niqueshaveuniversalapplic-ability,buttheuseofqualita-tivetechniquescanbringquantitativeinformationtolife.MarketingIntelligence&Planning14/6[1996]16–20©MCBUniversityPress[ISSN0263-4503]Inthecallforpapersforthisspecialissue,oneoftheusesmentionedforqualitativemethodsinmarketingresearchwasaspre-liminaryresearchpriortoaquantitativestudy.Thisisalwaysatleastoneoftheprime“excuses”fordoingqualitativeresearch,and,ofcourse,thisisagoodreasonfordoingqual-itative.Further,otherdisciplinesinbusiness–suchasmanagementandadministration–alsohaveextensivehistoriesofusingqualita-tiveresearch,bothaspreliminaryresearchandas“ethnography”,particularlyinorgani-zationstudies.However,thereareotherreasons.BothHolbrook(1995)andHirschmanandHolbrook(1992)detailextensiveusestowhichresearchersinmarketingandinwhatHol-brook,inparticular,wouldliketocall“con-sumerscience”haveputqualitativemethodsofvariouskindsinpursuitofknowledge.Morse(1994)dealsextensivelywithdifferentissueswhichthevarioustypesofqualitativeresearchraise–eitherasissuesintheresearchorwiththeresearch–and,ofcourse,DenzinandLincoln’s(1994)encyclopaedictreatmentofqualitativeresearch(certainlynotrestrictedtomarketingresearch)bringsmanymethodsandapplicationstothefore.Iwouldliketoexploreanapplicationwhich,tomyknowledge,hasnotbeenbroachedbefore–theuseofqualitativeasaplausibilitychecktoquantitativeresearch.Whataboutatthemidpoint?Anissuewhichrarelyarisesinacademicresearch,butseemstoarisewithsomefre-quencyincorporateresearchistheplaceofqualitativeintheongoinglong-termfocusofthefirm.Frequently,theresearchinthecor-porateworldismuchlonger-term-orientedthanacademicresearch.Aqualitative-leading-to-quantitativemethodologymaybeundertakenforproduct-developmentpur-posesandthentheproductwillbeintroduced.Theproductmayremainonthemarketforyears,withthefirmwishingtoundertakefurtherinvestigationtoseewhetheritcontinuestoserveitspotentialuserssometimeafterintroduction.Shouldthefirmreusethequantitativeinstrumentdeveloped,possiblyseveralyearsbefore,orshouldtheresearchbetakendenovo,asitwere?Then,thereisthequestionofthebaneofadvertisingresearchers–thetrackingstudy.Itisobviouslynecessarytotestthelong-termimpactofsomeaction–say,anadvertisingcampaign–tosurveythemarketfromtimetotimeoveranextendedperiod.And,ofcourse,toensurethatonehascomparableresultsovertheperiod,onecannotchangethesur-veyinstrument.Bettertobepreciselywrongthantohaveresultsthat–althoughambigu-ousfromyeartoyearbecausetheinstrumentwasadjusted–mightbeuseful.Isthereawaytosolvesuchproblemswhilestilladheringto“scientific”methods?Ibelievethereis:theuseofqualitativemeth-odsafterquantitative,orperhapsagainafterquantitative.Istartedmyacademiccareerasahumanities-educatedhistorian;assuch,Iwastaughttosearch,notforcausalitywhichinhistoricaltermsisdifficulttoestablish,butforplausibility.Itisinthisguise–thesearchforplausibility–thatpost-quantita-tivequalitativemethodsaremostuseful.IwouldliketouseacaseexampletoshowwhatImean.DouthitCommunications,Inc.commis-sionedtheAmericanLIVESDivisionofHolenNorthAmericatoconductasurveyoftherealestatemarketofDenver,Colorado,tohelpinthecreationofanewpublicationtoservetheneedsoftherealestatemarketinthatcitywiththepossibilityoftakingthepublicationnationalaseitherasupplementtoorreplacementfortheHomesIllustratedline.Becausethepublicationwouldbeinnov-ativeintherealestatepublicationindustry,severalkindsofquestionsneverbeforesys-tematicallyexaminedinrealestatewereprobed.AsurveyinstrumentuniquetothisstudywasdevelopedbyAmericanLIVESandDouthitCommunications;themailsurveyinstrumentwas11pageslong.Thissurveyprocessisuniquebecauseoftheseveralareasitcoveredinoneinstrument:thehousesearchprocess;featuresdesiredandtheiruseinthehouse;andLIVESanalysis(lifestyle,[17]DennisJ.CahillWhentousequalitativemethods:anewapproachMarketingIntelligence&Planning14/6[1996]16–20interests,values,expectations,andsymbols)ofthehousebuyer.Thequestionnaireaskedseveralkindsofquestions;takentogether,theanswersgiveabasisforanalysingseveraldimensionstothehomepurchaseprocess.Amongtheseare:whytherespondentsmoved,typeofhousesought,preferencefornewversuspre-ownedhouse,attitudestowardsrealtorsandtheirservice,andthehouse-searchprocess–whichwillbeexploredinthisarticle.Further,atypologyoffivecategoriesofpeopleinthelocalrealestatemarketwasdeveloped,whichwillbebrieflyoutlinedinthenextsectionandcomparedwithanothertypologywhichDouthitCommunicationshadpreviouslyused.Thesurveyinstrumentwasmailedwitha$1billinMarch1991,to1,153validnamesandaddressesofindividualswhohadboughtsingle-familyresidences(acquiredfromamailing-listservice)duringtheprevi