Still hearing the consumers voice

but is the music better?

Research 2.0

Use of 2.0 techniques has,at times, felt like

boys with new toys

Many commenting are

not quallies but techies:Good researchers, but

not qual practitioners

A professional development perspective:

Low visibilityof qualitative thinking on 2.0

Research 2.0and Online Qual:

A format change or better music?

Starting Premise:Online qual/qual 2.0 is

here to stay……this time

Consensus among quallies that in

certain circumstances

online may be the

best approach

for geographicallydispersed respondents

or…

Communication on their terms:- personally sensitive topic

- strong peer pressure- a more ‘private’ culture

or…

Getting information

in the moment

Our paper is not going to appraise specific

techniques;they are here to stay

So, to explore issues further we held our own moderated email

forum among 20 qualliesfrom around the world

China, France,Germany, Italy,

Japan,UK and the US

Our forum included practitioners from

Overall, mixed emotions towards online qual

For most quallies there is a

tension at the heartof online/2.0 qual techniques

They do work, but…

1Inability to

read people

Dealing with the yes problem

Yes (absolutely)

Yes (probably)

Yes (I suppose so)

Yes (but…)

Yes (…no!)

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

“The face of the person

interviewed must never be neglected, for it can say

much more than the voice and at times, just the

opposite.”

Most quallies admit, online is

personally less interesting

2

Quallies enjoy

meeting real people;the travel is

exhausting but, ultimately

interesting

How do we know these

techniques work?

3

Can we apply theories of group dynamics to online

communities?

For example:

How should we analyseSMS text messages?

Trial and error in the real world

Conflict with my

business model

4

Small qual agencies andindependents/consultants

lack necessary IT resource

Larger qual/quant

agenciesoften better placed

and in turn, this could lead to

more mechanistic analysis methods

e.g. word counts or tagging

Because for some the answer is thought to lie in

software,not a researcher

My personal skillsare lacking

5

An appreciation of

technology

New skills acknowledged:

a.

Improved keyboard skillsb.

New skills acknowledged:

Engaging written skills

including mirroring

c.New skills acknowledged:

Quickly reading

between the lines

d.New skills acknowledged:

Tension resolved by

three mindsets

1The only option, but would

have been better face to face

Online qual viewed better because:

2Complementary, online

as extra

Online qual viewed better because:

3Different, so not

comparable

Online qual viewed better because:

Across all mindsets the commonality

is that 2.0 can help us listen

and allow us to tune in to consumer wavelengths

A guarded

‘Yes’ to our title but not wholesale format

change(it will not become the dominant

data collection method!)

Consumers are still people,we just have new technology

available to us

People make the community and it is all

about how we listen to them

The hype… is hype! And is getting in the way

We found that online qual was

c5% of qual revenueincluding companies with a

high online profile

Are non 2.0 initiatives(e.g. AQR Excellence) not

gettingdeserved exposure

due to this hype?

Urgent need to define which

of these techniques are

part of our toolkitand which are not

Challenge 1:An urgent need for some

theoretical framework

Where are these techniques

rooted?

Challenge 2:Protect the

integrity of our

profession

- Demonstrate why we should be the

guardians of these techniques

- Identify associated

ethical/code of conduct issues

Challenge 3:Decide which 2.0 techniques

belong to us

We would like to see an end to

the catch all terms‘online qual’ and ‘qual 2.0’

Online qual/qual 2.0 encompasses a

wide range of different techniques,

each has its own merits

Challenge 4:Be fleet of foot;

we will have to be quick

Challenge 5:We must resist the hype

While the use of Research 2.0is settling down;

qual and quant are

closer

Do you want to swim in this integrated pool?

A danger that,online qual becomes an

extensionof quant which would

devalue the moderator role

We suspect quanties find 2.0 more

interesting;enhancing the richness of dry

data

Our research shows quallies find 2.0 less interesting;

rich information seems flatter online