Qualitative Research, Repertory Grid, and Content Analysis
Professor Matt Gorton Joint Subject Group Head, MOS Chair in Marketing
Professor Fred Lemke School Director of Research Joint Subject Group Head, MOS Chair in Marketing and Sustainability
13th February 2017 Aims and Structure a) Outline the principles of qualitative research b) Introduce procedures for qualitative content analysis (QCA); c) Apply QCA to a sample interview (in class exercise).
Structure 1. Principles of qualitative research and main techniques 2. Starting the process of QCA 3. Transcripts 4. Coding 5. Nodes 6. Pattern coding 7. Theory building and presentation 8. Exercise: interview with a small business advisor General Assumptions of Qualitative Research
• Research design can be Qualitative / Qualitative / Mixed method
• Qualitative research is used for a number of purposes: a) as an exploratory tool for quantitative work (e.g. questionnaire design), b) as a stand alone research method, c) as a basis for generating theory (grounded theory). General Assumptions of Qualitative Research
• Reality is subjective and multiple as seen by participants in a study.
• Researcher not independent from that being researched.
• The study is presumed to be value-laden and biased.
• The language of research is informal and in the personal voice.
• The research process is inductive utilising an emerging design. Patterns and theories are developed for understanding. Qualitative Research in Business and Marketing
• Qualitative research built around “how” and “why” questions.
• These are central to business and marketing – want understanding of how different markets work and why customers behave the way they do so.
• Used by commercial companies, political parties & state agencies. Main types of qualitative techniques
• In-depth interviews • Focus groups • Projective techniques • Diaries / personal experience records • Observation / participant observation • Ethnography
• Means end chain analysis • Repertory grid Projective Techniques
• The study of respondents’ interpretation of a series of ambiguous stimuli, deciphered by subjects from their own particular frames of reference (Kassarjian, 1974).
• An individual is presented with ambiguous stimuli and asked to find meaning. Interpretation will reflect his / her own personality or need-value system.
• Associative techniques, completion techniques, construction, choice / ordering, expressive and role play. Rosenzweig picture frustration test Construction Techniques (thematic apperception test)
• The original test consists of 30 cards with pictures and drawings. The respondent is asked to construct a story about each picture; what the picture is about, what has happened and what each character is feeling.
• Theory that the individual organises the material around his / her personal experiences, hopes and aspirations and conscious and semiconscious need system.
• For example picture of a woman equidistant from two shops, one labelled bank and the other store. Picture association (branding)
• For instance, respondents were shown a schematic logo:
• Asked what type of destination would have such a logo, and what a visitor might expect to find. Does it fit with intended brand image? Types of observation based studies
Participant
(4) (1) Participant- Complete as-observer participant pa Overt Covert research research (3) (2) Open Complete Observer observer
Spectator What can be observed?
Content Examples Physical actions Shopping patterns Television viewing
Verbal behavior Sales conversations
Situational factors Parent-child interaction in- store vs. out-of-store
Temporal patterns Time of shopping Time of driving
Expressive behaviors Tone of voice Smiling
Observational Study on Cereal Purchases in store
• Study by Atkin in which preschool and school-age children and parents were unobtrusively observed in supermarket. • Seek to analyse parent-child relationship in buyer behaviour.
Questions a) Why use observation as a method? b) What would you expect to find? Observational Study on Cereal Purchases Interactions Parent and Child PARENT AGREES REQUESTS CEREAL PARENT REJECTS OUTRIGHT
CHILD PARENT SUGGEST OTHER INITIATES
PARENT YIELDS DEMANDS CEREAL PARENT REJECTS OUTRIGHT PARENT SUGGESTS OTHER CHILD SELECTS INVITES SELECTION PARENT AGREES
PARENT DENIES PARENT CHILD DECLINES INITIATES
CHILD AGREES DIRECTS SELECTION PARENT AGREES PARENT DECLINES
SOURCE: Atkin CHILD SUGGESTS OTHER PARENT DENIES Repertory Grid Overview
• Understanding repertory grid theory
• Applying the technique
• Discussing experience of applying the technique Example: Customer Experience Customer Experience in Different Contexts Example Quotes to a 5 Direct Question: What is Customer Experience?
• “Customer experience is how I feel about a product or service or company” (B2B / Male) • “Customer experience is my interaction with Interaction another party” (B2B / Female) • “For me, experience has something to do with the notion of well-being and satisfaction. This is not necessarily related to my purchase decision. I would say that this is what I mean by customer experience” (B2C / Female) Well-being • “The experience captures the whole transaction you do with a company, from first contacting them, to purchase, to completion, to after-sales. It would just be whatever you experience in that transaction. I can’t think of anything else” (B2C / Male) Purchasing / Consumption Process 6
Repertory Grid Interviews • Developed by George Kelly in the 1960s for research in psychology • Based on Personal Construct Theory • “Every man is his own scientist” [with a repertoire of constructs] (Kelly) • The technique explores personal constructs • Construct are defined as “a way in which two or more things are alike and at the same time different from one or more things” (Kelly, 1955). Market Research Applications • Highly flexible: “repertory grid testing is a highly flexible technique and not a single test” (Bannister, 1962) • “In our view, the Repertory Grid represents an approach of such fundamental importance that we regard it as having as much potential in market research as any technique since the invention of the questionnaire” (Frost and Baine, 1967)
Personal Construct Theory (PCT)
1)All individuals develop and test constructs as a way of explaining and anticipating events. 2)Constructs will be constantly updated, as they prove useful / less useful in interpreting events. 3)Different interviewees typically differ in how they construe events (n.b. common constructs). 4)Social contexts influence individuals’ constructs. 5)If two individuals construes events similarly, then their psychological processes are similar. 8 Repertory Grid Elements
In our projects, the “elements” are the companies that are associated with certain levels of customer experience.
Company 6 Company 5 Company 9 Good Average Poor Experience Experience Experience Company 7 Company 1 Company 4 Good Average Poor Experience Experience Experience Company 8 Company 2 Company 3 Average Poor Good Experience Experience Experience Repertory Grid: Order of Triads No. Construct Companies (Elements representing “Customer Experience”) of Triad Pole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1) * * * 2) * * * 3) * * * 4) * * * 5) * * * 6) * * * 7) * * * 8) * * * 9) * * * 10) * * * 11) * * *
The order of Companies is as follows: • Good Experience 6, 7, 3 1 2 3 Average Poor Good • Average Experience 5, 1, 8 Experience Experience Experience • Poor Experience 9, 4, 2 Repertory Grid Technique
1 2 3 Average Poor Good
Present triad / collect construct. “Please think about how two of these companies are similar and different from the 3rd in terms of... the experience you have with them”
Construct are defined as “a way in which two or more things are alike and at the same me different from one or more things” (Kelly, 1955) Evaluation
Very Not Helpful Helpful Construct Rating Scale Contrast Pole Pole 1 3 5
3 1 2 First, rate triad Good Average Poor Elements on scale against Construct 1. Evaluation
Very Not Helpful 1 32 3 4 5 Helpful
3 Good 1 Average 2 Poor Experience Experience Experience
6 5 4 Good Average Poor Second, rate all Experience Experience Experience other elements. 8 Average 7 Good 9 Poor Experience Experience Experience Continue with the Procedure No. Construct Companies (Elements representing “Customer Experience”) of Triad Pole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1) 1 * * * 2) 2 * * * 3) * * * 4) * * * 5) * * * 6) * * * 7) * * * 8) * * * 9) * * * 10) * * * 11) * * * The order of Companies is as follows: • Good Experience 6, 7, 3 1 2 3 Average Poor Good • Average Experience 5, 1, 8 Experience Experience Experience • Poor Experience 9, 4, 2 Just before the end… If you have your own provided constructs, add a paper slip with additional constructs Goals
• Identify Customer Experience Constructs. • Try to overcome the barrier from the obvious and easy constructs to the hidden and difficult ones. • Make sure that you covered the meaning of each construct (both poles). • Make a note of interesting points / quotes on the grid so that we will find it more easily in the audio recording. Laddering Technique
Why? - Constructs of greater generality
Starting Construct What or how? - More specific constructs
Laddering Analysis – Just a note
# Construct Contrast Pole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pole Good Product Poor 1 Quality 1 3 3 2 3 1 2 3 3 Product Quality
2 Pleasant 2 4 1 5 3 2 2 3 5 Too Hot/ Temperature Cold Source: h p://webgrid.uvic.ca Focus Analysis
20 Individual Results
21 119 Customer Experience Factors
Purchasing Pattern Mutual Understanding Segmentation Strategy Efficient use of time Commitment Status QuoQuo Update Update Advertisement Pushy Value Relationship Service Size Number of Staff Atmosphere / EnvironmentOwn Products Friendly Self-evaluation Impression Impact Pay lip service Business Needs Change of People within Relationship Value Custom Documentation Importance of Timely Delivery Flexibility Loyalty Programme Authorised Links Network of Specialists Competence Multi-tier Service Value CreationCreation Acting as Agreed Expertise Extent of Personal Contact Point ofof Contact Contact Importance of Transaction Relationship Maintenance Process Definition Known to Customer IntermediaryOutcome of Relationship Trust Expectation Feedback Knowledge Emotive Environment Openness Attitude Discounts Accessibility ConsistencyCommunication Exclusive Perceived Affluence Market Position Pricing ApplicationFrequency of KnowledgePartner Reliability Sales Process Organisation CRM Approach Pick and Choose Safety of Belongings Experience Provider Provider Customisation Well stocked Problem Solving Aftercare Personalisation Honesty Customer is able to check quality before placing order Customer Care Quality Trend / Up-to-Date Public Company Socially Dependent Customer Attention Degree of Self-Dependence Placing Orders Time to serve / waiting time Feel Good FactorFactor Price Level Helpful Contact Navigation Emotional Blaming Accurate invoicing Delivery Performance Product Range Supervision Customer Centric Centric Promotion / Junk Mail Geographical Scope Number of People Implicit Understanding of Customer Needs FashionableInformation Dissemination Value for Money Response to queries Flexible Service Recovery / Complaint Handling Track Record Promise Fulfilment Nature of Product Access of Information Professionalism Initiating Business Premium Brand Ease of Establishing Relationship Number of Problems Explanation Relationship Offers SpaceSpace for for Important Important Issues Issues in Lifein Life Geographical Distance Free Phone Educated Choice Getting what paid22 for Pro-activity in Eliciting Customer’s Objectives Choice Responsiveness Variety Repertory Grid Paper on Customer Experience Quality Exercise: Rep Grid Interviewing
You are a market researcher investigating consumers’ needs (customer attributes; repertory grid constructs) • Run a rep grid interview using the pre-prepared grid; work in threes: • Interviewer (market researcher) • Interviewee (customer) • Observer (scien st) • Interviewer: Collect data (constructs and ratings, from 1 to 5) and comments. • Interviewee: The elements of the test are chocolates and similar snack bars (e.g., Mars). • Observer: Please take note of anything important and/or interesting (legible) Starting the process of QCA
• Projects start with a question, contextualised through a review of the literature (Silverman, 2011).
• Projects often begin with a theory, “which means you already know what kinds of things you will be looking for in your data (whilst keeping yourself open to new ideas, of course). This means you are likely to want to create a starter coding system” (Bazeley, 2007, p.23).
• Qualitative project include data records, records of your thinking about the data (memos), coding items, variable-type information about the cases in your study, records of and results from interrogative queries conducted on data, and models showing relationships between items in the project. Journal
Useful to maintain a journal – document discussing how the researcher(s) moved from initial forays in their project to arrival at their conclusions.
Richards (2009) compares the journaling process to keeping a ship’s log with its careful account of a journey.
Keep track of when and how insights were gained and ideas developed. Transcripts
• A full transcript will include all ums, mms, repetitions and the like. • Do not tidy up the text, correcting incomplete sentences or poor grammar: it is important to capture the form and style of the participant’s expression. • Record nonverbal and emotional elements of the conversion, such as (pause), (long pause), (laughter), (very emotional at this point). • If translating from another language, original words used can be inserted in parentheses to benefit a reader who understands the language and where the original language is needed to convey nuance of the text. Preparation for Coding
• Descriptive information about cases (demographic or other categorised) information recorded as attributes.
• First reading of the document to gain a sense of the whole, so that as you begin to identify specific points or issues in the data, you will see those in the context of that whole.
• Make notes about what you think this document is telling you, reflect on a word or phrase, record your ideas about a concept or theme, note issues for further investigation and hunches to check out (Miles and Huberman, 1994). Coding (1)
• Can be done manually or facilitated by software
• Most popular software package is NVivo
• Nvivo aids the management of data and ideas, ability to query data, graphically model relationships between concepts and report from the data. Coding (2)
• A code is an abstract representation of an object or phenomenon (Strauss and Corbin, 1998) / a mnemonic devise used to identify themes in a text (Ryan and Bernard, 2000).
• Codes range from purely descriptive – this event occurred in the playground, through labels for topics and themes – this is about violence between children, to more interpretative or analytical concepts - it is a reflection of cultural stereotyping (Richards, 2009). Coding (3)
• Coding is thus a way of classifying and then ‘tagging’ text with codes, or of indexing it, in order to facilitate later retrieval (Ryan and Bernard, 2000).
• Text can then be viewed by category as well as by source, so that the classification of text using codes assists conceptualisation. This “recontextualisation” of the data (Tesch, 1990), through which the data is seen afresh, assists the researcher to move from document analysis to theorizing.
• As well as linking to data, codes link to each other. As you code, patterns of association between codes will become apparent. Coding (4)
In choice of codes, 2 options:
a) Apriori or theoretically derived codes. Defined prior to examination of data. Based on conceptual or theoretical framework.
b) In vivo or indigenous codes, which are derived directly from the data. Coding (5)
Richards (2009) recommends in coding that you move from ‘seeing’ to ‘seeing as’:
• Identify: what’s interesting? Highlight the passage • Ask: Why is it interesting? This may generate a useful descriptive or interpretative code – if so, make a node for it. It may warrant a comment in an annotation or memo. • Then ask: why I am interested in that? This will ‘lift you off the page’ to generate a more abstract and generally applicable concept, which , if relevant to your project, will be very worthy of a node (and perhaps a memo). Nodes
• Coding in Nvivo is stored in nodes.
• Begin with free nodes, which do not assume relationships with any other concepts. Free nodes allow you to capture ideas without imposing structure on those ideas, so they are particularly useful to use at the beginning of a project.
• Later these are organised and moved into trees – hierarchical, branching parent nodes serve as connecting points for subcategories or types of concepts. Trees help create order, by clarifying your ideas about what goes with what and identify patterns of association between groups of nodes. Arranging and using nodes in trees
• Organise trees based on conceptual relationships (the same ‘sorts of things’); • Use a separate node for each element (who, what, how, when etc.) of what the text is about; • Each nodes should encompass one concept only; • Each concept appears in only one tree in the whole system; • A particular passage of text will be coded at multiple nodes; • Keep the system ‘light’; be flexible. Pattern Coding
• Having sorted (classified) nodes into trees, move on to pattern coding – a second level of coding which is more inferential and explanatory.
• Pattern codes would typically encompass or connect concepts that come from two or more of your trees.
• Miles and Huberman (1994) suggest that pattern codes are generally of four types: themes, causes or explanations, relationships, and emerging constructs. Coding on
• Coding queries identify text coded as two or more nodes (intersection of coding).
• Matrix coding queries. Qualitative cross-tabulation in which coding items ( usually a node or multiple node) define the rows of the resulting table, and the values of an attribute define the columns.
• Relationships nodes record a connection of a particular kind between two project items such as categories or concepts. Relationship can be a simple association, or it can have one-way or two-way directionality.
• Reading may refresh your ‘theoretical sensitivity’. Theory Building
An explanatory matrix or diagram of conditions, actions / interactions and consequences is seen as the centrepiece for theory building in a grounded theory analysis.
Matrix style pattern analysis used extensively to explore changes over time, comparative outcomes, impacts for different subgroups and for communicating data (Miles and Huberman, 1994).
Modeller function, graphically represent relationships between nodes. Identify mechanisms going beyond sheer association. Reliability
• Use of data management programme • Proportional reduction in loss method (Rust and Cooil, 1994). Select independent judges to evaluate coding. Calculate the proportional reduction in loss based on the judges’ agreement or disagreement with each of our codes in these interviews. • External audit. Outside researcher. Go through interview protocols, coding schemes, random samples of interview transcripts and documentation to assess whether the conclusions we reached were plausible. Validity
Five interrelated procedures recommended: (a) respondent validation (go back to respondents), (b) refutability (can findings from one context be refuted in another), (c) constant comparison (additional data collection until theoretical saturation), (d) comprehensive data treatment (inspect all data) (e) deviant-case analysis (examine all cases where findings substantially different). Reporting the fruits of QCA
a) Quotations. Illustrative. b) Matrices: crossing of two or more lists as rows and columns time-ordered event matrix conceptually clustered matrix c) Networks: Collection of linked nodes or points tree taxonomy cognitive maps Guidelines for reporting quotations
• Quotations should be contextualised (e.g. what question it was in response to) • Quotations should be interpreted – explain what viewpoint it supports, illuminates, disproves etc. • No more than half of the text of a findings chapter should be quotations. • Quotations should usually be short. • Use only the best quotation. Use several quotations only if they illustrate a range of different answers (Kvale, 1996). Presentation of quotations
Source: Malshe and Sohi(2009) Example of Cognitive Map: Supervisor responses to drug issues (Bennett and Lehman, 2002)
Look like a drug user? Suspicion If no Increase own Fear of being tolerance Is there a wrong (false safety risk? accusation)
If yes Proof aware
Decrease own Vigilant Stress tolerance Trust Betrayed Requirements for a wrist watch (Proctor 2005, p.336)
Scratchproof glass Waterproof Gold / stainless steel Durable
Under £500 Fashionable
Keeps good time Well known brand Luminous dial Coding of Chocolate
• Per group (interviewer, interviewee, observer) please name us one construct that you deem most important / most interesting. References
• Bazeley, P. (2007), Qualitative data analysis with NVivo, Sage Publications Limited, London. • Bazeley, P. and Jackson, K. (2013), Qualitative data analysis with NVivo, 2nd edition ed., SAGE, London. • Bennett, J.B. and Lehman, W.E.K. (2002) Supervisor tolerance ‐ responsiveness to substance abuse and workplace prevention training: Use of a cognitive mapping tool. Health Education Research, 17(1): 27–42. • Charmaz, K. (2006) Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis, London: Sage. • Coffey, A., & Atkinson, P. (1996) Making sense of qualitative data: Complementary research strategies. London: Sage. • Kvale, S. (1996) Interviews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing. London: Sage. • Lemke, F., Clark, M., & Wilson, H. (2011). Customer Experience Quality: An Exploration in Business and Consumer Contexts Using Repertory Grid Technique. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 39(6), 846-869. doi:10.1007/s11747-010-0219-0 • Malshe, A. and Sohi, R.S. (2009), "What makes strategy making across the sales-marketing interface more successful?", Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 37 No. 4, pp. 400- 21. References
• Mehrtens, J., Cragg, P.B. and Mills, A.M. (2001) ‘A model of Internet adoption by SMEs’, Information & Management, Vol.39(3), pp.165-176 • Miles M. & Huberman A. (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis; an Expanded Source Book. London: Sage • Proctor, T. (2005), Essentials of Marketing Research, 4th edition, Harlow: Pearson, Chapter 11. • Richards, L. (2009) Handling Qualitative Data: a practical guide, 2nd edition, London: Sage • Rust, R. T., & Cooil, B. (1994). Reliability measures for qualitative data: Theory and implications. Journal of Marketing Research, 31(1), 1–14. • Ryan, G. W., and H. R. Bernard. (2000) Data management and analysis methods. In Handbook of qualitative research, 2d ed., edited by N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln, 769–802. London: Sage • Silverman, D. (2011) Interpreting qualitative data, 4th edition, London: Sage. • Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. London: Sage. • Tesch R. (1990) Qualitative Research: Analysis Types and Software Tools. London: Falmer Next Steps: Repertory Grid and Sustainability
• A potential extension of this work could be on sustainable and unsustainable products. • This will involve the repertory grid technique and a contrast between the UK and Vietnam. • If you would like to get involved, we will speak after this session. Just let us know.