If you have ever had the chance to mull this game over with children or adults, I assume you found yourself chuckling at the very least as you consider the most absurd against the even more absurd.
I learned of this game a few years ago while road tripping with my aunt, who learned it from her students. She teaches first grade. My expectations were low.
The game begins by somebody either reading from the Would You Rather books (which I dare point out come in Large Print) by author Dan Gilden, or simply making up absurd options, like: Would you rather have knives for fingers or clubs for hands. What?! Yep. That’s the game. Think about it. This is serious. Clearly I’m clubbing it.
To play effectively, each person must weigh the options presented and essentially decide which would be the least offensive to themselves and/or others. The key to the game is to get the other players to explain their answer, revealing fears and preferences you would not have learned otherwise.
While playing the game made for a great road trip, with laughter so hard I needed to snort in order to survive the inhale, it also makes a great interview question. The options presented can be real or absurd, but if they’re on-topic, you may find yourself uncovering more than you expected: the true gems of marketing research.
Have you ever asked questions this way? What’s your favorite Would You Rather question?
As a researcher, I conduct a lot of interviews. Some are one-on-one, or “individual” and others are in groups. Some interviews use video, some use audio, and others are group text chats with or without a visual component. Regardless of the means of communication, all human research has the same challenge: recruiting.
Filtering, validating, and setting expectations for the right people is THE most important part of any research study. That’s true whether you’re seeing them in-person or working with them online.
The final chapter to recruiting is go time – the reason you paid a recruiter in the first place. Your participants need to show up!
So what will help make that happen? As a marketing researcher who has been working online since 1996, I’ve relied on these tips that have stood the test of time:
A thoughtful + clear agenda with time commitments everyone sticks to
Manageable objectives, only bite what team members can chew.
Short meeting time commitments. Keep it simple + such.
CNBC reported that researchers at YouCanBook.Me revealed the best time and day to have a meeting, and the results are sort of surprising. It’s obviously not Monday or Friday, I can tell you that from personal experience.
A respected and beloved colleague in marketing research, Jeff Walkowski, recently published a book, Mr. Online’s Playbook, full of suggestions for better interviewing when you’re not in-person. Available on Amazon, a great buy. Happy new year to you, you deserve it.
I opened my cherished copy and randomly flipped to page 99. Not surprisingly, I found myself agreeing wholeheartedly with Tip E-30, where Jeff explains how to encourage participants to respond more in a bulletin board (asynchronous) environment. His tip, and I’m paraphrasing, is to specifically request the amount of response you’re seeking by literally asking for X# of reasons detailed, or Y# ideas explained, rather than “Why did you like or not like it” or “What else can you think of”. As a moderator of bulletin boards, I can assure you, probing is painfully required in order to get participants talking, so this tip is ahead of the game right out of the gate. Love it.
What tips for interviewing, online or in-person, do you find most useful?
I came across this online article from The Atlantic and literally LOL’d myself into a good mood. It’s a great read about the weirdness of human behavior and how we animate ourselves to accommodate new means of communication like Zoom. The author, Faith Hill, is a comical social behaviorist from whom I can’t wait to read more. Please, Faith, do more!
Faith Hill’s article put me in such a good mood, it got me thinking. A dangerous course of action, in some cases, but this time all turns out well.
I googled (can you believe that’s a verb?) what we can do to put ourselves in a good mood and that lead me down a bit of a retail rabbit hole, from which I may never fully recover. A massive amount of email spam is sure to come my way from all the self-help articles I found myself dismissing (yet clicking, damn the click!).
What I discovered beyond all the sponsored content is that mood boosting can come from anywhere and can be anything. It depends on your personal preference, which leads to limitless possibilities. From looking at calming pictures to watching cat videos.
It seems we intuitively know what will boost our mood. The key, as with most beneficial things, is to do it. Take the time and watch the cat videos. Laugh at humans failing at almost everything you can imagine. Put the laughing Chewbacca woman on auto repeat. Boost your mood and you’ll always be happy you did.
So whatever legal behavior makes up your secret sauce to getting through the day, you just keep doing it. Life is short. And life can be hard. So take that break and do what makes you happy for a moment. You just might find yourself smiling. And who doesn’t need more of that.
Please share what you do to boost your mood! The Chewbacca Mask Lady Works. Every. Time.
How to choose the best method for your research study
Quantitative and qualitative research are both scientific methods for
data collection and analysis. They can be applied alone, or in
combination, to maximize insights.
The Basic Difference: Going Beyond What vs. Why
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH, AKA QUANT
Quantitative research relies on large sample sizes to collect numerical data that can be mathematically analyzed for statistically significantfindings.
Surveys are structured, questions are typically closed-ended, and
answer choices are fixed. However, quantitative research may also
include a limited number of short-answer open-ended questions to help
clarify why people responded the way they did to a closed-ended
question. Eye tracking, facial coding, and even Big Data fall under the
umbrella of quantitative research, with computers analyzing enormous
volumes of data incredibly fast.
Quantitative studies produce numerical data, which allows for statistical analysis and ultimately precise findings.
The US Census is a great example of a quantitative research study –
fixed and close-ended questions, an enormous sample size, a collective
review of many respondents, and measured population segments.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH, AKA QUAL
In contrast, qualitative research seeks to understand the
reasons behind the numbers, as well as what is not yet known. Sample
sizes are smaller, questions are unstructured, and results more
subjective. Unlike quantitative research, qualitative studies insert the
researcher into the data collection process. The researcher probes
responses and participants provide more detail. Qualitative data is
collected through interviews, group discussions, diaries, personal
observations, and a variety of other creative and ever-expanding means.
Qual studies work with textual and visual data, interpreted and analyzed for directional findings.
Qualitative research studies include fluid and open-ended questions, a
smaller sample size, an in-depth review of each respondent, and emerging
themes.
Visual representation of how quantitative + qualitative data differs
A quant study collects specific data from a large number of people, and a qual study goes deeper to collect greater insights from a small number of people.
How to Choose
The answer to whether you proceed with quantitative or qualitative
research lies in your research objective and available resources.
Why you’re doing the research
What you need to know
Your budget, staff, + schedule
How the findings will be used
Consider these possible scenarios the next time you’re stuck and don’t know which way to go:
Quant + qual can come together in other ways. A questionnaire with
open-ended questions, while ultimately coded numerically, can offer a
window into the unknown. Focus groups that also include poll questions
or surveys can produce hard data when analyzed in total, even if the
results are not statistically significant.
With good planning, quantitative and qualitative research come
together like a dance, guiding the marketer’s success with every step.
I Say Hybrid, You Say Multi-Method
Combining quantitative and qualitative research approaches is an ancient strategy, but the names continue to change with the times. I did a bit of research and found the following terms being used to describe that ideal combination of quantitative and qualitative research. What term do you use? And why? 😉
Regardless how you intend to get your data, the first few steps to achieving success are often brushed over or pushed aside on the way to the finish line. Before identifying the best means of engagement, it’s critical to clearly define both the research objective and the target audience.
Where you’re going and why
Who you need to interview and why.
Like a beacon of light, a well considered objective propels a project purposely forward to the finish line. Without it, findings flail and resulting recommendations are at risk.
Knowing who to interview to achieve the objective must also be clearly defined. Recruiting appropriate participants starts with a client conversation to identify demographic, lifestyle, and behavioral attributes of prospective participants. Well designed, unbiased screening questionnaires and extensive identity verification procedures ensure accurate and effective recruiting.
Despite the simplicity of this secret sauce, InsideHeads surveyed research buyers on LinkedIn and discovered “actionable insights” to be “most desired”, yet also “rarely achieved”.
InsideHeads clients always receive pointed recommendations. Born from a deep understanding of both data collection and strategic direction, InsideHeads delivers intelligent insights that will move your unique initiatives forward.
Calculating cost-per-interview (CPI) of different qualitative research methods can be an eye-opening exercise. Excluding recruiting and incentives, which vary, we can estimate typical costs of different methods.
CPI estimates below assume:
4 focus groups
focus facility & support
project management
moderator fees (guide design, interviews, & analysis)
In-Person Groups – Face to Face in Real Time
6-8 Participants for 2 hours
Average CPI $650
Multi-Media Bulletin Board Over Time
15-20 Participants for 3-5 days
Average CPI $353
Text Chat in Real Time
15-20 Participants for up to 2 hours
Average CPI $191
Webcam (Video Chat) in Real Time
3-5 Participants for up to 2 hours
Average CPI $988
Contact InsideHeads for a free estimate on your next online marketing research study. Call +1-877-In-Heads or email info@insideheads.com.
The moment people could connect and communicate online, researchers were there. In the beginning the research was technical, paving the way for a vast network of open communication that was to follow.
As this virtual network of people grew, marketing researchers strapped on their boots and began exploring new ways of mining and collecting data. It wasn’t long before social researchers suited-up and started using email, group chats, and bulletin board systems to gather information. All of these initial efforts cleared the way for what is now known as online qualitative research.
While the first online focus group via group text was conducted by Marian Salzman in a pimped-out AOL chat room in 1992, it was actually research boards that came first. As early as 1984, when the “internet” was limited and accessible by only government researchers and universities, one student at Syracuse University was using a bulletin board system over NSFNET to interview students at UCLA.
When comparing the costs to conduct focus groups online to in-person (face-to-face), it’s important to consider which elements are, and are not, included in each. First, let’s compare the basics of four popular types of focus groups:
In-Person Face to Face in Real Time
6-8 Participants for 2 hours
Multi-Media Online Bulletin Board Over Time
15-20 Participants for 3-5 days
Online Text Chat in Real Time
15-20 Participants for up to 2 hours
Webcam (Video Chat) in Real Time
3-5 Participants for up to 2 hours
Now let’s take a look at the cost categories each of those focus group methods will include:
Recruiting & Incentives
Recruiting for online or in-person requires effort, attention, and reliable sources. Cost per recruit are comparable across methods.
Facility & Live Support (in-person or virtual)
Whether your interview is conducted within a brick and mortar building or using an online research platform, people need a place to gather. Multimedia Bulletin Boards and Webcam Groups are still ripe for tech issues, so going with providers who offer significant support is both wise and costly.
Research Services (e.g., discussion guide design, moderate, report)
Expert researchers put in the hours to design studies that will yield reliable data and reveal keen insights. Research expertise is needed to conduct any focus group , but the amount of time required will vary. Bulletin boards and Webcam groups require the most time and attention, while chats are the most time and energy efficient. In-person groups means everyone has to travel, and you’ll also incur ancillary facility costs for food and administrative help.
When figuring costs, consider the volume and quality of conversation that results from each of the four group interview methods listed.
In both in-person and webcam focus groups, only one person can speak at a time, yet bulletin boards and online chats enable everyone to talk simultaneously. This multi-synchronous response maximizes the volume and depth of data you can receive in the same amount of time.
Also consider the fact that in-person and webcam conversations provide helpful facial cues, yet boards and chats prompt more candid responses from participants.
Bottom line? There’s no easy answer. The options available for conducting group interviews each have their pros and cons for different situations. Checkout average CPI for each method in this post.
Before you pick your platform and plow ahead, consider first taking stock of your research needs. You may find a perfect fit in a more budget-friendly method!
Contact InsideHeads for a free assessment, +1(877)-In-Heads.
