Archive for the 'Qualitative Research Trends' Category

Which research method?

charukesi March 12th, 2004

Dina writes about the ongoing debate on qualitative vs quantitative studies (her link through James Robertson). Having read both sides of the argument, she says I suspect both are a little extreme - and call for a case-by-case decision.

I was naturally intrigued; after all this is a question that all researchers keep asking and answering all the time. My own personal experience has taught me to steer clear of such debate because to me the discussion is pointless. To put is most blandly, both methods have a lot going for them, and a lot not too. And selection of research methodology is entirely case-dependent, as Dina says.

My first eye-opener was at the LSE where I was sent to sessions on quantitative methods kicking and screaming. I was so convinced of my own niche as a qualitative researcher that it took me a long time to realize how incomplete my knowledge, and therefore expertise was. We want you to be a fully trained social researcher, said my Prof there. And he went on, how can you say now whether the kind of work you will get will be qualitative or quantitative in nature….. True words, indeed……

If there is one thing that all these years of research experience has taught me, it is ‘methods’ is as ‘methods’ does. And it is fairly naive to believe that any one method is essentially superior to the other, generally speaking. But, I also know there is no end to this debate….. it goes on….

Insights on Indian kids

charukesi March 3rd, 2004

After adults and teenagers, it is now the turn of children…. To be researched as ‘consumers’. O&M India’s knowledge management unit, Ogilvy Discovery recently conducted a national-level study on Indian children in the 4-to-12-years age group. The aim of the study was to understand the pressures and motivations of Indian children, and glean implications for brands and communication.

As such, children are very difficult to research, given that they cannot be studied in an artificial research environment, the way adults can. Conventional research tools such as focus groups and interviews would provide limited information and certainly no meaningful insights.

This study used an interesting mix of methodologies to gain glimpses into the lives of children. Observations, interviews with parents, teachers and child psychologists, conversations with children, focus groups with kids, media ethnology (there is that much abused term again) of children’s magazines, comics and television commercials, and scrapbook exercises.

Given that children are increasingly becoming influencers and even decision-makers within the household, such a study is bound to throw up interesting findings for advertisers and marketers. Some dominant themes that emerged from the study were : Rushed-Regimented Childhood, Death of Delayed Gratification, Poor and Selective Socialization, Weaker Sibling Bonding, Outdoors – Out of the front door, Retracing Culture with Grandparents, Fathers Tending to be Mothers and The Character Rage. For a better understanding of these, read the report.

What I find interesting is that such studies are more and more moving away from traditional research methods and attempting the uncharted.

At the same time, very often, findings from such studies, despite their fancy themes and names (Character Rage, for instance) tend to be at some level intuitive and obvious. With all these research techniques and skills, is this the best O&M can offer : children are being regimented by their parents, they do not go out to play as much as children used to, fathers are participating in the nurturing role…. and so on….

This trend of ‘techniques for the sake of techniques’ is disturbing; methodology has become a cutting-edge selling point for agencies involved in research. You do focus groups; I do one better, I do focus workshops….. that kind of thing…. Media ethnology???

One more thing, I would be interested in also understanding the source of such behaviour / themes in the lives of children. Viz. motivators and influences. Again, chicken and eggishly, what is the cause and what is the effect here ? Who came first : the advertiser or the audience ? Is media (cinema and advertising included) about cultivation or about representation? In other words, do ads portray such attitudes, symbols and rituals because the Indian kid is like that…. Or is he that way because he is influenced by the advertising he is exposed to ?

Hofstede’s culture onion

charukesi February 6th, 2004

About my post you want values?, I must say that people have missed the point entirely…….

The holler was not about observing (or not observing in this case) a holiday or remembering (or not) a specific date. Nor was my intention to compare Amitabh Bacchan with Mohandas Gandhi.

(Gandhi) He was as much of an icon as Anil Ambani or Amitabh Bachchan. Its only that, the youngsters do not relate to his principles anymore, says Divya…. and that is precisely my point…. That values are changing…. The kind of things people (I don’t not use the much abused word, youth here) relate to and want are drastically different…. And it reflects in everything they do…..

Geert Hofstede, a social psychologist / behavioural scientist in 1991 came up with this explanation of culture. In his view, ‘culture’ is like an onion: a system that can be peeled, layer by layer, in order to reveal the content. Imagine the whole onion as ‘culture’ and as you peel on, you see different levels which work on and influence culture (in any particular society).

At the core of his onion are ‘values’, in other words, how people believe things ‘ought to be’, what they hold dear to them. This level is invisible and is manifested through the three other layers : symbols, rituals and icons.

- symbols : words, artefacts, pictures that carry a special meaning
- rituals : such as festivals, ways of paying respect, ‘hanging out’ trends
- icons : persons admired by the society as a whole

And every generation, every society sees changes in the other three layers mentioned above. And students of social psychology (naively, according to some) believe that Hofstede was right and that values are indeed changing, going by the changes in outward manifestations…..

A case for Tricklenomics

charukesi January 6th, 2004

Has Indian policy focus shifted from the have-nots to the haves? Seema Mustafa, in the Asian age feels so, calling it The Two faces of India. Says Mustafa, there was a time when India looked at the poor as the yardstick for policy making. Today she looks at the middle class and the rich, the poor having disappeared from the map of progress and development.

In a heartfelt and impassioned piece, she pleads the cause of the poor who she feels have become a large faceless entity. She warns of dire consequences, along the lines of a revolution, if the pressure bursts some day.

I have a question for Ms. Mustafa here. In these fifty plus years of independence, where popular social and political discourse revolved around the concept of socialism, encapsulating the bottoms-up approach, how much have the poor become less poor? Do we have any basis for saying that poor-oriented policy works better? Or even works at all?

Read in one of the year-end magazine issues on how good 2003 has been for India, what two thousand years of history has not been able to do for India, twelve years of an open economy have managed, viz. find respect in the eyes of the world.

Given this, why such rhetoric? No doubt the rich get richer, but if the poor also get richer in the process, then what is the harm?

Think carefully about the idea of tricklenomics. Based on the old belief that “if the horse has better hay to eat, the birds will eat better” (it being understood that birds eat manure). In other words, if the rich do well, the benefits will trickle down to the rest. Which is what the current Indian economy is all about.

And this I think, while being politically incorrect, is not such a bad thing after all…..

Aishwarya Rai and Pulse Polio

charukesi January 2nd, 2004

Amitabh Bacchan is an angry old man. How many times should I tell you, he asks in the latest Polio Plus ads. The critical parent is clearly tired of his aggressive go-do-it act. Am curious about how much the ad has achieved its objectives – should be good enough for the agency to keep up the theme. With an activated Refresh function.

In comes Aishwarya Rai. The perfect foil, says the ad agency. A star to match the super-star’s stature. She soothes him and pleads with the viewers, why do you make him angry ? Why don’t you just go-do-it.

There. The same message. Different tone. The somewhat indulgent parent, shielding the child from the angry parent’s gaze.

Great job. O &M cannot go wrong.

Transactional Analysis is all fine, but seriously, why Aishwarya Rai ? Targeting the dads this time around ? (Anyways Bacchan is angry with the moms who have not rushed to get their child immunized on his advice). In that case, is Yana Gupta a better choice ?! Babuji, zara jaldi chalo…..

The Good Old Days

charukesi October 30th, 2003

Been reading a lot about quarter life crisis. Is it quite quarter or one-third life ?

Anyways, quarter-life is the time when you stop suddenly to take stock and say what the *&%^ am I doing with my life??

The time when all childhood and teenage dreams have come to an end. When you disturbingly start seeing things from your parents’ point of view. When you realize that job satisfaction does not arise from where you work or how much you earn. When you even start attending sessions with other crisisees. :)

I googled and found loads of entries under qlc. In fact, there were a few blogs which popped up with that title. Read this really interesting description of qlc.

I had initiated a small research on my blog on understanding what makes this generation tick. On the growing-up influences of my age cohorts(born in the post-flower child 70s). This idea kept growing when I realized how much my husband and I (who were born in the same year, 1975) had in common even though we grew up in different parts of India. Me in metro, middle-class Madras (yo! for alliteration). And he in small-town AP. There are so many shared experiences we keep exchanging that I wanted to see if others of that time also empathized with this.

Sadly, my research on the blog did not take off too well. A few sporadic responses was all I got. Anyways, thanks a lot folks who bothered to drop a line. I am just summing up here, the responses I got :

Politics / Governance : Manmohanmics, says Kingsley. I remember what a high that was, though we didn’t follow much of it…. Liberalization and opening up of the economy in all ways possible……

The Mandal Report : protesting against it but helpless at some level, the insecurity as students entering college…

Technology: getting used to the world wide web.

Moving from DOS to Windows.

As Patrix says, being born into technology (as today’s kids are) and adapting to it as a ‘young adult’ are two different things. And we did the latter.

Communications : The STD booth boom….. growing into mobile technology

Media : the death of radio and hello television! as all-consuming
Good old DD : Rangoli, Giant Robot, Siddhartha Basu, Prannoy Roy,

Followed by satellite TV - though I still refuse to believe that we are the MTV generation in any way.

Bottom line ? I still have no idea what exactly our growing-up “influences’ were. But I now do know for sure that people circa my age grew up sharing the same experiences that I did…. Do leave a comment; I have hopes of reviving this research sometime…..

The good old days….. Do you miss them the way I do ?!

The Polling Game

charukesi October 27th, 2003

Yet another cover story from Outlook based on a survey. Second time in two issues. This time called rather dramatically, MNCs : Villains or Victims ?

In general, I have nothing against polls as a research tool or when used for prediction or post-mortem.

What I am tired of is the way surveys are increasingly being used as substitutes for editorials in magazines. As quick-fix solutions for attention-grabbing cover stories.

Sex and the Indian Woman. The Great Indian Middle-Class. Why We Hate Our Politicians.

And surely enough, there are enough research agencies who have made their name and monies exclusively through such surveys.

It is a win-win situation for both the magazine and the research agency.

As for the research agency, QADR (Quick And Dirty Research) may not generate much monies, but they spawn enough attention towards the agency. QADR begets further QADR till you become a specialist in that field (as a researcher myself, this is a pet peeve, as you can see. But more on this some other time maybe).

And the magazine can get away with just publishing the results of such surveys. As percentage figures. Adding a few jazzy (and unimaginative) graphs here and there.

What about analysis ? editorial opinion ? discretion ?

For instance, in the last issue of Outlook – Why We Hate Our Politicians, there is a question : Do You Vote ? And 95 % (yes, 95%) of those polled have said, YES.

Even the most naïve citizen of this country (or any country for that matter) has an idea about actual voter turn-outs and knows better than to believe this. But Outlook has faithfully published this result without a murmur. With a line at the bottom saying “The vast majority (95%) claims that they vote during elections. In fact, the claim is Total (100%) in Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad and is the least in Ahmedabad (87%)”

Yes, I can see that. But what does it mean ?

Why do we need the press if all we are getting are percentages and “expert opinions” to add a wee bit of flesh to these numbers ?

These experts are another story altogether. How can the same experts comment on every single phenomenon that the magazine has chosen to cover ? Then, what is the expert an expert on ? The magazine ? Or the social / political issue at hand ? If I see Shiv Vishwanathan’s name in one more such story, I will freak.

In this rosy win-win situation, the ultimate loser is the reader.

The route from brick-bats to bouquets

charukesi October 26th, 2003

Is DEATH. Man, does that sound dramatic !!

I am talking about Rajiv Gandhi’s memorial at Sriperumbudur recently “dedicated” to the nation by our Prez Dr. Kalam. This “tribute” to Rajiv, which took more than eight years to see the light of day.

With various political and social leaders waxing eloquent about Rajiv’s vision and intensity.

I quote : Likened to the Arjuna’s Penance bas-relief at Mahabalipuram, this frieze attempts to tell a legend. Indeed, the legend of the man who had a dream of a “strong, independent and self-reliant India”.

More on the design : Various quotations of Rajiv Gandhi have been etched at the base of each pillar depicting truth, social justice, modernisation, freedom movement, world peace, progress and development. Each pillar differs in design.

Modernisation, progress and development - I associate immediately with Rajiv Gandhi. But truth ? freedom movement (??? do you think the brief given to the architect contained only the surname and not the full name ?)

Anybody - remember the mammoth task before Rajiv when he came to Sriperumbudur, the general elections around the corner ? At a time when the tide of Bofors and more was threatening to drown him, and along with him the Party bequeathed to him by his mother and grandfather.

Fortunately for him, he died at a most opportune moment.

I perfectly empathise with Patrix when he says he does not understand the attention showered on a person following his death.

Remember Princess Diana ? An entire nation pays obsequies to her today. And her butler’s memoirs become best-sellers. And Elton John gets a new life…..

What would have happened had she lived on ? After death, she caught the popular imagination (read sympathy) of the British public (starved of romance and role models anyway) in a way that she never could while alive.

Remember Hansie Cronje?

In death as in everything else in life, timing is so important……

My Blog as a Research Tool ?

charukesi October 9th, 2003

I am sick of hearing about Today’s Youth (not me, but the generation after mine. I have a sneaky feeling I am no longer in the ‘youth’ definition of popular media).

There has been so much research on them already…. I have had it up to here with terms like gratification and consumerism. Anyways, ever since they voted Anil Ambani as their icon, I have lost all interest in them. Even worse, I lost my faith in them since they nominated Smriti Malhotra as a potential icon….. The Star-Plusisation of the younger generation ?!

I have been wading through many Indian blogs…. And came across quite a few Indian bloggers born in the mid-70’s..… What I see as the post-flower, pre-mouse generation…..

I was born in 1975…. And I am interested in understanding my age cohorts. The concept of age cohorts was highlighted by Rama Bijapurkar a few years ago in discussing cultural changes in India post liberalization. I’ve attempted to loosely explain the concept of age cohort : a group of people (who may be born around the same time frame) who grow up sharing the same social, cultural, political, educational experiences…

The concept of age cohorts is significant because this shared set of experiences determine the values and beliefs they will carry all their life.

For instance, the post-war baby boomers in the US.

Coming back to my age cohort, I am very curious about what experiences we grew up sharing…. That has shaped they way we are today… As my mind rambled along these lines, I’ve put down a few thoughts….

Internet ? Technology ? : No, I don’t think we grew up with technology. We approached it as grown ups. (I do not consider a job with an IT company and being able to send e-mail as being “tech”). I am talking about being born internet-savvy, the way kids are today……

Communication ? : We saw the STD booth boom in the country….. is that significant ?
Or is it mobile technology ? Are we the typical sms generation ?

Liberalization ?: Certainly, we witnessed the birth of McD and the re-birth of Coke in India…. Reebok and Ford….. Is this significant ?

The Y2K demand ?

Coalition Governments ? Our youth witnessed the end of single majority parties and the birth of coalition politics….. the shape of things to come and stay…..

Private TV channels ? MTV ? The Bold and the Beautiful ? Quick Gun Murugan ? Cyrus Broacha ? Or is it Giant Robot ?

The end of Angry Amitabh and the entry of Shah Rukh Khan ?

Or is it a combination of all these ?
I don’t know…..

My thoughts may be incoherent…. Since they are still raw thoughts….

I thought it might be fun to share ‘growing up’ with others who grew up elsewhere in the country at the same time……… I do not want to get into a stricter definition of age limits… is too traumatic for me :)

The idea being :

1. to understand the events, ideas, values that have shaped my generation (mid-70’s born, the over-20, under-30s)

2. to experiment with the possibility of blogs as a tool for primary research….. blogs as a tool for expression, blogs as a tool for lobbying….. and now this?

Personally, I would consider this data more credible because participation is voluntary and not coerced or coaxed as in case of conventional research

Something like Dina’s Youth Spotting ideas……

I want to keep this open for a couple of weeks….. Humour me….. Do take this seriously and write in with your ‘cohort’ experiences….. do pass it on to other bloggers / surfers you know of this ‘generation’……

I would love to see this research grow and see if something meaningful can be made out of it…..

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