Academics, Practitioners and Qualitative Market Research
Abstract
During the 1980s, market research practitioners and academic marketing researchers witnessed a growing interest in qualitative research. A review of the practitioner and academic literature on qualitative market(ing) research reveals the commonalities and the differences in the ways each group represents, thinks about and practices qualitative research. Areas where both groups might benefit from sharing ideas and information and from closer links generally are discussed.
Article Type:
Literature review
Keyword(s):
Focus groups; Marketing concepts; Market research; Market research companies.
Journal:
Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal
Volume:
1
Number:
2
Year:
1998 pp: 69-76
Copyright ©
MCB UP Ltd
ISSN:
1352-2752
Introduction
The differences between academic and practitioner research in marketing are a subject for debate within industry and the academy. Practitioners consider that much academic research is irrelevant to the problems they face, difficult to understand and often unreadable. By contrast, academics complain that practitioners ignore their work. Relations between market research practitioners and academic researchers have never been entirely easy and it is not unusual to find the academic and practitioner dichotomy used to justify one type of research by pointing out the limitations of the other (Brinberg and Hirschman, 1986).
Emphasising the differences between the two groups can be counter-productive since both can benefit and even thrive on the cross-fertilisation of ideas (Wright-Isak and Prensky, 1995). Academics can provide a flow of new ideas without which professional practice might become stale. Practitioners have the opportunity to undertake repeated tests of academic ideas in the marketplace and often develop new approaches and methods of data collection in the course of addressing clients’ problems. The benefits of co-operation and collaboration can be seen when we
During the 1980s, market research practitioners and academic marketing researchers witnessed a growing interest in qualitative research. A review of the practitioner and academic literature on qualitative market(ing) research reveals the commonalities and the differences in the ways each group represents, thinks about and practices qualitative research. Areas where both groups might benefit from sharing ideas and information and from closer links generally are discussed.
Article Type:
Literature review
Keyword(s):
Focus groups; Marketing concepts; Market research; Market research companies.
Journal:
Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal
Volume:
1
Number:
2
Year:
1998 pp: 69-76
Copyright ©
MCB UP Ltd
ISSN:
1352-2752
Introduction
The differences between academic and practitioner research in marketing are a subject for debate within industry and the academy. Practitioners consider that much academic research is irrelevant to the problems they face, difficult to understand and often unreadable. By contrast, academics complain that practitioners ignore their work. Relations between market research practitioners and academic researchers have never been entirely easy and it is not unusual to find the academic and practitioner dichotomy used to justify one type of research by pointing out the limitations of the other (Brinberg and Hirschman, 1986).
Emphasising the differences between the two groups can be counter-productive since both can benefit and even thrive on the cross-fertilisation of ideas (Wright-Isak and Prensky, 1995). Academics can provide a flow of new ideas without which professional practice might become stale. Practitioners have the opportunity to undertake repeated tests of academic ideas in the marketplace and often develop new approaches and methods of data collection in the course of addressing clients’ problems. The benefits of co-operation and collaboration can be seen when we