1. MARKET RESEARCH
Arcana Institute employs the team of researchers with great experience: sociologists, psychologists, economists and statisticians. The company has an all-Poland network of associates and trained pollsters, which enables us to carry researches within particular areas as well as within an entire country.
Focus group interviews, creativity groups, some in-depth interviews and other techniques of qualitative researches require a specifically equipped research laboratory. Arcana Institute has an appropriately equipped laboratory for qualitative researches. It allows to record the interviews of the members of conversational groups and current observation of their course.
1.1. MAIN FIELDS OF RESEARCHES
In its researches Arcana Institute attempts to reach particular destination groups, which is exceptionally relevant as far as the results of planned distribution and the implementation of the results are concerned. Furthermore, the innovativeness of information and the interest that it arouses among its recipients are taken into account. In a research process the role of a destination group at the decision-making level is considered. A form of the presentation is always adjusted so as to meet the expectations of Clients.
1.2. DESTINATION GROUPS
Influential institutions and persons:
• goverment members
• politicians (national, regional, local)
• social insurance managers
• insurance institutions
• hospital directors/managers
• the committes of medical intervention evalution or quality assurance
• consumer/patient groups and organizations
Medical experts :
• expert associations (eg. physicians, nurses and other therapists)
• social work organizations
• physicians working in hospitals
• family doctors
• nurses, midwives
• physios
• psychologists
• pharmacists
• laboratory technicians
• technicians
1.3. The scope of research
The analysis of governing systems in a medical service:
• researches into a governing structure
• localization of influence points
• working out influence methods
• reseraches on the determination of choices
The researches on the behaviour and the attitude of doctors, nurses and patients.
• researches on the motivation
• researches on the conduct
• researches on the customs of usage
• researches on the mechanisms of decisions
• researches on the satisfaction of patients
• researches on the quality of life of patients
The researches on promotion and advertising:
• researches on the advertising and promotional concepts
• researches on the reception of advertising material
• researches on the effectiveness of advertising and promotional campaigns
• researches on the effectiveness of different forms of communication with the market
• researches on the advertising activity of competition
• researches on the reception of mass media
1.4. The methods and techniques of researches
In market and public opinion researches, qualitative and quantitive methods are applied depending on a research problem and Client’s wishes.
1.4.1. Qualitative research
• Focus Groups Interview
• Individual in-depth interview
• Creativity group
• Reflective team
• Expert groups
Focus Group Interview is one of the most frequently used methods of qualitative researches. A basic technique of conducting an interview is asking questions by a moderator. A moderator of an interview holds a discussion so that the interactions between group members may reveal their tastes, beliefs and customs. This method is very often used in the researches on consumer behaviour, packaging, brand positioning and the effectiveness of an advertising message. About a few interview groups and more take part in the FGI researches (usually 8-12 people in one group). The selection of group members is deliberate. The way researches are conducted is what mainly determines the quality of a group interview. The knowledge and experience of a moderator is what matters in those researches.
A group interview is becoming one of the basic methods used in a consumer poll. Undoubtedly, the advantages of a group interview, in comparison with other research techniques, are their relatively low expenses, speed and the amount of generated information.
The stages of conducting focus group interviews:
1. determining the type of wanted information
2. preparing a moderator of a discussion
3. organization of interviews
4. creating a discussion scenario
5. a course of interviews
6. an analysis of interviews
7. preparing a report and presentation of results
In-depth interview make it possible to get emotional and motivational patterns of behaviour. A group of respondents in IDI includes usually from 20 to 100 respondents selected using a deliberate method. The information about experience, knowledge, a way of thinking, customs and tastes of subjects is collected during the interview. In-depth interviews are very often used when the information concerning the subject about which little is known needs to be collected, eg. newly-launched products or advertisements. IDI are also used when, due to the nature of researches, the possibilites of applying the focus group interview are limited.
Reflective team – Arcana institute is the only team of researches in Poland using the technique of a reflective team. The information which an expert receives during the focus group interview is filtered through the knowledge and experience one has. By contrast, managers tend to look at the clients from the angle of company targets. Distractions in the form of stereotypes, simplifications and the misinterpretation of subject statements appear at every of those stages. It very often happens in such situations that one gets the appearance of understanding, feeling that gained knowledge does not help in making a decision or solving a problem, which confirms the intuition of researches.
A filter in the form of an expert contitutes a barrier between subjects and managers. A reflective team is a research method which ‘takes out’ an expert from this communicatvie space.
In this method, parallel to to the research on the consumer behaviour taking part in the focus group interview, there is a discussion held about the reception of the behaviour, with the participation of the managers and experts interested in increasing the effectiveness of their marketing activities. The way of thinking of consumers as well as managers is analysed, using a reflective team, during the focus group interview.
Creativity group – is the method of group activity aiming at the creation of original and interesting ideas concerning a particular subject. CG is frequently used when creating new products, designing advertising and promotional campaigns.
1.4.2. Quantitative research
• face to face interviews at home, in front of a shop, a chemist’s, in the street, at an office
• panel research
• tracking research
• business-to-business
• phone and mail research
• desk research
Quantitative researches are the method of collecting information by gathering answers on the previously prepared questions respondents had to answer. A research tool is a questionnaire, including a set of deliberately designed questions, thus suiting the specifity of a research problem.
Quantitative researches are carried on relatively large groups of respondends selected randomly, amountly or deliberately, using the standardized techniques and research tools. The most frequent methods of collecting information are: a face to face interview, a phone interview, a mail or electronic interview, by way of the press.
The stages of the realization of quantitative researches.
1. setting research targets
2. selection of respondents
3. creating an interview questionnaire
4. carrying a research
5. verifying and entering data
6. analysis of results
7. preparing a report and presentation of results
1.5. Rules of the cooperation
In case of the projects concerning market researches, every Client is provided with a leader. A leader is responsible for the projects displayed to a Client, their realization, preparing and presentation of the reports. A working team, responsible to a leader, is recruited during the realization of particular tasks. Depending on the current needs, a team is enlarged with the persons coopearing with Arcana Institute.
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