I’ve done more focus groups in the last 18 months than I did in the previous 5 years. It’s been a steepish learning curve and one of the first things I realised was that I really hate listening back to hours of me moderating via Dictaphone for both analysis purposes and to find some good … Continue reading why transcripts are a brilliant learning tool for quallies
Category: research
maximum marks for moderating manual
After putting out a call for some reading recommendations in July, I got some great suggestions and am still wading through them. But the stand out winner has to be Sarah’s recommendation of Moderating to the Max: A Full-tilt Guide to Creative, Insightful Focus Groups and Depth Interviews. For qualitative research types who want to … Continue reading maximum marks for moderating manual
MORE words, more pictures please
I know I’ve been batting on for a while about why powerpoint presentations (and especially research debriefs) need to have less words and more pictures. I’d actually like to amend that assertion. They should have more pictures – and more words. I got handed an ethnographic research report last week, which had travelled from client … Continue reading MORE words, more pictures please
a scenic tour of Britain’s viewing facilities
So I’ve been On Tour this week doing groups in Viewing for a Top Secret Retail Thing. As a compare-and-contrast exercise I’ve certainly come to wonder at the difference in décor, welcome and catering across different viewing facilities. Perhaps we need some kind of star rating for them? One star if you can’t swing a … Continue reading a scenic tour of Britain’s viewing facilities
When does Research cross the line and become Pitch Fodder?
I was talking to a client recently about a one-off focus group they wanted me to moderate to support a pitch and possibly went slightly overboard emphasising how I wasn’t prepared to simply produce pitch fodder and therefore wouldn’t tolerate agency people sitting in observing the group, being ‘encouraged’ as to what the research recommendations … Continue reading When does Research cross the line and become Pitch Fodder?
my radical suggestion for dealing with difficult respondents
The past couple of weeks have seen me tearing up and down the country moderating focus groups as part of an insight project I’m working on. Writing a feedback note to the recruitment agency I use, it struck me that there’s nearly always one respondent in the group that you’d rather had stayed at home, … Continue reading my radical suggestion for dealing with difficult respondents
Top Tips for Account Planners doing their own focus groups
I’ve been freelancing as a Planner for for nearly a year now and I’m doing a lot more qualitative research than I did as an Agency Type. I think partly this is because I no longer sit in a room full of quallies ready to head off to Milton Keynes with a discussion guide at … Continue reading Top Tips for Account Planners doing their own focus groups
is your research being subverted by its subjects?
I sent a load of old Uni textbooks off to the charity shop the other week and one called ‘Compensation’ included lots of cautionary tales about compensation schemes that were supposed to boost productivity/quality/customer service but ended up having the opposite effect. Like the vegetable processing plant that started paying their quality checkers extra for … Continue reading is your research being subverted by its subjects?
great insight isn’t just about what people *said*
I watched the next episode of Mary Portas: Secret Shopper last night. Not really a good idea because she winds me up, but this week’s focus was on the sofa industry and since one of the agencies I work for has a client in that sector I thought I’d better tune in. What really set me … Continue reading great insight isn’t just about what people *said*
on polling, power and TV pickups
There’s a nice little diary piece in December’s issue of the MRS’s Research magazine. It reports that the takeaway website hungryhouse.co.uk recons you can predict which 2 acts each week on X Factor will end up singing for survival based on the volume of orders made during their performance. The media also love trying to predict … Continue reading on polling, power and TV pickups