Next Level Research - Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research

Focus Groups ¨ Triads ¨ Dyads ¨ 1-on-1 Depth Interviews ¨ More

Qualitative research is a set of methodologies designed to explore issues in greater depth, richness, and complexity than a quantitative survey can. Qualitative research typically involves smaller samples in a more interactive setting, such as focus groups and individual depth interviews.

Next Level Research provides full-service qualitative research:

¨	Focus groups, 1-on-1 depth interviews, and other designs
¨	In person, online, and telephone
¨	Arrangements in any market
¨	Recruiting: consumer, business-to-business, medical, hard-to-find respondents
¨	Proprietary moderating techniques to elicit responses, to neutralize group dominators, and to probe deeper, subconscious motivational and emotional triggers
¨	Ethnographic and observational techniques to study consumers' natural behavior in their social and cultural context
¨	Detailed, clear reporting with supporting verbatim
¨	Follow-through
¨	Videoconferencing and videostreaming of research interviews available for real-time remote client viewing and participation
¨	PowerPoint presentations of results available that include video clips from qualitative research sessions

Qualitative research is best used to:

¨	Discover the needs and wants of customers, potential customers, employees, stakeholders, and other target populations
¨	Gain an understanding of the feelings, experiences, and perceptions that influence behavior
¨	Develop and refine concepts, ideas, and hypotheses
¨	Examine respondent perceptions as well as the reasons behind those perceptions — answering questions such as how, why, and what if
¨	Explore intricate emotional associations and complex decision patterns about products, services, categories, and brands
¨	Test advertising and marketing messages
¨	Discover the texture, color, flavor, vividness, and passion in respondents' answers by bringing forth richness, nuance, and detail
¨	Explore subconscious imagery, associations, and value systems that are key to motivations and behaviors but that people often cannot articulate directly and may not even be consciously aware of
¨	Gather input for designing a quantitative study
¨	Springboard off of a quantitative study to “flesh out” the findings and garner a deeper analysis of the data
¨	Understand the vocabulary and lexicon target respondents use as they relate to products, services, categories, and brands
¨	Uncover new meaning and new insights from directly seeing and hearing respondents express themselves in their own words
¨	Create a fertile, stimulating environment for client management to be actively involved in the research feedback process, better assimilating key learnings

Although qualitative research techniques are not designed to meet the mathematical rigors of statistical testing, they represent a proven and reliable research method that can yield true and accurate understandings of the key issues and next action steps.

Qualitative research is a potent tool that should be conducted only by a skilled, experienced professional. To learn what it takes to be a professional qualitative research practitioner click here.