Currency
Essays

Hear the word 'tourist' and what comes to mind -- a man or woman wearing shorts and a pair of Bermuda shorts. Hardly the image of the typical conservationist. And indeed, the environmental impact of conventional tourism…

As an industry outsourcing is developing quickly. It is an optimistic experience for most companies that have outsourced, that have inclination to outsource some more, and 45% have increased the capacity of their…

There are several significant advantages of using qualitative measurements in marketing research. The most significant is the ability to capture the voice of customers that may have evaded the more structured, numerically-based approaches that force respondents to provide a specific set of answers. Qualitative research can also lead to entirely new insights into a new market or service that has not been seen in the past, given the open-ended questions inherent in this approach to research. Qualitative research techniques also can be used to capture the shared knowledge of experts as well, as the Delphi Technique is so well-known and used for. Capturing the tacit expertise and knowledge of a specific group of thought leaders can also be accomplished using qualitative techniques as well. Additional advantages of qualitative measurements include the ability to complete greater exploratory or primary research into a specific subject, often following a specific line of questions as they develop within an interview. An additional advantage of qualitative research techniques are the ability to understand how prospects and customers make trade-offs on substitute products and services. While price elasticity studies are often highly quantitative in scope, the use of interactive discussions of pricing trade-offs can be highly effective in determining just how much a prospect is willing to sacrifice price for a given feature or benefit. The total value of a brand can also be ascertained through the use of these types of qualitative techniques, providing respondents with the ability to define in their own terms the value of the experience a brand delivers. The many advantages of qualitative research are predicated on having more interactive sessions with respondents, including the ability to ascertain how they make trade-offs over time on value versus price. For the many advantages of qualitative measurements, there are several disadvantages as well. First, the results of any study predicated on this approach cannot be analyzed at the higher levels of statistical analysis. As the results of studies and research completed with qualitative measurements are by nature not nominal, ordinal or interval in terms of data orthogonality, they cannot be used to represent an entire customer or segment population. At best they can be used as a means to capture nominally-based data that can lead to only a rough approximation of an overall market size or series of market dynamics. Qualitative data can only be as useful as the means used to capture it as well; if a methodology is very informal and focused on a series of loosely-guided objectives, the overall data will of mediocre quality at best. When the goals and objectives of a research study, in addition to the sampling frame and methodology lack rigor or precise focus, the resulting research can also lack precision and meaning. It is more difficult to create greater levels of meaning and transferability of data when the methodologies are highly qualitative in scope; the data is only relevant for a specific series of objectives and often is defined by applicability to a given point in time as well. Qualitative data is often also open to interpretation, as the methodology can be debated in terms of its relative appropriateness, robustness and value over the long-term. Finally, qualitative data cannot be taken entirely on its own; it must be combined with a series of other research sources to ensure relevancy and accuracy of interpretation, especially over time. In conclusion, qualitative data needs to be taken in context and often balanced with quantitative data to ensure a 360-degree view of a given situation or strategy of interest has the greater level of insights gained from research efforts.

The primary causes of the national unemployment rate and of a number of statistics that are involved with the rate of crime in the United States can be attributed to federal initiatives -- or the lack of such…

Economic Effects of U.S. Dollar Depreciation

The Mbuti pygmies are a nomadic tribe who inhabit the southern and central portions of the Ituri forest, in the Republic of Congo. They are an ethnocentric and homogenous society whose traditions, gender relations,…

Social Marginalization and Healthcare Inequality for the Aboriginals of Australia

Privacy's advent in the technological era

Tobacco trade has been an integral part of the American economy for centuries. From its early use by the Native American Indians to its adoption by the European settlers in the New World in the early 17th century,…

The main focus of the article is to analyze General Motor's business operations and strategy in the Chinese motor vehicle industry. This paper analyzes the structure of this sector and possible changes within the next 10 years and implications for GM's strategy. The challenges brought by post-WTO challenges of government restrictions and violation of intellectual property as well as macroeconomic policies and pegging the renminbi to America are discussed.