Integrating multiple qualitative research methods (or avoiding the precariousness of a one-legged stool)
✍ Scribed by Amy L. Hall; Ray C. Rist
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 126 KB
- Volume
- 16
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0742-6046
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
This article suggests that market research is enhanced when multiple qualitative methods are combined in a triangulated approach to examining marketing questions. The article begins with a case study that illustrates how a qualitative study can, by itself, be used as a basis for making marketing decisions, when methodological triangulation is employed to guard against unreliable or invalid results. Following the case study is a presentation of the three legs of the qualitative stool -interviews (including focus groups), observations, and document analysis. Each method is described, with a discussion of inherent strengths and weaknesses. The article ends with an argument for increasing the use of integrated, triangulated qualitative studies in the field of market research.