Page 37 - DMGT404 RESEARCH_METHODOLOGY

Unit 3: Research Design

Notes

Notes Variation of Focus Group

1. Respondent moderator group: Under this method, the moderator will select one of the
participants to act as a temporary moderator.
2. Dualing moderator group: In this method, there are two moderators. They purposely
take opposing positions on a given topic. This will help the researcher to obtain the
views of both groups.

3. Two way focus group: Under this method one group will listen to the other group.
Later, the second group will react to the views of the first group.
4. Dual moderator group: Here, there are two moderators. One moderator will make
sure that the discussion moves smoothly. The second moderator will ask a specific
question.

4. Case Studies: Analysing a selected case sometimes gives an insight into the problem
which is being researched. Case histories of companies which have undergone a similar
situation may be available. These case studies are well suited to carry out exploratory
research. However, the result of investigation of case histories are always considered
suggestive, rather than conclusive. In case of preference to "ready to eat food", many case
histories may be available in the form of previous studies made by competitors. We must
carefully examine the already published case studies with regard to other variables such
as price, advertisement, changes in the taste, etc.

3.2.4 Secondary Data

Secondary data is information gathered for purposes other than the completion of a research
project. A variety of secondary information sources is available to the researcher gathering data
on an industry, potential product applications and the market place. Secondary data is also used
to gain initial insight into the research problem.
Secondary data analysis saves time that would otherwise be spent collecting data and, particularly
in the case of quantitative data, provides larger and higher-quality databases than would be
unfeasible for any individual researcher to collect on their own. In addition to that, analysts of
social and economic change consider secondary data essential, since it is impossible to conduct
a new survey that can adequately capture past change and/or developments.
Secondary data can be obtained from two different research strands:

1. Quantitative: Census, housing, social security as well as electoral statistics and other
related databases.
2. Qualitative: Semi-structured and structured interviews, focus groups transcripts, field
notes, observation records and other personal, research-related documents.

Notes Secondary data can also be helpful in the research design of subsequent primary
research and can provide a baseline with which the collected primary data results can be
compared to. Therefore, it is always wise to begin any research activity with a review of
the secondary data.

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