Research Methods | 
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Research is typically broken down into two basic categories, quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative research, including most surveys, is focused on getting numerical answers that are statistically reliable and generalizable to the larger population. For example, “What percentage of our members want online continuing education?” Qualitative research, such as a focus group), on the other hand, ilooks more at people’s understanding of a particular issue in their own words—more of a rich, detailed description. The two forms of research can work hand-in-hand, with a qualitative study generating ideas and a quantitative study attempting to test which idea is most liked.
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Quantitative research Surveys Surveys are the bread and butter of research, allowing us to collect a significant amount of data on important questions, from customer satisfaction, to more complicated surveys such as conjoint analyses that allow us to develop demand curves to more accurately assess features and prices. Depending on the particular project, recruiting for participants may be easy (e.g., IEEE members or customers) or very challenging and expensive (non-members outside the United States). In general, questionnaires should not take longer than 15 minutes for the respondent to complete. Otherwise, response rates tend to suffer. Internet Surveys Most surveys done at IEEE are conducted completely over the Internet. This is the quickest and most cost-effective research method. The vast majority of IEEE members have provided e-mail addresses so that results from these surveys can reliably be generalized to the membership at large. More than 90% of higher grade members have e-mail addresses, while nearly 100% of student members do. On the other hand, only about 60% of Life Members have provided us e-mail addresses. Mail Surveys Mail surveys are allow us to reach participants who wouldn’t otherwise respond to an Internet survey, either because we don’t have a valid e-mail address for them, or because they simply don’t respond to e-mail invitations. Mail surveys cost more than Internet surveys and often take longer, but may be slightly more reliable. Telephone Surveys Telephone surveys are useful when there is a need for in-depth responses from a large number of participants (more than a focus group can accommodate). Telephone surveys allow the interviewer to probe deeper into a respondent's thoughts and feelings and may be more effective in getting answers to non-personal questions that respondents are prone to skip or provide inadequate responses to on an internet or mail survey. The cost per respondent tends to be very high, particularly in comparison to Internet surveys. Qualitative Because it is more-open ended and usually involved fewer participants, qualitative research is typically seen as more exploratory in nature than quantitative and survey research. Focus Groups A focus group is a good way to collect qualitative information from a select number of people (usually 8-14 individuals). Focus groups are usually conducted by an experienced moderator and can be done in-person or via the Internet. For focus groups that are conducted on the Internet, you may have the ability to observe from a "virtual back room" and view the moderator's interaction with the focus group participants. In addition to viewing, you may have the ability to interact with the moderator by sending questions to her/him directly as you view the online focus group. Additionally, we have had good experiences with Bulletin Board Focus Groups (BBFG), which are online focus groups in which people post messages over a three to five day period. This works very well for collecting data from people all across the world, because time-zone differences do not affect this technique much. This technique also allows for more in depth questioning that requires more thought on the part of the participants and can provide for more interaction amongst the participants. Interviews Structured interviews, either in person or over the phone are another way to gather a substantial amount of data on individual thoughts and opinions on a particular topic. Because these are done one at a time, they allow for more privacy than focus groups, but they don’t allow the participants to respond to comments made by others. Discussion Cafés Discussion cafés are similar to focus groups in that they are a strategy designed to gather qualitative data rather than quantitative data. However, many more people (50 or more) can participate. In this technique, a room is set up with a number of small tables, with four or five chairs at each table. Each table has flip charts paper as the “tablecloth” and markers or other ways to records the results of the conversation. People rotate two or three times so that they have conversations with several other people. At the end, each table reports out on the results of their discussions. The goal is to have participants participate in a meaningful dialogue with one another and have a positive experience while we collect data. Mystery Shoppers One strategy for investigating how effective employees are at dealing with member, prospective members, and customers is to use mystery shoppers. Mystery shoppers take on the role of a customer/member and see how they are treated. |
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