Editorial

Citation

McAuley, A. (1999), "Editorial", Journal of Marketing Practice: Applied Marketing Science, Vol. 5 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/jmpams.1999.15505daa.001

Editorial

The two following papers illustrate different approaches to unlocking the information required before informed decisions about consumers' behaviour can be taken. I remember my geographical training and the huge debate going on at that time on the relative merits of qualitative and quantitative approaches to research. There is a curious sense of flashback when some of the same arguments are heard in Marketing circles almost 20 years later. One technique that has come to prominence in the UK in recent years is the use of focus groups. This is particularly associated with the adoption of the technique by the Labour Party as a way of formulating and testing public reaction to new policies. The paper by Threlfall on the use of focus groups in consumer research is a straightforward and honest attempt to set out the disadvantages and advantages of the technique. Focus groups are a qualitative technique designed to make explicit use of group interaction to produce data and insights which would be less accessible without the interaction found in a group. Of course like any research technique they can be abused but it is important that researchers are prepared to support and promote the approach when appropriate as a means of uncovering the why behind the what in participant expression while getting to the core of the consumers' beliefs.

An alternative approach to data collection is represented in the paper by Wilson which illustrates the case study approach in understanding particular situations. This paper provides an example of the genre which could be used in a teaching situation. Case studies also have a role in helping to illustrate and uncover patterns which the questionnaire or personal interview may not reveal.

These qualitative approaches are vital tools to the academic in formulating an understanding of the world around us. Researchers should be proud of their usefulness and unafraid of criticism from out-and-out positivists. In law and in medicine the case study approach has been at the very foundation of understanding. Quantitative approaches also have a role and it is too simplistic to draw a line between quantitative and qualitative as if they are mutually exclusive in our researches.

Andrew McAuleyUniversity of Stirling