Advantages and Disadvantages of the technique (2024)

Advantages

Cit method has been described by service researchers as offering a number of benefits:

• The data collected is from the respondent's perspective and in his or her own words
  
• Provides a rich source of data by allowing respondents to determine which incidents are the most relevant to them for the phenomenon being investigated
  
• Allows respondents to provide as free a range of responses as possible within an overall research framework
  
• There is no preconception or determination of what will be important to the respondent
  
• Does not restrict observations to a limited set of variables or activities
  
• Offers a lot of information of little known phenomenon’s and explains them thoroughly.
  
• Often used to create hypothesis, allowing for subsequent research on the topic
  
• Suggests areas for improvements to the managers
  
• · Really well suited for assessing customers from other cultures.
  
• · Allows researchers to minimise their bias because respondents decide what incidents are the most relevant.
  
• · Second the research process in inductive: it may generate the novel descriptions of previously undocumented phenomenons, conceptual structures and research questions that may be tested in the future.
  

Disadvantages

• Some academics have criticised CIT on its lack of reliability and validity.
  
• Incidents can be misinterpreted or misunderstood.
  
• Criticised for having a design that may be flawed by recall bias and memory lapses.
  
• Events may be reported incorrectly or untruthfully by the researcher.
  
• Abbreviated and incomplete description of the incident.
  
• Researchers may misunderstand and misinterpret people's stories.
  
• During data analysis, ambiguity with regards to categories and code may arise and it will be impossible to ask for clarifications.
  
• Because CIT is retrospective, data validity, may be affected by recall bias because respondents may forget important details.