Welcome back. We are going to look at Common Qualitative Research Methods. You will learn how to choose them and when to use them. As this lesson is longer, I have broken it into two parts. We will look at the first three methods in part one and the remaining two in greater depth in part two. So after the first part of this lesson, you'll be able to recall and explain three commonly used qualitative research methods. Let's go. There are a few distinct forms of qualitative research methods commonly used today. The field has grown significantly since the old days of conducting ethnographic, observational studies, found in the fields of anthropology or sociology. In these early qualitative studies, there wasn't an interviewer or moderator. There was only someone taking notes about what they observed. Qualitative research now combines observation with interaction. In addition, the advent of the World Wide Web takes qualitative research to another level. Let's consider qualitative research methods used today, how to choose them, and when to use them. The first is background research. You can do this online or offline as secondary research to provide background for your study. You would use this when you're just becoming familiar with a project. Do background research when you need general information to build your questionnaire or moderator guide. With this method, you would start by looking at background materials at your company. You'd ask colleagues about what they know about the product or project. You might talk to friends who are in a similar industry to find out if they know of people who have knowledge about this product or project. You might do a Google search on the product and see what competitors are doing in terms of market research along these same lines. If you find out that they are, what do they have, and what is the reception to it? How has the product been received by the press? Has this product been written up in a scientific literature review? If so, what are the reviews? This describes background research. This type of work can stand alone as a qualitative secondary research project. You can record you findings in a short report or use it as an introduction to a final report. The second is observational research. This form of qualitative research is used less frequently, usually conducted in an academic setting. You would choose observational research if you want to be non-obtrusive in the research process. You would use it when the key answers to your research question come from the information you learned from watching the actions or hearing the words of participants as they interact with their domain. Two of the most famous examples of observational research were done at Stanford University. One was the Bobo Doll Experiment and the Stanford Research Experiment. These experiments video taped interaction between people observing the responses in a controlled setting designed to see how they respond to authority. The results showed that if a role model reinforced the behavior, there was a likelihood for the subject to repeat the behavior. Third is panel research. Several large corporations are doing panel research to get insight from their customers as a way to create buy in on their product. You would choose panel research as a recommendation to a client if you have followers or customers with whom you can group into panels in order to get their opinions or to test out new ideas. Panel research is one of the newest qualitative research strategies in which large companies choose to embark. For instance, Hyatt Hotels invited me to participate in the Hyatt Insider Panel Group, because I frequent their hotels. During these panels, Hyatt has featured various members of their company. One time, it was the new CEO. Another time, the broadcast featured head of housekeeping or the person in charge of their club level. Each time they feature someone, they ask the insiders where they would like to see the improvement and what they think of the new concepts Hyatt is kicking around. I have found it to be a fun experience to be able to give my opinion on many of their product launches before they go to market. Sometimes, Hyatt rewards us with a point bonus to answer surveys with the insider group. What could be better than free hotel nights? There are online panel market research firms like BrainJuicer that has many big corporations who want panel response. With the advent of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, there is more opportunity for this type of panel research. Followers can easily make up panels. The aim is for the customer base to take interest in the future of their favorite company. This creates buy in. The panel usually has the first chance to provide feedback about new ideas. Sometimes the panel also gets to hear guest speakers and enter private contests. The Hyatt had one for photographing their favorite thing about Hyatt. Usually there is no payment for participating in a panel unless they are high level panels like for doctors or lawyers. That concludes this lesson on common qualitative research methods. After this lesson, you should be able to recall commonly using qualitative research methods, explain when to choose and use them.