Pilot Study. According to Van

¶ … pilot study. According to van Teijlingen and Hundley (2001), pilot studies are "mini versions of a full scale study." Pilot studies are useful to any organization because they provide insights to the likelihood of success of a future study. Illustrating it through an example, a company who wants to conduct a research project with the purpose of identifying issues of concern of a labor union can make use of an exploratory pilot study via focus groups or depth interviews. Through these the company can gain insights on the issues of concern of a labor union.

Secondary data analysis is another example of exploratory research. It makes use of "existing data, collected for prior purposes, to investigate new questions, or new perspective on an old question" (Gladstone, B., & Volpe, T., 2008). Secondary data analysis allows exploring a wide range of variables such as economic characteristics, competitive characteristics, and international market characteristics among many others. A bank loan officer who wishes to forecast the economy of the state where the bank operates can do well by conducting a secondary data analysis of published materials related to their query. Likewise, a manager needs to determine the best site for a convenience store in an urban area can the same thing.

Still another type is experience survey wherein people who are knowledgeable about the field are asked about the research problem at hand. An example of this is when a product manager wants to develop a non-tobacco cigarette, blended from wheat, cocoa, and citrus, he or she may conduct an experience survey among people who are knowledgeable in the properties of tobacco, wheat, cocoa, and citrus.

Finally, there is also the case study which "intensively investigates one or a few situations" (Al Awami, n.d.). This kind of research can be employed by a manager who suggests during an executive meeting that the company look into implementing "quality teams" in the factory. Due of the intensive nature of case studies, they provide data "drawn up from people's experiences and practices" (Blaxter, Hughes, Tight, 2006) which are rich in detail and are useful in understanding the how and why questions (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2006). However, since case studies are descriptive in nature and focuses on one or a few situations, results cannot be generalized. Case studies can also be difficult to analyze as cases tend to be very complex. Case studies are very useful in situations were there is a need to an intensive approach in exploring a business need.

Focus group discussions are employed in conducting exploratory research. They help diagnose problems learned from quantitative research by answering the "why" questions that quantitative research falls short in covering. Focus group discussions provide in-depth information and allows for free-flowing discussion. They can help management better understand the thoughts and sentiments of the employees during this time of economic crisis. At the same time it can be a venue for gaining new ideas on how to keep the business afloat during these hard times through ideas from the employees themselves. However, care must be taken in reading findings from focus group discussions as they are only meant to give indications and not to act as a conclusive research where a final course of action will be based upon. Another limitation of focus group discussions is the presence of a participant who dominates the discussion. The reaction of the other participants to the dominant participant might have a "halo" effect on the responses of the other participants.

An important aspect of focus group discussions is the synergy created among the participants. It is both essential and advantageous. It is for this reason that it is better to present concepts during the group discussion rather than before the discussion. It would be better for a focus group moderator, for example, not to administer a questionnaire about compensation concepts prior to starting a focus group discussion in order to capture the spontaneous reactions and interactions of the participants which could provide rich qualitative insights.