Primary research involves getting original data directly about a product or a service and/or a market. There are two kinds of primary research:Qualitative and Quantitative. Data gathered using primary research is data that did not exist before. It is designed to answer specific questions of interest to the business or government. The following questions are examples:

• What proportion of customers believes the level of customer service provided by the business is rated good or excellent?
• What do customers think of a new version of a popular product?
• Who will be the next prime minister? 

Primary research – Data collection

• New Technologies:
  
  • iOmnibus® – using Web 2.0 facilities via FaceBook to survey with patients and carers and particularly useful for younger target patients in the 18 to 35 years age group.
  • iAdBoard® – virtual advisory board at a fraction of the typical advisory board cost and with very quick turnaround. It uses the internet to link KOLs for topic debates in their own time and then a remotely moderated forum is undertaken with a live webinar.
  • Web Panels – GPs, specialists, nurses, pharmacists, patients and carers.
• Traditional:
  
  • In person – IDIs, diad or triad IDIs, FGD, mini-FGD, ethnographic interview and CAPI

Qualitative research

The core challenge of qualitative research is in understanding the subconscious patterns that lead people to different decisions. These are often hidden from our conscious and cognitive processes and are based on our major and secondary senses and the way they trigger emotional reactions. Therefore, qualitative techniques of elicitations employ some cutting-edge tools to capture the subtlest of data both verbal and non-verbal.

Qualitative techniques are useful for identifying the scope of projects to research the views, opinions and attitudes of target groups. They explore in depth how consumers reach a decision in the buying process. Qualitative research can be also used to establish hypotheses to be tested through quantitative research.

Our research teams have used traditional techniques and our iAdBoard® and iOmnibus® technologies very effectively to deliver qualitative research in:

• Brand Personality
• Creative Concept Development
• Customer Satisfaction
• Knowledge/Attitudes/Practices Studies
• Market Assessment
• Message Development
• Name, Trademark & Logo Testing
• New Product Opportunity
• Product Positioning
• Payer / Payor discussions (MCOs and reimbursement personnel)
• Sufferer's research

For this work we apply disciplines such as ethnography, psychology, anthropology, NLP and sociology. We use them in isolation or combined as needed for each research project.

Ethnography

Ethnographic interviews are particularly productive for understanding cultural and aesthetic models, gaining stimuli for innovation and mood for communication, and profiling a target. The profile reveals life style, time management, needs and expectations, relationship with the markets and so on.

There are three phases:

• At-home, in-depth interview with ethnographic observation
• Self-completed diary/journal with audio-visual supports
• Participants (at home or at facility) or group discussion on the materials gathered and of all the interesting cues from other interviews

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP):

NLP is a psychology-based methodology that we use to examine attitudes, behaviours and communication of healthcare professionals or patients. This technique is very good at identifying the motivational factors that drive humans to do something – such as GPs prescribing one brand over other.

Projective techniques:

We use projective techniques during individual or small group interviews to uncover deeply held attitudes and motivations of respondents. The techniques allow respondents to project their subjective or true opinions and beliefs onto other people or even objects. The researcher can then infer a respondent's real feelings from what they say about others.

Suitable situations for their use are:

• Bubble diagram
• Collage or assemblage
• Constructs
• Court room case
• Free association
• Guided fantasy, personification or transformation test
• Health beliefs model
• Historic projection
• Laddering
• Role playing
• Thematic Appreciation Test - TAT test