DATE: 17/4/2023

TOPIC:
WRITTEN BY: Nguyen Thi Huong

In this reflection paper, I would like to share my experience in the marketing research course.
Marketing Research course, an enriching journey spanning over three months and ten weeks,
has marked my initial foray into exploring a pivotal aspect of the marketing discipline. This
course has revealed the profound significance of understanding customers and their
perspectives in analyzing and addressing critical business challenges. Initially, I perceived it as
an academically demanding and predominantly theoretical subject. However, as I delved
deeper into the learning process, I came to realize that Marketing Research provides a fresh
vantage point to approach and solve business dilemmas, particularly through the practical
and impactful application of the IDIs (In-Depth Interviews) method. This course has not only
broadened my horizons but also equipped me with invaluable skills for my future endeavors
in marketing erea.
D – Describe objectively what happened
The most surprising insight I have gained so far is how important coding, categorization, and
linking are in analyzing data. In the fifth week of the course, we conducted fieldwork to
interview Honda customers in order to answer our research questions. After obtaining the
transcripts from the 12 participants we interviewed, on March 15th, our team started a
Google Meet session to discuss and assign tasks. I was tasked with coding and linking the two
interview scripts of Ms. Thuy and Mr. Dang that I conducted previously to identify categories

I – Interpret the events

This new understanding of coding process is likely to mean two things.
Firstly, It could be a valuable lesson about what does coding mean and how to code properly
in qualitative research. Initially, I felt that this coding task was redundant because I believed
that by reading what the customers shared, I already knew their content. I questioned the need
for coding and categorization, thinking it was time-consuming and unnecessary. However,
during the tutorial session on Saturday, March 16th, our instructor guided us on how to do
coding, including different methods of coding. Lúc đó, tôi đã lần đầu biết đến thuật ngữ “
coding” trong bài nghiên cứu, mà trước đó tôi chỉ được nghe ở các môn về công nghê, máy
tính... I did know “ What is coding in qualitative research” that is the process of identifying
and arranging your qualitative data to find various themes and the connections among them
is called coding. (Medelyan, A. n.d) . Có rất nhiều phương pháp coding, bao gồm descriptive
coding, process coding,.. but our team found in vivo coding to be the easiest, as it involved
coding important keywords directly from what the respondents said (Dovetail Editorial team,
2024). Still, I remained skeptical about how this coding task would be helpful. To be honest, I
only did it because I was afraid of missing the deadline. The coding process itself went
smoothly because I thought that I only needed to identify keywords based on the questions I
asked the customers. However, at that time, I still didn't fully understand how it would benefit
me.

After completing the task, during the tutorial session in the following week, our instructor
consulted the groups on the codebook. When it was my turn, the instructor suddenly asked
about our research question. I was taken aback for a few seconds and wondered, "Isn't creating
a codebook based on what customers shared enough? Why does the instructor require us to
come up with research questions?" The instructor then started reading the first research
question about why Vietnamese people nowadays prefer SUVs over sedans and asked us
which categories would answer this question. Our group was quite confused because we only
coded the words we deemed important without considering that they had to address the
research question. I realized that the process of creating a codebook was not as simple as I had
imagined. The instructor noticed our confusion and began explaining that not every category
should be included in the codebook. They should serve the purpose of addressing the research
question, and some categories might be redundant and need to be eliminated. With the
instructor's explanation, our group understood the mistake we had made.
My second understanding is that I learned how important and practical coding is to the
process of making findings about our research paper. This happened when around 3 to 4 days
later, our team continued to meet and compiled all the transcripts into a codebook. At this
point, we were still working based on the theoretical knowledge we had learned to determine
the categories and themes and had no idea about how useful coding is to our research. Khi
chúng tôi bắt đầu làm phần findings, nghĩa là tôi sẽ phải tìm và phân tích thông tin mà 12
người được phỏng vấn đã chia sẻ với chúng tôi là trả lời lần lượt cho 4 câu hỏi nghiên cứu đó
là: (1) What are the key reasons behind the shifting preferences of users from sedans to SUVs
in the current automotive market?
, (2) How do consumers perceive Honda's SUV offerings in terms of brand identity, quality,
and overall value compared to competitors?, (3) What are the specific features and attributes
that consumers prioritize when considering an SUV purchase, and how well does Honda's
SUV lineup meet these preferences?, (4) What are the most effective recommendations that
Honda can employ to strengthen its brand identity and increase customer awareness and
consideration of Honda's SUV models? ”. Khi tiến hành phân tích câu hỏi thứ nhất, I truly had
an enlightening experience regarding the significance of coding while writing the findings for
our research. Bởi vì, lúc đó codebook của tôi đã được code nhằm trả lời câu hỏi nghiên cứu,
do đó I was able to quickly identify common points, perspectives, and the content that the 12
interviewees wanted to share, as well as who said what, simply by looking at the codebook.
Chúng tôi đã hoàn thành findings nhanh và dễ hơn chúng tôi tưởng tượng trước đó, chúng
tôi chỉ mất 2 buổi tối họp đã có thể hoàn thiện findings.
E – Evaluate what you learned

P – Plan how this learning will be applied

This new insight will be useful in my future career as a marketer. Since my field of expertise is
marketing, I am confident that the lessons I learned from this coding process will greatly
benefit me in the future. I understand that in my field, it is crucial to understand customers in
order to effectively address company problems and promote products. Therefore, to develop
my skills in data analysis from customer insights and create an effective codebook, I have
planned to dedicate more time to practice analyzing data from case studies of existing
 businesses available online. At first, I have devised a plan to approach coding with the
research question in mind. Instead of simply identifying keywords, I will actively consider how
the coded data relates to the research question at hand. Firstly, before conducting any coding,
I will thoroughly understand the research objective and the specific research question that
needs to be addressed. This will provide me with a clear focus and guide my coding process.
During the coding phase, I will pay close attention to the content of the transcripts and
identify keywords or phrases that are directly relevant to the research question. However, I
will not stop at just identifying these keywords. I will take it a step further and categorize
them based on their relevance to the research objective. By categorizing the coded data, I will
be able to organize and structure the information in a meaningful way. This will help me in
the analysis phase when I need to draw insights and conclusions from the coded data.
Additionally, I will constantly refer back to the research question while coding to ensure that
the categories I create align with the research objective. This will prevent me from including
irrelevant or redundant categories in the codebook. By approaching coding with the research
question in mind and actively categorizing the coded data based on its relevance, I believe I
will be able to improve my data analysis skills. This approach will enable me to extract
valuable insights that directly address the research objective and contribute to a more
comprehensive understanding of the data. From this future practice, I expect that in two
years, when I graduate and find a marketing job in the company I desire, I will be able to
apply the knowledge and research skills that our dedicated instructor has passed on to us. I
aspire to excel in utilizing this knowledge in my work, helping businesses overcome challenges
with my own capabilities.

GetThematic.com. (2024). Coding Qualitative Data: A Step-by-Step Guide. Retrieved from

https://getthematic.com/product/connect/

https://dovetail.com/research/qualitative-research-coding/