Focus Group Essay Example for Free

Focus Group Essay Qualitative research Definition- it is a research, which is undertaken using an unstructured research, approach with a small number of carefully selected individuals to produce non-quantifiable insights into behavior, motivations and attitudes. Qualitative and quantitative research as two distinctly separate bodies of research – many studies encompass both approaches, with qualitative research being used to explore and understand attitudes and behavior, and quantitative research being used to measure how widespread these attitudes and behaviors are. Qualitative research can be used when managers need exploratory research. Managers use exploratory research to understand customer attitudes, emotions, preferences and behaviors. It can also be used in new product development or creative development research. Individual depth interview It is an interview that is conducted face-to-face, in which the subject matter of the interview is explored in detail using an unstructured and flexible approach. As with all qualitative research, depth interviews are used to develop a deeper understanding d of consumer attitudes and the reasons behind specific behaviors. This understanding is achieved through responding to an individual’s comments with extensive probing. The flexibility of this probing sets this interview approach apart from oter questionnaire-type interviews. Although there is an agenda of topics to be covered, the interviewers will use their knowledge of the research objectives, the information gained from other interviews and the comments of the respondent to select which parts of the dialogue with the respondent to explore further, which to ignore, and which to return to later in the interview. Not only is the depth interview flexible, it is also evolutionary in nature. Focus group Focus groups are depth interviews undertaken with a group of respondents. It is different to individual interviews in the number of respondents and interaction between participants. Several factors affect focus group Recruitment is a very critical element of group discussions and has long been a major quality-control issue in the UK marketing research industry. Group discussions are unlikely to achieve their research objectives if the wrong types of participant are recruited. The research proposal will set out the type of participants required for a group discussion. For example, if Colgate is researching a new type of toothpaste for a sensitive teeth. Their specification may request respondents who regularly purchase toothpaste with sensitive protection function. Respondents age (for example 25-64), living area, etc. Managers can also use Screening questionnaire to identify suitable respondents for its group discussion. The area that respondents are recruited normally should be in street or telephone interviews. The location that group discussions were held should let respondents feel comfortable. Locations such as viewing rooms or hotels for business should have no special facilities apart from audio type recorder. Food or snacks will also be provided to assist in relaxing the atmosphere. Time to hold the discussion should be well scheduled. Times should be available to target group. For example, outside working hours, times of available public transport etc. The number of groups should be 3-4. As the 3rd and 4th group can used to exam atypical views. * There are problems involving focus groups. For example in the case of overlapping dialogues from different speakers which may affect the transcript. * Moderators must learn to control such people and encourage those less willing to speak up and let their opinions be heard. Comparing to traditional group discussion, online group discussion or chat room is becoming popular. Apart from lower cost and possible time-saving, it can allow more people to be involved in observing the research, particularly if it is being carried out in a different region or country. However, a cheaper version of online group discussion or chat room where a group is recruited who are willing to discuss a subject online usually using text. It can be difficult to develop any real group dynamics and it is impossible to see people’s facial expression. Even with webcams, the video picture is usually so poor. Participants may also be distracted by events within their own office or home, as the environment is not under the control of the moderator. However, it may be useful with people who could be unwilling to attend a group discussion because of their geographical dispersal or their introverted nature. Projective techniques Projective techniques are techniques used in group discussions and individual interviews to facilitate a deeper exploration of a respondent’s attitudes towards a concept, product or situation. They enable respondents to express attitudes that they find difficult to verbalize. Projective technique projective techniques may gather ‘richer’ data than do standard questioning and discussion. There are many types of projective techniques. The most common three techniques are projective questioning. It is a projective technique that asks the respondent to consider what other people would think about a situation. An example of this could be â€Å"What do you think people in your street would think if they saw a BMW parked in your driveway?† The advantage of projective questioning is that it usually reflect the opinions of the respondent without causing them any embarrassment. Managers can get more objective answers. Word association tests It is a projective technique that involves asking respondents what brands or products they associate with specific words. In marketing research, word association is typically used in conjunction with brand names or celerity endorsers. This can assist marketers in developing communication objectives and strategies to position or differentiate their brands from those of competitors. In addition to the direct outputs of word association, the technique is also very useful as a way of warming up a group by getting everybody contributing and involved. Brand personalities Brand personalities involve respondents imagining a brand a person and describing their looks, clothes. Lifestyles, employment etc. For example, if ‘Nokia’ was a person, what type of person would he or she be? The answer could be such as a modern, relatively young slightly quirky male. This could compare with other brands. Developing brand personification can help to verbalize the imagery and vocabulary associated with the brand. Sentence completion Sentence completion involves providing respondents with an incomplete sentence or group of sentences. Respondents are then asked to complete them. For example, ‘Tesco, as a supermarket, is†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ in many way, sentence completion is similar to word associations, although it can enable researcher to put the respondent’s thinking process into a proper context. Observation research Observation is a data-gathering approach where information on the behavior of people, objects and organizations is collected without any questions being asked of the participants. Observation can take a quantitative format where a large number of events or people are observed and the outputs are analyzed using statistical method. The major advantage of it over surveys of respondents is that the data collected do not have inaccuracies as a result of memory error or social desire bias. The data recorded reflect the actual behavior that took place. For example, video record gives a true representation of rental behavior. Observation overcomes the high refusal rates that may exist for some survey research. However, observation cannot investigate reasons behind behavior. Also, only public behavior is observed. Examples of what can be observed are consumers behavior in store, family consuming behavior at home, comments on the internet. Typical methods of observation are internet monitoring (club card, cookies), in-store observations (CCTV), mystery shopping(researchers participant into observation to look at process not the outcome of number of satisfaction), content analysis(how many time that the word appear in the article), ethnography(could be costly and have ethical issues). Ethical problem Questionnaire A questionnaire is the research instrument designed to generate the data necessary for accomplishing a project’s research objectives. Questionnaires have advantages over some other types of surveys in that they are cheap, do not require as much effort from the questioner as focus group, and often have standardized answers that make it simple to compile data. However, questionnaires also have many of the same problems relating to question construction and wording. The effect of questionnaire might also limited by the location that respondents do the questionnaire. For example, respondents who did questionnaire in high street could be affected by noise. There are many types of questionnaire. There are open-ended question, closed question, scaling questions. There are many factors when comparing Focus group, depth interviews, projective techniques, observation and questionnaire. In terms of degree of structure, focus group are relatively high as managers will guide and control the whole discussion until all tasks are finished. In terms of probing of individual respondents, depth interviews are high and focus group and questionnaire are low. Moderator bias in depth interviews are high and others are medium. Observation has none effects in terms of both probing of individual respondents and moderator bias. Focus group is also high in discovering innovative information. Projective techniques and observation are high in uncovering subconscious information and obtaining sensitive information. Questionnaire and projective techniques are involving unusual behavior or questioning.

The Formation of Capitalism in European History Essay example -- Europ

The Formation of Capitalism in European History "Pure capitalism is characterized by private ownership of resources and by reliance on markets, in which buyers and sellers come together and determine what quantities of goods and resources are sold and at what price. Here no central authority oversees production and consumption. Rather, economic decisions are coordinated by the actions of large numbers of consumers and producers, each operating in his or her own self-interest. Because property is privately owned, it can be used in whatever manner its owner chooses (Ragan and Thomas, p. 46)." Europe had its capitalistic beginnings in the mid-seventeenth century. However, medieval Europe is characterized by the antithesis of this kind of economy. Who caused the pendulum to swing? Historians, with their tendency to generalize, often lose in the aggregate, or barely touch upon the root reformers of this era. The Northern Italians laid the foundations for the dissolution of the feudal order and the transformation of Europe into a capitalist region. Life in medieval Europe can be characterized by sameness. That is, relative to the life expectancy of a human being, little changed from year to year. Granted, there were periods of war and civil unrest, but the society as a whole remained unchanged. If a person was born into a poor family, then he or she would remain poor with virtually no exceptions. Society was regimented from top to bottom with predetermined social status, and no room for the ambitious. Even an individual's social contacts were largely limited to their local area. The vast majority of medieval society was engaged in agricultural endeavors. These endeavors were carried out on communal farms owned by a nobl... ...he Northern Italian commercial influence took hold, the old order was destined to fail. Considering the plight of the serfs, it is of no wonder why mercantilism grew in appeal. The capitalistic enterprise offered never encounter opportunities for the ambitious. This gave rise to growing, innovative and prosperous Europe. Cited Works Birdzell, L. E., Jr. & Rosenberg, Nathan. How the West Grew Rich: The Economic Transformation of the Industrial World. Basic Books. New York: 1986. Crow, John A. Italy: A Journey Through Time. Harper & Row. New York: 1965, Hilton, Rodney. The Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism. Humanities Press. London: 1976. Pirenne, Henri. A History of Europe. University Books. New Hyde Park, New York: 1955. Ragan, James F., Jr. & Thomas, Lloyd B., Jr. Principles of Macroeconomics. The Dryden Press. Fort Worth, TX: 1992.

Book Analysis on “New York Burning” Essay

New York Burning is a book written by Jill Lepore narrating a story about parts of history in New York City. The book implies as to how single sort of slavery made such type of liberty in New York during 18th century, as NY was considered a dazzling city as the people will see such paved streets with parks and beech trees shading like of parasol with good oysters as there can be miserable truth of having no freedom. As the author of the book mentions that the city of New York has become city of slavery as it happened and having two hundred slaves being alleged of conspiring to blaze each structure and assassination of the whites as the book mentions that there were men and women being sold into slavery in the Caribbean and the alleged ringleaders were hanged and pardoned. Thus, there were enslaved men and women being conspired that involved deep indication of evidence as there is worth of survival and excavation as the conspiracy of the slaves will imply the casting of violent shadow as it parallels to the political scene. Slavery was then a political issue but, what occurred in New York suggests that there was exertion of authoritative influence dealing to the political existence as the slaves were being suspected of conspiracy as the book describes in the first two chapters. There was emergence of political parties but there are also those critical months of having political antagonism by means of burning black men in a sudden motion. The readers of New York Burning will be able to learn such immense situations concerning the politically-inclined ruthless English immigrant, by the name of Daniel Horsmanden as the court justice at the New York Supreme Court as Daniel played a crucial role for the transmutation of sequences relating to robberies as well as disbelieving fires and Horsmanden has shaped the past memory of terrible and not known incidence. EVALUATION The author of the book, Jill Lepore then rescue Horsmanden from darkness and places him on trial in the horrible burnings as well as hangings carried out through justice in Lepore’s creative retelling of catastrophic events as Lepore saw New York’s unstable political days and certain ideas informed as it is crucial for the understanding of the plot jolt as Lepore believes that what transpired during the year 1741 was clear in light of continuing the discussion regarding freedom and slavery that originated in 18th-century English political civilization in New York City. The parallelism amid the challenge over the accurate to utter opinion in publishes and desire of slaves to expand personal liberty that was outstanding to the people. Amicably, Lepore succeeded in persuading her readers about the flow of logical sanctions in looking at the city of New York as there was the presence of the enslaved blacks determined to be heard as there supposition of political adversary as frightening as it was. There was Lepore’s expedition into the characteristics of New York City that includes such wellbeing and hygiene issues as well as the job routine of imprisoned men. The author of New York Burning demonstrated a well-developed communications system having the major node at Comfort’s glowing joined by discrete slaves mutually. Whether the country’s blacks were being far connected than the whites had think of as there ever conspired in committing the actions as emotional that remain unlock question. In the book, Horsmanden was being keen to provide credibility to assumption that mayhem was intended and subtly unlikely acknowledgment of the African Americans who were frantic to set aside the value of life but, such possible criminals in view as to whom Horsmanden had documented as the well-known individual Catholics have twisted in obliterating as there was the alleged evidence of Catholic scheme as personified in person of John Ury, another arbitrator that allocated responsibility for disaster in New York into overarching Catholic scheme. Moreover, Jill Lepore discerns diverse plots of unlike degree of likelihood as Lepore train her interests on plots that encouraged the New Yorkers to agree in placing of bereavement of many slaves and deport of others and there downplays the position of non-Catholic emotion within catastrophe that occurred. Thus, Lepore’s New York Burning has done a marvelous post of demystifying Horsmanden’s powerful manuscript and changes how the people believe about years in the history of New York as one important theme that Lepore pursues, is the unsafe lawful events that positioned stern limitations on civil liberties of the black defendants as they had nix right to have guidance and if Horsmanden is envoy, there can be ridiculed evidence as disliked. Moreover, in the book, Lepore had discovered certain religious timbre as the author noted that few slaves like for instance, the Portuguese-influenced Angola and Kongo had come across the presence of Christianity in African region. Henceforth, Jill Lepore explained and discussed the labor of Anglican catechist and has portrayed how several Protestants opposed the initiation of slaves because of fear that it can impudent the belief for freedom. Furthermore, Lepore seems to float along with unreeling story of scheme as can be partially true and adding up the drama as Lepore merge her voice with the witnesses. Aside, Lepore reported on rules and made criminals of priests ingoing the settlement of terror in New York of a lurking offshore. Amazingly, Lepore offers no clear conclusion about whether there was really a plot of Horsmanden’s diary having approval but still there is less doubt that the action case was bogus as the author of the book has also shed grave hesitation on veracity among confessions in viewing that prosecutors have urge admission as best way for accused in run off for his finish. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the book was well-written and thoroughly researched that has a gripping account of proceedings that led to the bonfires of the Negroes as the author’s description is vibrant and challenging and has evoke New York in its ethical and corporeal scruffiness within vision of freedom. Upon its ending, there were thirteen slaves being burned and seventeen being dangled and hundreds were locked up as Lepore writes the prison is like the hull slave craft and argued that some slaves were plotting alongside masters of Masonic ceremonies and masquerade priests. In New York Burning, Jill Lepore describe theatrical events with better breaking study as there explores the social climate of epoch but, Lepore noticeably show how danger of black revolt had united the white pluralities of cultural panic and aggression. Thus, Lepore’s meticulous research confronted the reader with dreadful ending as the respected citizens will permit to death of humans as the author, Lepore provide the reader with better milieu on approaches of New York whites headed for slaves and Lepore has done magnificent job of past investigation and understanding and straddling better column amid accepted work and works of educational account. Therefore, Jill Lepore’s use of the position and instance is motivating and Lepore’s account of New York Burning has brought useful awareness behind the beautiful story it has given to the readers of history. New York Burning by Jill Lepore was really an eye-catching book endowed by masterpiece encircles with lush mind’s eye in exceptional blend that is phenomenal learning and terrific writing as Lepore implies that the. New York Burning informs a matter of terrible story in city which was bloody than Salem along the pursuits of slavery with development of actions that surrounds the American Revolution denoting a serious instances from within the book content. I agree that New York Burning was an exceptional book by Jill Lepore that has exposed the dismay of slavery as the book describes in immense facet of independence in lieu to slavery realities in New York. Then, Lepore pointed out the fear of slave rebellion as a reliable theme all throughout the days within colonies. Reference: Lepore, J. (2005). New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan About the Author Jill Lepore is a Professor of History at Harvard University and also the author of The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity both won the Bancroft Prize and Phi Beta Kappa’s Ralph Waldo Emerson Award. Jill Lepore is contributor to The New Yorker and resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

What Is Womens Equality Day Why August 26

August 26 of each year is designated in the United States as Womens Equality Day. Instituted by Rep. Bella Abzug and first established in 1971, the date commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, the Woman Suffrage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted women the right to vote on the same basis as men.   (Many women still had to fight for the right to vote when they belonged to other groups that had barriers to voting: people of color, for instance.) Less well known is that the day commemorates the 1970 Womens Strike for Equality, held on August 26 on the 50th anniversary of the passage of woman suffrage. The first public body to call for the right of women to vote was the Seneca Falls convention for womens rights, at which the resolution on the right to vote was more controversial than other resolutions for equal rights. The first petition for universal suffrage was sent to Congress in 1866. The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was sent to the states for ratification on  June 4, 1919, when the Senate endorsed the Amendment.   The passage by the states proceeded quickly, and Tennessee passed the ratification proposal in their legislature on August 18, 1920. After turning back an attempt to reverse the vote, Tennessee notified the federal government of the ratification, and on August 26, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to was certified as ratified. In the 1970s, with the so-called second wave of feminism, August 26 again became an important date.   In 1970, on the 50th anniversary of the 19th Amendments ratification, the National Organization for Women  organized the Womens Strike for Equality, asking women to stop working for a day to highlight inequalities in pay and education, and the need for more child care centers. Women took part in events in 90 cities.   Fifty thousand people marched in New York City, and some women took over the Statue of Liberty. To commemorate the voting rights victory, and to rededicate to winning more demands for womens equality, member of Congress Bella Abzug of New York introduced a bill to establish Womens Equality Day on August 26, commending and supporting those who continued to work for equality. The bill calls for an annual presidential proclamation of Womens Equality Day. Here is the text of the 1971 Joint Resolution of Congress designating August 26 of each year as Womens Equality Day: WHEREAS, the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; andWHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of sex; andWHEREAS, the women of the United States have designated August 26, the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, as symbol of the continued fight for equal rights: andWHEREAS, the women of United States are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities,NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that August 26th of each year is designated as Women’s Equality Day, and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote, and that day in 1970, on which a nationwide demonstration for women’s rights took place. In 1994, the presidential proclamation by then President Bill Clinton included this quote from Helen H. Gardener, who wrote this to Congress in asking for the passage of the 19th Amendment: Let us either stop our pretence before the nations of the earth of being a republic and having equality before the law or else let us become the republic we pretend to be. A presidential proclamation in 2004 of Womens Equality Day by then President George W. Bush explained the holiday this way: On Womens Equality Day, we recognize the hard work and perseverance of those who helped secure womens suffrage in the United States. With the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920, American women gained one of the most cherished rights and fundamental responsibilities of citizenship: the right to vote.The struggle for womens suffrage in America dates back to the founding of our country. The movement began in earnest at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, when women drafted a Declaration of Sentiments proclaiming they had the same rights as men. In 1916,  Jeannette Rankin  of Montana became the first American woman elected to the United States House of Representatives, despite the fact that her fellow women would not be able to vote nationally for 4 more years. President Barack Obama in 2012 used the occasion of the proclamation of Womens Equality Day to highlight the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Trade Act: On Womens Equality Day, we mark the anniversary of our Constitutions 19th Amendment, which secured the right to vote for Americas women. The product of profound struggle and fierce hope, the 19th Amendment reaffirmed what we have always known: that America is a place where anything is possible and where each of us is entitled to the full pursuit of our own happiness. We also know that the defiant, can-do spirit that moved millions to seek suffrage is what runs through the veins of American history. It remains the wellspring of all our progress. And nearly a century after the battle for womens franchise was won, a new generation of young women stands ready to carry that spirit forward and bring us closer to a world where there are no limits on how big our children can dream or how high they can reach.To keep our Nation moving ahead, all Americans -- men and women -- must be able to help provide for their families and contribute fully to our economy. That years proclamation included this language: I call upon the people of the United States to celebrate the achievements of women and recommit to realizing gender equality in this country.