Elsa: I am glad that we had a good discussion last week about market research and the role of marketing research within this context. I liked the forum as I thought that we had a chance to have a good discussion and see diverse viewpoints. We are going to continue with this approach.

This week, we are going to turn toward methodologies. Given our situation at Sears with our financial results, we have a lot of research ahead of us. I have noticed that some on the team seem to prefer qualitative methodologies while others seem to gravitate toward quantitative methodologies. My concern with this is that the research question and not individual preferences should drive the methodology.

Will you please prepare a short brief (between two and three decent sized paragraphs) that discusses the difference between the methodologies and what context is best for each. It is always a good idea to cite your sources and to include at least one high-quality citation in your work.