How To Do Market Research Like a Professional?

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH 

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

CHARACTERISTICS

Concerning quantity and number 

Relating to substance and description

SAMPLE SIZE 

Large sample size, representativeness and high accuracy

Small sample size but diversity, low representativeness and accuracy

PURPOSE

Get reliable data for strategic decisions

Deep insight, description, explanation & previous research results.

FLEXIBILITY

Fixed questionnaire, low flexibility.

High flexibility, gain new ideas.

APPLICABLE CASES

• Market Segment

• Product evaluation, price, and advertising effectiveness.

• Measure brand position

• Market size research

• Preparing for a new product concept

• Discover little-known experiences, behaviors, phenomena, and trends

come in the market.

• The ability to approach the interviewer

METHOD

Survey (paper, email, phone…), observation, experiment…

Individual interview, group interview, observation, video recording, mailing,…

ADVANTAGES 

Highly representative, results are more metric and reliable in making decisions 

Flexible questions, deepening customer’s insights

CONS 

Takes a lot of time & can not explain the phenomenon.

The obtained results are subjective opinions, not highly representative.

1

YES/NO QUESTION

PURPOSE 

Usually to classify and group survey subjects.
Eg: If the answer is yes, then which questions should be continued to ask.

ADVANTAGES

Interviewers often like this type of Yes/No question because it doesn’t take much time to think, and usually can be answered immediately.

CONS

Only stops at the level of classification, has not deepened any further information.

NOTE

Because of the obvious yes/no nature of the answer, you should ask the question explicitly. Avoid asking “fill badger” and sentiments like “Do you spend a lot of time working in Saigon Technology Company?” (How much is a lot? hours per day, per week?)

Instead, you could ask: “Are you going to the Saigon Technology company?” Yes/No.

2

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

PURPOSE 

Test the questioner’s predictions about the behaviors & trends of the respondents and find out the most prominent trends.

ADVANTAGES

Intuitive, easy to answer, and produces data that is easy to analyze

CONS

The answer is limited to the given list, which possibly causes bias and inaccuracies in your results. To solve this problem, you can add another option: “Other” at the bottom for the respondents to write their own answers.

NOTE

This type applies to questions with only one answer (single-answer) or multiple answers as checkboxes (multiple-answer).

3

RATING SCALES QUESTION

PURPOSE 

Use a scale (from 0-5, from 0-10…) to measure and evaluate a certain ability.

ADVANTAGES

Get more detailed results by level, compared to the two question types mentioned above.

CONS

The questions and answers are quite emotional and not clear enough, such as the level of preference, the level of importance, … so the accuracy and reliability are not high. Moreover, respondents will be confused between levels like 4, 5, and 6 because they don’t have too much difference.

NOTE

With this type of question, you must carefully explain what the numbers on the scale mean.

For example: “Are you satisfied with the service at Saigon Technology company?” Score from 0 to 5, where 0 is not satisfied, and 5 is completely satisfied.

4

RANKING QUESTION

PURPOSE 

A ranking question asks respondents to sort the choices according to

order of preference, to understand how they feel about each option.

ADVANTAGES

Easily compare options with each other and know which option is the “best” or the “worst”.

CONS

Respondents will take longer time to respond. It may be easy for them to choose between the “best” and the “worst”, but the “middle” options are difficult to compare with each other.

NOTE

Make sure the respondents have an understanding of all the options given to have a basis for comparison and order.

For example, you ask, “What kind of software do you like the most in UI/UX Design?

Sort by most favorite to least favorite. – Sketch, Adobe XD & Fima ” – Assuming a person does not know or have not used Sketch, it might be difficult for that one to arrange the correct list.

5

OPEN-ENDED QUESTION

PURPOSE 

Although the question is a bit of qualitative research, you can include it here to find new ideas, and gain insight into the emotions, behaviors, and thoughts of your target customers.

ADVANTAGES

Helps you uncover ideas you may have overlooked, giving respondents the freedom to voice their opinions instead of depending on given choices, and increasing accuracy and reliability.

CONS

Sometimes respondents are a bit “lazy” to write their answers because it takes longer than ticking.

NOTE

If you are just looking for data for quantitative analysis, then only closed questions can be used. But sometimes, a combination of closed and open questions makes it easier to deal with your quantitative data.

Eg:

o Closed question: “How satisfied are you with Saigon Technology Company? Score from 0-5 with 0 being unsatisfied and 5 being extremely satisfied.”

o Open-ended question: “What do you think Saigon Technology Company needs to do to improve this level of satisfaction?”

1

“DIG DEEPLY REASON” QUESTION

PURPOSE 

If you have done quantitative research before to know the options their choices, then it’s time to explain the reasons.

NOTE

With questions that are too simple or the respondent’s superficial answers, do not meet your goals, do not ignore yet but dig deeper with the why, how, if not why questions.

Use all possible WH-questions until you reach the “depth” you want.

EXAMPLE

• You go shopping at the supermarket 3 times a week, why do you have this habit? What is the deciding factor?

• On days when you don’t go to the supermarket, Where will you buy food at?

• Why don’t you go to the supermarket every day?

2

“FAMILIAR BELIEVES” QUESTION

PURPOSE 

Find out what factors help create unconscious trust in customers, or uncover a new insight that no one has thought of.

NOTE

Customers are often influenced by things that are repeated every day in advertising but may not really understand and think about them. Try to reverse this issue to see their reaction, see if they understand what the ad is trying to say, or if they think differently from common sense.

EXAMPLE

• Do you think that drinking milk tea is good for your health, why?

• Good in what way?

• Do you think drinking a lot of milk tea will cause side effects?

3

FORECAST QUESTION

PURPOSE 

Understand a customer’s future intentions, predict trends or the outcome of an event.

NOTE

Common questions are: 

• “How would you feel if…” 
• “In the future, would you…”.

This means put to the respondents what they will do, are able to do but have not actually done.

EXAMPLE

• In the next few months, will you intend to find a new IT Software job?
• How would you feel if  Saigon Technology increased service prices by 10% next year?

4

QUESTION FOR “SPECIAL AUDIENCE”

PURPOSE 

Get “innovation” in the results, avoid getting “neutral” answers, diversify the respondents.

NOTE

Interview people who are particularly fond of or particularly disliked

your product/brand/industry, ask about how they feel and the reasons for those feelings.

EXAMPLE

• Why do you never drink Starbucks?

• Why did you change from Phuc Long to Phe La?

5

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE QUESTION

PURPOSE 

If you ask the interviewer  in a general way, you will only get generic answers or make the respondent confused. Be specific about each issue.

NOTE

If you need to ask about a certain thing such as the experience of going to the supermarket, you should ask specifically what the customer likes or dislikes, is it convenient or inconvenient?,…

EXAMPLE

• How do you feel when you have to wait in line for payment?

• For a long time, which row do you usually go to first, and why?

(Instead of asking in general how you usually go to the supermarket.)

6

SENSITIVE QUESTION

PURPOSE 

You will understand what customers always want but are difficult to say, thereby meeting their insight.

NOTE

Although it is difficult to get respondents to share these issues, the results will be very worthwhile. You should ask in a tactful way, not “courageously” forcing people to speak when they don’t want to. You can not ask directly but can prefer their loved ones, or let them hear/see about a certain situation and encourage them to release their mind, or let them write their answers on paper, text messages,…

EXAMPLE

Questions about sensitive industries, feelings, personal relationships…