If you can stop him talking about his kids, he can be quite interesting. Thanks to Dutch social media expert Jaap den Dulk (twitter: @dulk) for the link to this talk from MIT Media Lab researcher Deb Roy earlier in 2011. Jaap gave a talk this morning as part of the ICG webinar on socialContinue reading “How you can visualise data with an MIT research budget – wow”
Tag Archives: qualitative research
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train)
One of my favourite song titles (from Half Man Half Biscuit‘s Cammell Laird Social Club album) seems appropriate today, given the economic news. As an individual micro-business, the bigger patterns of the economy kind of don’t matter – and kind of do. It can be hard to make the connection sometimes. At one level,Continue reading “The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train)”
An Old Git Remembers: The Last Time Youth Unemployment Was This Bad
Youth unemployment in the UK went over the 1 million mark this week. It’s not been this bad, we hear, since the early 90s: see the chart in the BBC News story on it: Youth unemployment. As this shows, the peak was really in 1992: and it just happens, that’s when I first came ontoContinue reading “An Old Git Remembers: The Last Time Youth Unemployment Was This Bad”
Everybody will be doing behavioural economics in qual
Do you see what I did there? The title’s speculative, but no more so than the communication to the American public by Barack Obama’s team two weeks before the 2008 Presidential Election, to get the vote out: “A Record Turnout Is Expected.” The Obama campaign realised that, at that stage in the campaign, detailed messagesContinue reading “Everybody will be doing behavioural economics in qual”
From Behavioural Insights To Chris Moyles
Required listening for anyone in research, I think: All In The Mind Special: The Behavioural Insights Team. Interesting contributions to Claudia Hammond‘s Radio 4 documentary from the likes of Prof. Richard Thaler, Dr. David Halpern and Warwick University psychologist Neil Stewart as well as the more sceptical Nick Pearce of the IPPR. It’s all aboutContinue reading “From Behavioural Insights To Chris Moyles”
Hallowe’en night and a haunted viewing room
Who would be a qualitative researcher, eh? This post is not at all influenced by my having something of a difference of opinion last night with some clients over a group discussion …but ever the Polyanna, I’m turning this into something positive, by lecturing everyone on how to avoid the pitfalls of watching discussion groups.Continue reading “Hallowe’en night and a haunted viewing room”
The tyranny of the “left brain” – RSA Animate
Here is an RSA Animate of a talk by Iain McGilchrist on “the divided brain” – highly recommended. While the division into left and right brain is a myth, he says, there are indeed two modes of thinking: one open, alive, messy, intuitive; and the other our ordered and rational working of a closed system.Continue reading “The tyranny of the “left brain” – RSA Animate”
Creating memories: Jonah Lehrer and faux Monty Python
Jonah Lehrer, whose The Decisive Moment – How The Brain Makes Up Its Mind I’m reading at the moment, has written a really interesting piece in Wired magazine about how we don’t just make things up, we can actually change our memories: Jonah Lehrer – How Social Conformity Affects Memory. There is, in particular, unacknowledgedContinue reading “Creating memories: Jonah Lehrer and faux Monty Python”
The future isn’t here yet – and it never will be
As WARC shows again today, to no one’s particular surprise, tv advertising gives a better return on investment than advertising in any other medium. Link: WARC on tv advertising. It’s another reminder of why we researchers need to be giving insights first and foremost into the whole picture of how people are behaving today. AndContinue reading “The future isn’t here yet – and it never will be”
The life of a diplomat awaits
This is one ambassador’s reception where a handful of Ferrero Rocher is about the best the guests can hope for. I have agreed to become an “AQR Ambassador” – hoping it will be more like “Ambassador to the United Nations” than “Austin Ambassador”. Thanks Rose Molloy and Andrea Higgins for suggesting this, though Andrea explainedContinue reading “The life of a diplomat awaits”
Strangers on the Shore 