research – Strangers on the Shore

Government divided and confused, so is public – but business means business

This from Sir John Curtice the other day is a great reminder of the realities of public opinion on Brexit: Curtice for the BBC: what kind of Brexit. I picture the dashing data knight as Cleese’s Sir Lancelot at the wedding in Holy Grail, running amok through the castle, wantonly butchering hapless garlanded politicians with his SwordContinue reading “Government divided and confused, so is public – but business means business”

Top Qual Tips 1: the generation vs illustration dichotomy

It’s time to post something actually useful – I hope – about qualitative research. After a long hiatus with this blog in 2015 for technical reasons – WordPress somehow produced an unbreakable security loop which prevented me and my IT guy accessing it for several months – I’ve managed a couple of ultimately quite self-indulgentContinue reading “Top Qual Tips 1: the generation vs illustration dichotomy”

What we can learn from Carl Rogers annoying someone in the 1960s

I took part in an excellent Roy Langmaid training course a couple of weeks ago, on how qualitative research can use approaches derived from psychotherapy. As preparation, Roy had us watch films of three psychotherapists in the 60s, with contrasting styles, treating the same patient – a very game volunteer known as ‘Gloria’. You don’tContinue reading “What we can learn from Carl Rogers annoying someone in the 1960s”

Factoid of the day: qual is worth $6.37billion a year

Thanks to Italian ICG member Marcello Sasso for this, in response to a question from Sheila Keegan on the ICG email chatter thread: she asked, how much qual is done globally every year? Marcello quoted the 2011 ESOMAR figures on this. Qual research accounts for 19 per cent of global market research turnover (of which 18%Continue reading “Factoid of the day: qual is worth $6.37billion a year”

StickK: Odysseus on an electronic mast

I came across this site via a behavourial economist, Dr. Ivo Vlaev (thanks!), who was a co-collaborator on a rather large BE-influenced study I’ve been helping out on over the last year. It’s one of the many sites out there using BE principles to, it is hoped, help empower people to do things they wantContinue reading “StickK: Odysseus on an electronic mast”

Different Class

BBC research: new UK “class” system Our traditional three classes are now seven. A research unit within the BBC, BBC Lab UK, has conducted a study delving into class identity in Britain to come up with a more meaningful, contemporary sets of groupings. Prof Mike Savage of the London School of Economics and Prof FionaContinue reading “Different Class”

Empathy, Outrospection (and Qual): an RSA Animate

Here’s an RSA Animate talk (see http://www.theRSA.org for more) from last year on the importance of empathy. As Krznaric sees it, more widespread practice at empathy – particularly cognitive empathy, where you fully step into another person’s shoes and see things as they see them – could revolutionise how we think about our lives andContinue reading “Empathy, Outrospection (and Qual): an RSA Animate”

The Happiness Objective: the ONS Reports on British Well-being

The ONS’s first reporting of the “happiness” statistics – based on “subjective” answers to specific survey questions, rather than so-called “objective” forms of data – came out on Tuesday 24th July. No big surprises and it will only become really interesting, I think, once it beds in and we get year-on-year comparisons going. I wasContinue reading “The Happiness Objective: the ONS Reports on British Well-being”

Young Guns Go For It

Here’s the video for the AQR’s Young Guns pilot evening, which Lesley Thompson and myself moderated. This was a fascinating evening spent talking to a group of young researchers from some of the leading research agencies about what life is like for people early in their qual research careers now. Some fascinatingly different perspectives, forContinue reading “Young Guns Go For It”