Research Methods
From Needs Analysis To Segmentation And Communication Testing
Qualitative Research I Survey Research I Semiotics I Advanced Qualitative Analysis
What makes us distinctive is that we combine mastery of many mainstream and niche research methods and techniques with the individualised, high-touch service that you would expect from a boutique agency. The methods we use range from use traditional focus groups and individual interviews, accompanied shopping, digital ethnography, and user testing, through to online qualitative, online and phone surveys and semiotics.
- Target markets and audiences: the general public, customers and members, investors, and stakeholders, including small businesses – such as financial advisers and brokers – corporate management and C-Suite executives.
- Topics include: the arts, food and drink, government services, health care & fitness, infrastructure, insurance, investment, personal care, retirement living, superannuation, and technology.
Qualitative research: understand the world of your customers
James P. Spradley, social scientist and professor of anthropology
“I want to understand the world from your point of view. I want to know what you know in the way you know it. I want to understand the meaning of your experience, to walk in your shoes, to feel things as you feel them, to explain things as you explain them.”
Why do qualitative research?
At the completion of one of our qualitative research projects – even small ones – you will have a new understanding and empathy for how your customers think and feel. You will then be able to measure the extent of these thoughts and emotions in survey research and from that develop content, policies, services and products that engage your customers, in the language that you customers use.
If you skip the qualitative research stage and go straight to a survey you will end up measuring only about what you already know. You cannot learn anything new unless you do qualitative research first.
We are experts in qualitative research. Indeed, because of her innovative approach Susan Bell has been called one of ‘four prominent voices’ in qualitative research worldwide.
We offer two types of qualitative research
These two types are:
- Ethnography, based on our ability to observe and understand social context and behaviour; and
- Conversational qualitative research such as one on one interviews and focus groups. This type of qualitative research is when you listen to your customers and your members as they explain their world, in their words. We are highly experienced in online and face-to-face individual / couple interviews, face to face focus groups, and digital and in person ethnography.
The techniques we use include looping conversations, journey mapping, laddering, mood boards, pack sorts and other projective and enabling questions, sensory qualitative research and co-creation.
We have particular expertise in any category where rituals are important – such as many food and personal care categories, and in the concept of liminality.
Survey Research To Measure
We have designed and conducted surveys for many of Australia’s largest organisations including government agencies, as well as a broad range of smaller companies and not-for-profit organisations. The result: they have made smarter decisions, with confidence.
The surveys we conduct
- Concept development and testing
- Customer, audience, and member surveys
- Segmentation studies
- Stakeholder surveys
- Behaviour and attitude / usage and attitude surveys
- Tracking surveys
Our survey expertise
- We conduct online and phone surveys
- We use online panels and also conduct surveys from customer lists
Our clients will tell you that our approach to survey research is different because of the time we spend on question wording. Many researchers overlook how important this is. Surveys must be both clear and engaging, written in the language of the people answering the survey. We also must work hard to engage people to want to take our surveys. Surveys have to be interesting for the people we want to take part.
We design your survey for you
We will not force-fit your research objectives into some kind of global model or a statistical technique that you are not comfortable with. We design our surveys from scratch. For you.
Here are some of the questions we ask before we launch our surveys:
- Do our questions meet your research objectives?
- Will the survey engage the intended audience, so they want to complete it?
- Have we written the questions in a way that our respondents can understand and answer easily?
- Is the wording impartial?
- Have we tested the survey so we know that we have included all relevant answer options and avoided using jargon?
Survey research methods
While most surveys are conducted online, we are committed to a mixed methods approach, using the method most suited to the target audience.
Semiotics: Culture And Imagery
Semiotics helps you understand cultural change
Australian culture is changing all the time, but often in ways that are hard to see as they are happening. As an example, think about the influence of Asian culture on everyday shopping. At one time, “Asian” in Australia meant ‘local Chinese restaurant’ . These days, Asian supermarkets ae a feature of many suburban shopping centres, and there are queues at the Bubble Tea Stall. This then affects the meals we want to make at home which in turn shapes the foods we buy in the supermarket. All this starts with culture change.
One of the main reasons why our clients commission semiotics projects is to understand culture change.
Semiotics also helps you choose the right imagery
Do you want to use imagery or symbolism on your packs, landing page or ads that convey meaning that your market understands immediately and unequivocally? Then you need the unique nuanced insights that a semiotic image analysis brings. Semiotics is the study of how signs and symbols convey meaning or ‘signify’ and how they cluster into patterns called ‘codes’.
Semiotics methods
- Top-down semiotics: how is luxury represented in today’s world? (In semiotic speak: ‘what are the Codes of Luxury in the Australian market?’)
- Bottom-up semiotics: what signs and symbols can we use on pack or in an ad to convey freshness, or pain relief or .. the examples are too numerous to mention.
Semiotic analysis requires years of training to conduct well. We have been doing it since the 1980’s which makes us one of the longest-standing semiotics experts in the world!
Semiotics agencies we have worked with
Semiotics and cultural insights agencies that we have worked with include Creative Semiotics, Space Doctors, Athena Brand Wisdom and Verve.
Advanced Qualitative Analysis For New Perspectives
We are experts in using advanced qualitative analysis tools such as Discourse Analysis, Narrative Analysis, Sensemaking and Archetypes. These are all desk-based qualitative research analysis methods based on decades of sound academic thinking.
These tools give us structured ways to dig deeply into what was said, or not said, allowing us to extract much more meaning from our qualitative conversations than simply summarising. For example, by focussing on how people use language we find rich insights about what people believe and how they perceive their social world, for example the language that people use about ageing.
They also enable us to think in innovative ways and see different perspectives. As our client said:
‘Working with you was made more insightful and rewarding by your natural curiosity and ability to look at customers and stakeholders through so many different lenses and perspectives.’
We would love to hear from you. We are always happy to talk about research methods and options if you are unsure what you need.
