Qualitative research: some reflections on current approaches

Gerald de Groot

An appraisal of qualitative research, its uses and limitations. The article briefly reviews how it developed and sets out its key uses: forming hypotheses, uncovering attitudinal dimensions and consumer language, obtaining better insight into what is already known, stimulating new ideas.

Qualitative Research: Some Reflections on Current

Approaches

Gerald de Groot, Market Research

The last decade has witnessed a substantial increase in the proportion of commercial market research which is qualitative. This has been brought about by a combination of circumstances, the chief ones being:

  • The economic collapse of 1973/1974 with its attendant pressure on all marketing – including market research – budgets.
  • The emergence, particularly in the United Kingdom, of a number of articulate,...

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