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Web Survey Bibliography

Title Online Qualitative Research – Personality Matters
Year 2014
Access date 11.06.2014
Presentation

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Abstract

Relevance & Research Question: During the last five years, qualitative online research methods have evolved constantly. However, it is not always clear how the plethora of different methods subsumed under the term “Market Research Online Communities (MROCs)” can be applied optimally. Today online recruitment of participants for MROCs became almost a ubiquity. MROCs are different from offline qualitative research not least because of higher degree of anonymity and absence of face-to-face conversation. This is especially important because similar to offline qualitative research single respondents in MROC-studies can have a huge impact on the quality of the study as such. The question is to what degree single personality traits affect the individual participation behaviour and if the pre-selection of qualitative master data such as personality traits can help the researcher to compose, moderate and analyse MROCs intentionally.

Methods & Data: Our study compares MROCs consisting of exchange and individual 1-on-1 modules in a split-half design, where the single test groups differ in the composition of the participants with regards to their Big Five personality traits (P. Borkenau & F. Ostendorf). Group 1 group consists of participants with average scores dimension of their personality; hence, group 1 is quite homogenous. Group 2 is composed by participants who score extreme values in one of their personality traits; hence, this group is quite heterogeneous. The personal performance on individual tasks will be assessed, as well as the social behaviour within the community. We will also gather a standardized feedback the participants’ experiences after closing the community.

Results: As fieldwork is still not concluded, final results are not available, yet. We expect strong differences in both, the individual level of engagement and the group dynamics.

Added Value: As is it sometimes difficult to engage with MROC participants due to the specific conditions of the internet, it is key for project success to compose communities with right participants. Our case study sheds light on the practical implications for the researcher, when setting up MROCs, and gives best practice examples for qualitative online moderation of different configurations.

Year of publication2014
Bibliographic typeConferences, workshops, tutorials, presentations
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