AFTER THE RECORDER STOPS, THE GEMS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH OFTEN APPEAR.Most focus group moderators and clients probably have experienced the following scenario: The group discussion has ended and the tape recorder tape recorder, device for recording information on strips of plastic tape (usually polyester) that are coated with fine particles of a magnetic substance, usually an oxide of iron, cobalt, or chromium. The coating is normally held on the tape with a special binder. / camera has been shut off, however, a few participants continue to talk about issues previously discussed or bring up entirely new concerns. Sometimes a very important insight or piece of information will be revealed during these post-group conversations. If at all possible, it may not be a bad idea to let the tape recorder / camera continue to run until everyone has left the room. Frequent post-group comments and discussions actually led Doane Marketing Research Inc. to formally follow up with California Pest Control pest control n → control m de plagas pest control n → lutte f contre les nuisibles pest control pest n Advisors (PCAs) on a topic that was very important to them in their efforts to control pest problems. It was not uncommon after conducting qualitative work with PCAs that someone would say, "If you really want to take something back to your client, tell them that since the removal of a given chemical, we need a new product to control `X' pest." In the spring of 2001, St. Louis-based Doane decided to conduct with PCAs a quantitative syndicated study, "Problematic Pests (Unmet un·met adj. Not satisfied or fulfilled: unmet demands. Needs)." The purpose of the study was: 1) To identify insects Insects See also ants; bees; biology; butterflies; zoology. acarophobia a fear of itching or of the mites or ticks that cause it. aeroscepsy, aeroscepsis perception by means of the air, said to be a function of the antennae of insects. , diseases and weeds 1. weeds - Refers to development projects or algorithms that have no possible relevance or practical application. Comes from "off in the weeds". Used in phrases like "lexical analysis for microcode is serious weeds." 2. that PCAs are having difficulty controlling. 2) To understand what factors may contribute to a given pest being difficult to control. Approximately 140 California PCAs participated in this quantitative study. More than 95 percent of the PCAs identified some type of problematic insect, disease or weed weed, common term for any wild plant, particularly an undesired plant, growing in cultivated ground, where it competes with crop plants for soil nutrients and water. . However, the removal of a pesticide pesticide, biological, physical, or chemical agent used to kill plants or animals that are harmful to people; in practice, the term pesticide is often applied only to chemical agents. was not as frequently identified as a factor causing a pest to become a problem as Doane researchers first thought based on the random comments heard after conducting qualitative research Qualitative research Traditional analysis of firm-specific prospects for future earnings. It may be based on data collected by the analysts, there is no formal quantitative framework used to generate projections. studies. This was especially true with problematic weeds, as illustrated in the table below:
Has the removal of a pesticide been a
Most Frequently Identified factor contributing to this problem?
Problematic Weed (Percent "Yes" Responses)
Nutsedge 0%
Nutgrass 6%
Flaxleave Fleabane 12%
This study reinforces the idea that random comments obtained after a focus group can be important and informative. However, as with all qualitative research, the findings represent only the group involved and not the universe. |
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