Ramada Hotel Singapore October 1 & 2, 2014

#QUAL360

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#QUAL360 Ramada Hotel Singapore Oct 1 & 2, 2014

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Association & Education Partners

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Science or Creativity- Which is

Qualitative Research’s Best Friend

Personal Views of the Author,

a Research Buyer

Agenda

• A Debate as Old as Time

• Qualitative Research and the Debate

• Tenets for Qualitative Research

Ideology of Science and Creativity are at odds

The fundamental conflict is one of perspective

Genesis of Qualitative lies in Creativity

Qualitative = Right Brain Quantitative = Left Brain

What Ms Qualitative Researcher says to me..

Good qualitative research can find answers to the

deeper motivational questions that start

with why and how.

Understand people and brands through culture to

get to big ideas

Our researchers focus on the importance of

context to help you understand who people really are

as individuals, not just as consumers…..

Source: Company websites of prominent qualitative research firms

... and occasionally

…..provides insights into the problem or helps to

develop ideas or hypotheses for

potential quantitative research. Qualitative

Research is also used to uncover trends in thought and

opinions, and dive deeper into the problem.

Qualitative

Research

and the

Narrative

of

Science vs

Creativity

Overheard a “Scientific” conversation like this..

Uh uh.. Will it tell me

if my ad is liked?

… we’ll do a module of

Dramaturgy and one or

two Conflict groups …

between the Web

analytics…

# 1. Has qual research become too templatized?

Okie, lets try creativity instead

Suuure… but will this

tell me if my ad is

liked?

… all right ..Why don’t

we get the respondents

to draw how they feel? I

think Moodboards.

Moodboards are sooo

much fun

# 2. Are we hiding behind creative elements?

Hmm, lets try science again..

WOW… finally we get

to work with

semioticians.. We

have never had the

opportunity before..

… I have relooked at it

completely, I think the

best course is to bring

in some semioticians…

they are experts….

# 3. Are we “overmedicating” with specialists?

Ok, you want ad.. I’ll give you ad

I am not sure.. I just

got off the call with

the Ad agency.. I don’t

think I can handle

more of them..

… you know the best

course might be to work

with opinion leaders…

lets do immersions with

creative writers, ad

agency folks…

# 4. Is there any such thing as a Creative person?

Creativity + Science bring the Yin- Yang balance

Inductive

Deductive

Expansive

Connective

Imaginative

Eliminative

Welcome to my world…

Quick facts you must know about me

30 Average number of projects / analytics at a point in time

20 Portion of projects that really delivered what I expected

10 Number of stakeholders I support

5 Things every CXO wants me to help with

Ms Qualitative Researcher, where do you figure on this list?

What THOSE guys really want to know

Productivity/

Efficiency Recession-

proof Growth

Speed of

Execution

Scale

Innovation

Competitive

Advantage

Employee

engagement

Paradigm shift in CXO roundtables today- Digital, Big Data,

Panels the buzzword

Why Clients Love Qualitative

Uncovers the whys behind the whats

Provides holistic perspective by looking at consumers as people first

Goes beyond the obvious to the sub-conscious

Makes complex questions simple to answer

Didn’t have the money to do a “full blown” quantitative research

I can see (& control) the fieldwork

Running short on time, need some quick answers

Methodology sounded interesting

Qual research is facing significant headwind

Shifting

CXO

Priorities

Consolidation

of Research

Budget

Templatization of

Qual

Shift to

Centers of

Expertise

Science and Creativity both need to come together to address this

Seven Tenets For Qual Research 2.0

Why we Care

Needs both structure (Science) and openness (Creativity)

to ensure we stay true to the intent, even when its hard to do so

Question the Brief

Showcase greater creativity in questioning the brief

(rather than in interpreting it)

Storytelling

Display creativity in storytelling, not just in visualization

Holistic Approach- People vs Data

Both Science and Creativity need to step up the game on this one..

Keep it Simple

Both Science and Creativity need to step up the game on this one..

Conviction

Can we build up (structured) guidelines based on past experience

Avoid Over promising

Leaving no room for mis-interpretation, through language and

structure that brings everyone to the same page

#QUAL360 Ramada Hotel Singapore Oct 1 & 2, 2014

Platinum Sponsor Silver Sponsors

Association & Education Partners

Media Partners

Ramada Hotel Singapore October 1 & 2, 2014

#QUAL360

Organized by