Abstract:

This paper describes the results of an experiment which examines the reliability and validity of qualitative research. Two studies of the same marketing problem (a pack test) were conducted and compared: one a qualitative study (6 group discussions), and the other a hall test (550 respondents interviewed by questionnaire). The costs of the qualitative research were approximately half of the quantitative research. The background to the experiment is the tendency in several countries to use more qualitative research, sometimes at the expense of quantitative research. Data on the losses or gams in quality by using qualitative research is limited, however, and this research was done to provide a basis for evaluating it.