Documenting Research Impact....with Qual
Embedding small data sets into larger chains helps highlight its value.
I missed all of the 2022 ESOMAR Congress in Toronto. So I also missed the presentation given jointly by my friend Oana Popa Rengle and her client Carmen Soare, Marketing Head of Synevo in Romania, a chain of medical laboratories.
And…..it won a Silver Research Effectiveness Award - all is not lost. I checked it out on the ESOMAR library.
Entitled “Less pain, less fear, and a healthier future for our children: using Virtual Reality in blood drawing procedures” …it’s a fascinating study. One that’s actually got very little to do with VR imho ;)
It is though a great example of how qualitative research can lead to very tangible, and in this case useful, outputs.
Or put another way: it links small data to business impact - a topic much underplayed.
I won’t go into detail on the content - if you’re an ESOMAR member you can check out the 15 minute video yourself. But there were aspects of the project which to me prompted tips on how qualitative researchers can help “sell” their work - whilst getting beyond legacy prejudices of subjective, flaky.
Here’s my take:
Joining Things Up
The talk focussed on how qual research was used to help optimise a VR narrative aiming to reduce the fear amongst children of injections, needles and the drawing of blood.
But whilst qual played a role, what struck me was how it was embedded into a whole journey of data points.
There were two meta-insights shared, presumably from behavioural data:
a) fear of injections in childhood leads to poorer medical compliance in adult life.
b) VR has a proven effectiveness in medical procedures around the world to mitigate pain, reduce fear.
What the company wanted to explore in depth was additional, and very specific: what sort of a VR fear-reduction narrative could work with children?
Qual’s role was “joined-up” - embedded within a larger research programm. More on that below.
“Good old Qual…” - but old can be gold!
Oana’s approach to the adopted research design was a semi-ironic, self-disparaging “good old qual”.
True perhaps, but it’s worth reminding ourselves of what “good” means in an area of speedy toplines and downward price pressures.
The programme included contextual enquiries conducted amongst children, before and after interventions, staying in contact with some of them to assess what memories were forming. Conversations with parents. Expert interviews amongst nurses.
So multiple viewpoints - throwing light on the issue at hand. Triangulation - a sure way to build up a rich and reliable picture of what’s going on. Nothing new, perhaps, but definitely good practice, and re-assuring in times where quality often gets lip-service.
Secondly, creating an empathy framework that documented the anxieties and potential mitigators of fear at each stage of the process.
Again, not rocket science, we all hear a lot about “the journey” - but extremely useful, allowing targetted intervention planning amongst operational client staff. Pragmatic qual if you like ;)
Towards Robustness…..
The ongoing replication crisis in many areas of science - including the social sciences - can be used against qualitative research in particular. That it’s subjective, flaky, not robust. The elephant in the room maybe - and great to hear it addressed on a major stage.
Oana referenced the crisis briefly, talking to the number of iterations in the qual phase. A simple but effective counter to the above. The VR film was tested, improved, and then the research exploratory phase repeated. Not complex - but requiring time and budget.
Finding clients to approve this sort of design is maybe not always easy - but addressing replication-robustness issues, even if unspoken, helps give strength to overcall conclusions, and encourage actions to be taken.
Linking up to Quant.
Linking qual to quant was one of the breakthrough aspects from about 15 -20 years ago. It helped in my view transform qual from a niche into something more mainstream.
This case study included one, if not two (from my understanding) quant loops.
The optimised VR film was put through a quantitative evaluation. The authors also reported on the high percentage of children stating less pain and less fear in subsequent work. Qual really did meet quant ;)
Again, nothing special - but part of a robust “journey”.
…………………………………..
There were other key learnings highlighted by the speakers - notably how important (and wonderful) it is to find a client championing and guarding the insights. And that the research wasn’t about “tech” per se, but how it can be used for positive human outcomes.
To me the study demonstrated how useful and impactful qual research can be when done in a targetted manner, embedded in a strong programme of joined-up research blocks, and building on existing knowledge. A great case study.
Qual can often get lost - agency researchers find it difficult to find out exactly what happens after their research is completed. Or clientside folk move on, business situations change.
So it was great to see this case winning an award!
And heartening to read in the 2022 ESOMAR Global Report that qualitative research is making a “strong comeback” - at 14% of (trad, I assume) MR spend, up a solid 4% points from the previous year of 2020. And worth US $ 13.3 billion. Not bad for a cottage industry ;)
Onwards, and hopefully upwards. But joined-up for sure!
Curious, as ever, as to others’ views.
(Visual: Photo by Fabio Bracht on Unsplash)
P.S. It would be great for more people to hear the full talk, maybe with new perspectives and additional insights. Perhaps the Global Conference hosted by the QRCA in Lisbon from October 4 - 6th 2023 would be a forum, if the authors decide to submit…. and they make the cut. The submission deadline is 22nd May.
Full disclosure - I am on the Content Committee, but my enthusiasm will hopefully not lead to selection bias.