It Cost Analysis

Ethnography is a qualitative research method that focuses on the ways of life of different social groups or people with common cultural identity. It may also mean the written or graphical representation of information about people of a given social unit with similar close cultural ties.

Ethnography is advantageous because it helps the researcher to identify relevant sources of information. During the direct participation, the researcher is able to get express information. The researcher will also get new information that he/she had not consider before researching.

Ethnography also has some disadvantages. The process demands a lot of time. Moreover, the researcher’s security is at risk, especially in cultures whose members are still hostile. Apart from that are the researcher studies informants who tell from their personal experiences. This may give misleading and subjective information because the informants may omit some information that is biased. The researchers may also leave out some information or fail to take in some information on account of cultural bias or ignorance.

Lead user method is a brainchild of Professor Erick von Hippel which studies the needs of the special users of a product to determine the market trends and solutions in satisfying the needs of the other users when designing new products. The process helps the manufacturers to develop successful products in the market because it addresses their needs and trends (Patton, 2001). It is also cost effective because it studies only a relevant segment rather than the representative market. However, it is complicated to define the lead users, especially those of consumer goods. It also consumes a lot of time to look for these lead users while the uncomfortable lead users may fail to disclose all the information that they know about the product (Patton, 2001).

Focus group is the study of 10 or more volunteers who meet to discuss about a given good or service. They answer questions and give their free opinions about some products or services. Hippel & Thomke (2009) argue that this helps the company to determine customers’ response to their product in the market. Apart from that, it gives the company the new ideas that they may use to meet the customers’ needs. It is also time saving compared to other research techniques. It also determines the company’s market position (Creswell, 2012). Some disadvantages include: the members of these groups may not be honest enough thus offer inadequate information due to lack of privacy. It is also costly compared to questionnaire because the participants have to be reimbursed either in cash or in kind.