A marketing manager has to make several decisions each day that have significant impact on the sales of company. These decisions cannot be based on assumptions. They need to be backed up by data collected through reliable source. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. So marketing research is important to prevent the trouble that may arise because of the things we believe we know. Thus marketing research can be defined as the systematic and objective process of generating information for helping in marketing decision (Kotler & Keller, 2016).
Depending upon the need, companies use qualitative, quantitative or mixed research to collect required information. In my opinion, the best marketing research is qualitative research because of the following reasons:
It focuses on discovering and exploring the experiences, perspectives and thoughts of people unlike quantitative research that focuses only on numbers and figures (Harwell).
It typically does not have hypothesis. The questions, data collection and data analysis is not based on preconceived notion that reduces chances of biasness while quantitative research is conducted to test a certain hypothesis (Elkatawneh, 2016).
Qualitative research saves time and effort because the sample size is smaller compared to quantitative research.
The data is collected through case studies, interviews, ethnographic works that assists in study of the behavior in natural setting. So there is less chance of result being manipulated. On the other hand, quantitative research is conducted on controlled setting and natural behavior cannot be examined. The setting can be modified or manipulated to get the intended result (Harwell).
Quantitative research is objective and aims on getting a single reality so other forces except addressed by the questions are ignored. But in reality there are multiple realities and qualitative research being subjective in nature addresses those (Johnson & Christensen, 2008).
Quantitative data provides result on numbers and numbers are decisive while qualitative research provides interpretation on a topic of interests (Harwell).
In conclusion, both qualitative and quantitative research have their own benefits and limitations. It is like whether to judge competency, intelligence and capability of the students solely based on the marks they get or consider factors other than the marks while analyzing the students. However, there is not any right or wrong method of conducting research. The selection of the research methodology is based on the purpose of the research and the desired outcome.
References
Elkatawneh, H. H. (2016). Comparing Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches . SSRN Electronic Journal .
Harwell, M. R. (n.d.). Research Design in Qualitative/Quantitative/Mixed Methods.
Johnson, B., & Christensen, L. (2008). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches. Thousand Oaks .
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing Management. London: Pearson.
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A marketing manager has to make several decisions each day that have significant impact on the sales of company. These decisions cannot be based on assumptions. They need to be backed up by data collected through reliable source. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. So marketing research is important to prevent the trouble that may arise because of the things we believe we know. Thus marketing research can be defined as the systematic and objective process of generating information for helping in marketing decision (Kotler & Keller, 2016).
Depending upon the need, companies use qualitative, quantitative or mixed research to collect required information. In my opinion, the best marketing research is qualitative research because of the following reasons:
It focuses on discovering and exploring the experiences, perspectives and thoughts of people unlike quantitative research that focuses only on numbers and figures (Harwell).
It typically does not have hypothesis. The questions, data collection and data analysis is not based on preconceived notion that reduces chances of biasness while quantitative research is conducted to test a certain hypothesis (Elkatawneh, 2016).
Qualitative research saves time and effort because the sample size is smaller compared to quantitative research.
The data is collected through case studies, interviews, ethnographic works that assists in study of the behavior in natural setting. So there is less chance of result being manipulated. On the other hand, quantitative research is conducted on controlled setting and natural behavior cannot be examined. The setting can be modified or manipulated to get the intended result (Harwell).
Quantitative research is objective and aims on getting a single reality so other forces except addressed by the questions are ignored. But in reality there are multiple realities and qualitative research being subjective in nature addresses those (Johnson & Christensen, 2008).
Quantitative data provides result on numbers and numbers are decisive while qualitative research provides interpretation on a topic of interests (Harwell).
In conclusion, both qualitative and quantitative research have their own benefits and limitations. It is like whether to judge competency, intelligence and capability of the students solely based on the marks they get or consider factors other than the marks while analyzing the students. However, there is not any right or wrong method of conducting research. The selection of the research methodology is based on the purpose of the research and the desired outcome.
References
Elkatawneh, H. H. (2016). Comparing Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches . SSRN Electronic Journal .
Harwell, M. R. (n.d.). Research Design in Qualitative/Quantitative/Mixed Methods.
Johnson, B., & Christensen, L. (2008). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches. Thousand Oaks .
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing Management. London: Pearson.