theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 06:58PM I am thinking of setting up online focus groups.... to do some qualitative market research for clients
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 06:58PM Using Cliques, I could set up focus groups and work a session or two on the behalf of clients....
vangogh says Jun 29, 2008 07:06PM interesting idea. I'm not a big believer in focus groups in general, but I'll be interested in your results
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 07:10PM it has been utilized well in closed private comunities such as DelMonte foods
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 07:10PM qualitative research is not about numerical data as much as emoational
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 07:11PM on person n the chat me have a point that when expressed, changes the minds of others in the group
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 07:12PM one can't get this data from one-on-one interviews... but it gives a mind's eye into how road blocks in a product/service development
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 07:12PM one would have to get some demograhics on participants... but all together doable IMO
LindaZ Jun 29, 2008 07:16PM I see and love that there could be a great application of plurk for business look forward to seeing it happen!!!
Te-ge thinks Jun 29, 2008 07:19PM it might work better when plurk has settled into the influx of people recently. The bloops we put up with could throw off your data.
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 07:50PM point being we'd use a private Plurk populated with pre-sreened Plurkers for demo types etc....
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 07:57PM well it has been done in the qual research comunity, but mostly private networks
LindaZ Jun 29, 2008 08:14PM probably cause it is hard to qualify and pre-screen participants that you really do not know other that in 140characters
LindaZ Jun 29, 2008 08:16PM i still think it will be interesting to do this on plurk and see what shows up -we are managing to have long interesting topic conversations
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:20PM I might even make a seperate username and have peeps that are interested friend it
AbleReach asks Jun 29, 2008 08:24PM would it be a problem that anyone with access to a computer could be using a user account?
LindaZ Jun 29, 2008 08:27PM you might want to have the participants use usernames you create so no one knows who is plurkin... you could set that up with the plurk gods
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:35PM hmmmmm ... possible, though that might encourage a sense of anonimity that wouldn't be a true representation
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:35PM qual research is often done in person so that sense is included...
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:36PM we want interactions as close to real world as possible.... peeps may say things in annomimity they wouldn't otherwise
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:37PM no able.... there is no benefit to spamming a private thread and I wouldn't pay them to come back....
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:37PM once again tho, the realities of the web are the realities of the study group... there is no real 'bad' data
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:38PM qual research seeks out the small lessons learned through human interaction...so interaction is where the best data comes from
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:38PM this isn't quantitative data where the more respondants the better....
LindaZ Jun 29, 2008 08:43PM no I see... funny I thought people would be more authentic and tell the truth if their identity is not shown... but what U are looking for..
LindaZ is Jun 29, 2008 08:44PM how people are actually affected by the group interaction, if I understand you correctly
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:46PM yes exactly because peer pressure does play into buying decisions and human interactions...
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:47PM sometimes qual research is done one on one and other times in a group because of the differences in what nuances can be gleaned
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:47PM from that alone... so one looks at the subject matter in a few ways
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:48PM a 2 person session even would produce different data than say a small group session (3-5) or large focus group (6-10)
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:48PM each type from one-on-one to a large group wil produce different data (the conversations is the data)
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:49PM have you read this? www.huomah.com/Internet-Marketing/Social-Media-Marketing/Qualitative-research-and-Social-Media-Marketing.html
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 08:50PM ..and there are a bunch of links at the bottom if you are interested... fun topic
LindaZ Jun 29, 2008 09:31PM thank you for sharing this with me... market research has not been my domain, but always interesting...
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 09:33PM yea me neither... started reading/learning about qualitative research last summer... finally starting to try and find ways to use it
theGypsy says Jun 29, 2008 09:33PM tho I was studying the sociological version..which isn't as watered down as the marketing version