Types of Research - Exploratory, Descriptive & Causal

 

Three Types of Research

Exploratory research

Exploratory research has the objective of giving a better understanding of the research problem. This includes helping to identify the variables which should be measured within the study. When we have little understanding of the topic we find it impossible to formulate hypotheses without some exploratory research. The techniques of exploratory research include reviews of secondary sources of data, informal interviews and focus group interviews.

 This is a good example of where insufficient is known to develop clear objectives since the problem cannot be articulated with any precision. Thus any research would be of an exploratory nature. Such research can take the form of literature searches, informal personal interviews with distributors and users/non-users of the product and/or focus group interviews with prospective customers and/or distributors. Exploratory research is intend to help in the task of formulating a researchable problem and testable hypotheses.

Descriptive research

As the name suggests, descriptive research is concerned with describing market characteristics and/or marketing mix characteristics. Typically, a descriptive study specifies the number and size of market segments, the alternative ways in which products are currently distributed, listing and comparison of the attributes and features of competitive products etc.

This type of study can involve the description of the extent of association between variables. For example, it may be observed that there is an association between the geographical location of consumers and their tendency to consume a product. Note that we are able to describe the relationship rather than explain it. Nonetheless if the relationship between the two is fairly stable this descriptive information may be sufficient for the purposes of prediction. We may, for example, be able to predict how fast the per capita consumption of red meat is likely to rise over a given time period.

The principal difference between exploratory and descriptive research is that, in the case of the latter, specific research question have been formulated before the research is undertaken. When descriptive research is conducted, a great deal is already known about the research problem -perhaps because of a prior exploratory study- and researchers are in a position to clearly define what they want to measure and how to do it.

Causal Research or Experimental Research

Causal research attempts to deal with the ‘why’ questions. This type of research is employed when there the objective is to understand to know why a change in one variable brings about a change in another variable. If we can understand the causes of the effects we observe then the ability to predict and control such events is increased.