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Time-Extended™ Online Methodology: The Next Generation In Qualitative
Research
By
Andrey Osiatynski and Roger Wallace
Until recently, qualitative research has remained largely unchanged since the
focus group technique became popular in the '60s as the qualitative method of
choice. The coming of the Internet has transformed qualitative possibilities.
Although online qualitative, in one form or another, has been around a decade,
the emergence of Time-Extended™ online qualitative methods is a
breakthrough. This new generation of Time-Extended™ qualitative is born
from combining the best traditional techniques, with the latest in online
technology, enhanced by the luxury of reflection time and benefits of Decision
Analysts' large consumer, executive, and medical online panels to recruit
respondents. Time-Extended™ online qualitative delivers unmatched levels
of detail, depth, and insight.
How Do You Conduct Time-Extended™ Online Qualitative?
This methodology uses online communications between a formally trained moderator
and participants to conduct depth interviews and/or group discussions. An
online message board format is used to post a number of open-ended qualitative
questions. The questions are posted under "topics" and are answered
by each participant at their convenience, but before the next set of topics are
posted. Multiple topics are posted each day over the course of several days and
participants answer questions as they are posted in order. The distinction
between an online individual depth interview (IDI) and an online focus group
discussion is the same as in-person IDIs versus in-person focus groups: in the
online focus groups, participants can see comments made by other respondents in
the group and build on their answers, while IDI participants cannot see the
other's responses. A key advantage of online qualitative studies is that they
typically last over a set period of days (three to five, or even over several
weeks) and not just one to two hours.
The client team can monitor all the posted responses "live" on their
computers. This creates unique opportunities for the client team and moderator
to discuss the best follow-up questions or possible new directions to be
explored in the next days of questioning.
How Does Time-Extended™ Online Qualitative Work?
By Extending Time. Time-Extended™ qualitative
allows participants to provide an unmatched level of depth and detail by giving
them time to reflect on the question and share their detailed thoughts,
feelings, and opinions. This level of depth and detail leads to greater
opportunities for uncovering new and valuable insights. Each respondent in a
typical Time-Extended™ qualitative study spends anywhere from 100 to 150
minutes responding to session topics (to be compared with an average of eight
to ten minutes of "airtime" in a traditional focus group) and they do
it from the privacy of their computer and at the time of their choosing. Given
this flexibility and availability of ample reflection time, this approach can
generate more in-depth, detailed, and more complete descriptions of our
respondents' relevant thoughts and feelings than any other form of qualitative
research.
By Getting Closer To Their Experiences. With online
qualitative, we can direct consumers to shop for or to use a product or
service, and then we can capture their detailed thoughts and feelings about
these recent experiences through online diaries and depth interviews.
Respondents can share with us their recent experiences and decision-making
processes the same evening after selecting and purchasing the researched and/or
competitive product or brand. In addition, the cell phone/digital camera
pictures from the aisle of the store where they made their purchases can be
used as memory prompts for the discussion of how the different elements of the
Point-Of-Purchase (P-O-P) environment might have influenced their final
choices.
By Making It Convenient. Because the interviews and
the group discussions are conducted entirely online, participants do not have
to schedule a time at a specific location in order to share their opinions. The
ability of participants to respond at their convenience (early in the morning,
during their lunch break, or at night) makes this methodology especially
helpful to gain participation of very busy people. It also makes it ideal for
business-to-business and executive-level participants, as well as doctors, your
typical multitasking mothers, and other busy consumers of today.
By Recruiting Real People. Our large online panels are
another reason why we can reach people who would not normally participate
in traditional focus groups. Using our worldwide Internet panels we can
overcome the limitations of recruiting respondents from the well-worn databases
of focus group facilities in a couple of dozen large metropolitan areas.
Instead, our online qualitative samples can offer a mix of real consumers
living in small towns, exurbias, and traditional suburbs (including those that
live too far from a focus group facility) with the desired combination of
regions, as well as respondent backgrounds, lifestyles, etc. Also, an honest
and unbiased environment can be easily created online so that respondents feel
more comfortable in discussing sensitive topics more freely since there is
simply less social pressure to say the "right" things.
By Making It Easy. Travel to a facility is not
required (for the clients or the moderator) as observation and moderating can
be done anywhere from a computer. Clients can view the online content as it is
posted and may communicate with the moderator at any time. Focus group facility
marathon tours are no longer necessary. Even when a study involves qualitative
input from a wide geographic area and/or from a large number of
"cells" (defined by different demographics and product usage), the
online qualitative can produce needed information without requiring travel to
focus group facilities all over the country.
What Are The Possible Applications?
Because of its many advantages the Time-Extended™ online qualitative
methodology also has many unique applications for conducting qualitative
research. At Decision Analyst, we have been fortunate to work with clients
willing to experiment with, and to push the limits of, this technique to test
how far it can go. Thus, some of the more interesting applications we were able
to develop include:
Online Ethnography. A practical, unobtrusive approach
for conducting ethnography or other in-home observational research by asking
participants to take digital photos of the contents of their pantries,
refrigerators, garage, storage, etc., which are then posted online. The photos,
coupled with participant's online diary entries about their in-home use of the
research category and brands, provide the stimulus for Time-Extended™
online depth interviews and/or group discussions.
Seamless Connection Between Quantitative And Qualitative.
In-depth discussions conducted with respondents from the subgroups identified
through our online quantitative studies provide qualitative insights about the
reasons behind their quantitative answers. By providing "qualitative
portraits" of the key subsamples of respondents, we gain a deeper
understanding on the "meaning of" as well as reason behind their
pertinent quantifiable responses.
Creative Interaction With Target Audience. When
exploring the potential of a new advertising concept or product ideas, this
methodology allows the flexibility to present new ideas, analyze the reactions
from the target audience, then re-present a new generation of ideas a week or
so later to the same respondents to examine if these new creative developments
"move" the concept in the right direction.
Large Depth Interview Studies. This methodology also
makes conducting many in-depth-interviews practical and relatively
cost-effective whenever a significant number of such interviews are the best
way to obtain the needed information. Traditional ways of doing such IDIs would
be impractical because the target respondents are geographically dispersed, are
very busy (e.g., doctors, executive), or the key members of the client team
will simply "not sit" for more than a couple of such IDIs.
Final Analysis
In the final analysis, the key strength of Time-Extended™ online qualitative
is that it provides participants with plenty of time to reflect on and describe
their relevant experiences and behaviors. This "gift of time" can
be then used to pursue unmatched level of depth, detail, and quality of insights—leading
to greater opportunities to make a difference in today's super-competitive business
environment.
Copyright © 2005 by Decision Analyst, Inc.
This article may not be copied, published, or used in any way without written
permission of Decision Analyst.
Additional Resources from Decision Analyst
To contact the author, Roger Wallace, please call 1.800.262.5974 or email
him at rwallace@decisionanalyst.com.
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