Qualitative research services
Focus groups and 'chattabouts'
We believe there is much more to qualitative research than just
running conventional focus groups. We can of course deliver
focus groups in the traditional way. Since we're passionate about
developing the most engaging and inclusive forms of qualitative
work too, we have developed our own brand of particularly inclusive
and accessible focus groups, called 'chattabouts'.
Chattabout sessions are our more informal and interactive
version of focus groups - engaging, participatory and fun for those
taking part. They are often held in everyday community
settings where people are already present in informal groups, yet
the discussion is still run with an underlying analytical structure
which ensures that the guided discussion generates outcomes that
meet your consultation requirements.
Techniques can include: graffiti walls, knowledge cafes or break
out sessions, tree diagrams, timelines, thinks bubbles,
projective exercises, and solution balloons - all extremely
effective ways of getting people talking, providing a creative
platform and generating insights.
We are also able to offer Mobile groups as an
alternative to the more traditional focus group setting. Click here for more
details.
Deliberative sessions
Some thorny or 'wicked' issues need more that a
90-minute session. Deliberative workshops, citizens'
juries and scrutiny panels allow a more in-depth discussion on a
particular topic or local issue. They tend to involve more
participants and generally run for longer than a standard focus
group session - sometimes a reconvened second session is used to
allow for reflection and proposition development. Scrutiny panels
often become permanent, allowing residents, tenants and service
users to give on-going customer feedback.
These longer sessions mean more insightful tools can be used
Examples include trade-off exercises - useful for example for
budget prioritisation work; jury style sessions with contributions
from 'expert witnesses'; and the use of technology - such as
videos, presentations or real-time voting systems. As part of
our deliberative consultation, we are also able to offer
Budget Consultations, Citizens Juries,
Scrutiny Panels and Stakeholder
Workshops. Click here for more
details.
Mystery shopping
Mystery shopping is an extremely useful tool for revealing
real-world customer experience of services. It is also a great
way to measure how well an organisation performs against customer
service standards.
We can help organisations devise a mystery shopping programme
from scratch if necessary. We can use either our team of
professional 'shoppers' or develop a bespoke training programme to
develop local residents or tenants to become mystery shoppers or
tenant auditors themselves.
Different channels? Be it face to face, telephone or
website mystery research you have in mind, we will be able you
advise you accordingly. We also help clients devise
appropriate scenarios, develop effective evaluations tools and can
provide an independent review of services.
In-depth interviews
For true insight into what's really going on inside people's
head, there is no better method than using in-depth interviews to
explore issues and attitudes on a one to one basis. These can
be in person (either in a relaxed in-home setting, or a more
neutral setting), online, or over the telephone - this can be
particularly valuable where time and costs might be an issue (see
our Stakeholder proposition).
We can also use in-depth interviews to explore
people's comprehension and interpretation of written
documentation, comms messages, brand identity, publicity material
or website developments. Cognitive testing and piloting of survey
questions can be valuable for particularly innovative or
sensitive topics.
For further information on
our qualitative research services or to get a quote directly,
please contact Kelly Hunt (0121
604 4664)