Author: Katie Harris

83% of people make this mistake

I’m going to do a ‘before and after’ exercise on a sentence I pulled from a qualitative research report that I was recently asked to read. Before This is the before sentence: “Of the four groups, 83% of people said they liked the design”. Now, at this point, some of you will already know exactly what I’m talking ...

A thousand insights

Insights with focus and bite Here’s a conversation we once had with a potential client: Potential client: “We need insights!”Us: “Tell us more…” (spot the qualitative researchers).Potential client, in a louder voice: “We need insights!”Us: “We can give you a thousand insights”Potential client, now smiling broadly ...

Fool's gold?

Social media monitors (SMMs) trawl the web to find mentions of your brand, or whatever it is that you're interested in monitoring. There are many SMM products and services available: some free, some that you pay for. Here’s a very basic example: www.whostalkin.com If you type in the name of a brand or topic of ...

How to choose a qualitative research consultant

So let’s assume you’ve been following my series in Marketingmag, have fallen in love with qualitative research, have decided to undertake a qualitative research project, and are now trying to decide on a qualitative research supplier. What should you look for? Good question! And you’ve come to the right place: that’s ...

The ROI for qualitative research: nothing to sneeze at

The value of market research - whether we’re talking about qualitative or quantitative research - is difficult, if not impossible, to quantify. That’s because market research rarely, if ever, works alone in shaping strategy. It’s just one of many tools in a marketer’s tool bag. In addition to this, market research ...

Not everything is black and white

In this post I respond to a (very good) question that I was asked about researcher bias and subjectivity, specifically what to do about it. Interesting topic this one! Researcher bias and subjectivity in qualitative research It’s true, without doubt, that personal biases and subjectivity shape the way researchers ...

Qualitative samples: unashamedly skewed

This post is about getting the sample right in qualitative research. It’s an important issue because if you don’t get the sample right, then even the most brilliant research techniques in the world won’t get you anywhere. Sample. Funny word if you stare at it long enough. Which I have. This is my fifth attempt at ...

A penny for your thoughts

As we brace ourselves for a slowing economy, and marketing budgets are squeezed, it’s well worth asking; is qualitative research something you can do yourself? What can be done with a tight budget? DIY qualitative research In one sense, qualitative research is not only something you can do yourself, it’s something ...

Part 2: The qualitative research process - fluffy techniques

Let me count the ways Following on from my last post, there’s no right way to ask a question per se. There are actually many right ways to ask a question. I’ll talk about these in more detail in a moment. First I’m going to discuss the many wrong ways to ask a question. The wrong ways You may be familiar with ...

Part 1: The qualitative research process

In this post, I look at the qualitative research process. I won’t cover the actual mechanics of qualitative research, because any good market research textbook will cover that. Instead, I’m going to focus on the thought process. The qualitative research process The thought process begins with questions. What kind ...

Tell me what you know about qualitative research… in bite size

Marketingmag.com.au welcomes qualitative research expert and valued member of the online marketing and social media community, Katie Harris to the stable of guru bloggers on the site. Katie will be posting fortnightly, answering all of your qualitative research questions. See Katie's author profile for more information. ...

more about our blogger

Katie Harris

Katie Harris is director of qualitative research at Zebra Research. B. Soc Sci (psych) UNSW, MBA AGSM, QPMR (and all that).

You can find out more about Zebra Research, and all things qualitative, by visiting the ZebraBites blog, the Zebra Research website and/or by following her on Twitter.

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