All too often, organizations assume they can predict or generalize their target audience's behavior based on insights gleaned from qualitative studies like focus groups or in-depth interviews (IDIs).  However, that's often not the case and can actually lead to risky and ill-informed business decisions in the market.

Qualitative research is subjective and directional in nature and reveals the "why" by capturing insights about feelings, attitudes, opinions, and behavior drivers surrounding a defined topic(s). Conversely, quantitative research entails a statistically valid size of the target audience and gleans objective, structured, numeric data that provides insights into the "what".

An important key to obtaining data that can be accurately projected onto an entire target audience is carefully designed survey questions that are precisely replicated from person to person so that the results can be added together and compared.  This isn't possible with a series of focus groups and/or IDIs – even if they entail a fairly large number of nationwide participants -- as open-ended discussions and group dynamics impact the flow, wording, and order of the questions.

Combining Techniques into a Hybrid Study

Smart researchers will often combine both types of research into one program, sometimes using a quantitative study to validate certain hypotheses or ideas gleaned in a prior qualitative study.  For example, a client conducted a follow-on quantitative study to test numerous hypotheses developed from their focus groups, including one about federal customers' contract preferences.  While the quantitative study validated and even shed more light on several hypotheses, it revealed the important finding that civilian and defense employees had different contract preferences – something the focus groups did not uncover.

In addition, though a quantitative survey is made up primarily of close-ended questions, it can also include open-ended questions to reveal the reasons behind specific scores and answers, thoughts on current and future practices, needs unique to each organization, and so forth.  A good research firm will analyze and report on qualitative data separately, as it often drives different follow-up actions than quantitative data.

Once you've defined your knowledge gaps and research budget, rely on your research partner to help you set realistic program objectives and determine the most effective means of meeting them.  However, always keep in mind that qualitative studies, such as focus groups and IDIs, provide an in-depth view of why some in the market think, feel, and behave the way they do.  Quantitative surveys, by contrast, allow you to accurately measure the preferences, perceptions, and behaviors of the market. 

Because these two methodologies are very different, aligning the wrong methodology with the research objectives can result in your organization making important decisions based on an incomplete and potentially misleading picture of the market.  However, when the objectives warrant it, a hybrid study that combines these two complementary approaches can yield a highly detailed and meaningful picture of the target market. 

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