Qualitative research explores how people think, feel and behave, helping researchers understand the reasons behind their opinions and decisions. It typically involves smaller, carefully selected groups of participants and uses methods such as interviews, group discussions and observation. The right approach depends on whether you want to explore individual experiences, encourage discussion or observe behaviour in a real-world setting.
Focus groups bring together a small number of participants for a moderated discussion, either in person or online. They are particularly useful for exploring consumer attitudes, evaluating new concepts and understanding how people react to and build on one another’s ideas.
In-depth interviews (IDIs) involve a one-to-one conversation between a researcher and a participant. They are well suited to exploring complex decisions, personal experiences and sensitive subjects, particularly in B2B research or when specialist knowledge is required.
Ethnographic research involves observing people in their everyday environments, such as their homes, workplaces or shops. It is useful when researchers want to understand how products and services are used in practice, rather than relying solely on what participants say.
Online bulletin boards (OBBs) allow participants to complete research tasks and respond to questions over several days, at times that suit them. They are useful for diary-style research, gathering detailed reflections and exploring topics that benefit from considered rather than immediate responses.
Market research online communities (MROCs) bring participants together on a digital platform for ongoing research. Unlike shorter OBB studies, MROCs can cover multiple topics over weeks or months, making them useful for user engagement, innovation and tracking changing attitudes.
UX testing involves observing people as they use a website, app or digital product, often while completing specific tasks. It helps identify usability problems, understand why users encounter difficulties and evaluate prototypes or existing digital experiences.
Customer experience research examines how people interact with a brand, product or service across touchpoints. It can combine interviews, surveys, focus groups and other methods to understand satisfaction, identify frustrations and explore opportunities to improve the customer journey.
Video surveys ask participants to record short responses to research questions, usually using their smartphones. They can involve selfie videos, product demonstrations or narrated activities, making them useful when researchers want to capture reactions and experiences in participants’ own words.
Vox pops involve short video interviews that capture people’s immediate opinions and reactions, usually in public locations or remotely. They are particularly useful for gathering spontaneous feedback on familiar topics, products or brands and illustrating research findings with real voices.
Online surveys allow respondents to complete structured questionnaires on their computers or mobile devices. They are often the most efficient option for reaching larger samples, testing preferences and measuring attitudes when respondents can be recruited and surveyed remotely.
Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) uses interviewers who follow a digital questionnaire and record responses during a telephone call. It is useful for reaching business professionals or other audiences who may be difficult to engage online, and for surveys with lots of open-ended questions.
Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) involves an interviewer recording responses on a tablet or similar device during an in-person survey. It is useful for street intercepts, location-specific research and research where participants need to see or try a product before answering questions.
