Who are the Stars in Qualitative Research?
In my previous blog "Is that really qualitative research?" I suggested that the world of qual is very different to the dynamics and discourse of data analytics - it's exploratory in nature and remit, needs separate forums in the world of conferences and seminars.
But it’s not just about focusing on the “power of smaller numbers”.
It’s what make those smaller numbers meaningful and relevant to larger audiences and business environments – the universal, ideally – and how that happens.
Making sense of smaller numbers is often about working with “thick” data, being able to understand the role of culture, context, and of course language.
That’s what skilled qualitative researchers do – providing a different view of a brand, an understanding of a neglected audience group, or exploring changing perceptions of a category, for example, based on social science skillsets, employing a range of techniques and methods. These could include role-playing, ethnographies, story-telling, co-creation, semiotics perhaps, and yes, encompassing digital and AI.
It is about taking (often messy) data and applying a lens. Who does the looking is important, as they invariably shine a new light on a situation.
Individuals are perhaps the unsung heroes in qualitative research - clients often “commission” people, and individuals first in qual; a company brand comes second.
Of course, that raises all sorts of issues about how qual can grow and spread its wings into larger organizational forms, and how individuals can form a coherent fighting unit.
But it’s time – and a nod to Peter Totman here who prompted me on this – to re-stress the message, that beyond celebrating our clients, we need to celebrate people, particularly in qual, devoid as it largely is of KPIs and with limited ability to scale or automate.
So here’s my call: who are the qualitative researchers you would say you look up to, would put into a hall of market research fame? Qual heroes - let me know.
There’s a whole raft of things other industries (eg music, literature) do to celebrate their “stars” that we could borrow from – but first we need to have a sense of the starry universe ;).