pink-book

Avoid counting or quantifying types of
responses (e.g., “75 percent of participants
preferred concept A”). Attempting to quantify
the results—or suggesting in other ways that
they represent the opinions of the intended
audience as a whole—is inappropriate for
qualitative research.
Quasi-Quantitative Research Methods:
Pretesting Messages and Materials
Some commonly used communication
research methods, such as central-location
intercept interviews and theater tests, are
best termed quasi-quantitative. While these
methods are used in situations in which the
goal is measurement and typically involve a
questionnaire with mostly forced-choice
questions, the results cannot be projected to
the population as a whole (as with true
quantitative surveys) because of the way in
which participants are selected. For centrallocation
intercept interviews, the only people
who have a chance to participate are those
who go to the location where the interviews
are being held and who go there during the
times they are conducted; this is not a truly
representative sample of the intended
audience. For theater tests, the only people
who have a chance to participate are those
who are recruited for the test, and
recruitment does not follow a truly
representative sampling design.
Quasi-quantitative methods are most often
used during Stage 2 to pretest messages
and materials. If your intended audience is
geographically dispersed or it is difficult for
them to get to a central facility, you can use
telephone interviews and send participants
any materials in advance. This type of
pretest typically resembles an in-depth
interviewing project in price and number of
interviews, although there may be more
closed-ended questions and the question
sequence may be adhered to more closely.
THE MODERATOR’S ROLE
The moderator does not need to be an
expert in the subject of your research
but must have experience facilitating
group discussions. A good moderator
builds rapport and trust and probes,
without reacting to or influencing,
participants’ opinions. The moderator
must be able to lead the discussion and
not be led by the group. He or she must
emphasize that there are no right or
wrong answers to the questions that are
posed. A good moderator understands
the process of eliciting comments, keeps
the discussion on track, and figures out
other ways of approaching a topic if the
first way is unproductive. Good
moderators understand what you are
looking for and what you need to do
with the information, and they are able
to probe and guide the discussion
accordingly. Go over the guide with the
moderator to point out any topics or
concerns you want emphasized or
discussed in depth. By the end of the
focus group or interview, the moderator
should ensure that all agreed-upon
topics are covered sufficiently.
If your organization plans to conduct
focus groups regularly, consider hiring
a skilled, experienced moderator to
train your internal staff to moderate
focus groups. Use local advertising
agencies, the American Marketing
Association’s Focus Group Directory,
or the Qualitative Research
Consultants Association to identify
a good moderator.
METHODS
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