I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: everybody needs research. I love the diversity of companies and topics I get to work on. Lately I’ve done research for professional associations
I found a journal I kept while working on an evaluation of two residential drug treatment facilities. Some excerpts: March 2002: Just finished my first week! The director of the facility said there
A few weeks ago I wrote about one of my early jobs, interviewing men incarcerated in maximum security prisons. I loved interviewing, but it was only part of what I did
I’m on my way back from Portland, where I spent two days at a fantastic conference of independent workers: freelancers, entrepreneurs, and other intrepid souls like myself. Like most conferences, there were
I set 14 work goals for 2014. Here’s how I’m doing: Make more money than last year—and make money every month. So far, so good. Work for at least 5 existing
I moved to New Orleans last year, and I’ve just survived my first Mardi Gras! (That’s me on Mardi Gras day.) If you’ve never experienced it, Mardi Gras is a
One of my very first jobs was interviewing incarcerated people in maximum-security prisons in New York State. It was part of an evaluation of a parenting class for incarcerated men,
Last week I gave an overview of one of my favorite projects from last year, a global qualitative study on beverages. I thought you might like to see what a few days
One of my favorite projects in 2013 was a global study on beverages. The client wanted to know about the kinds of beverages people were making at home, as well as what
I may have gone a little overboard by coming up with 14 work-related goals for 2014. The 7 I covered last week are all about the kinds of clients and projects I
As promised, following up on last week’s 2013 recap, here’s a look forward with some goals for Jessica Broome Research in 2014. 1. Make more money than last year– and
Whoa! I did not mean to abandon my blog for so long. I was completely absorbed for all of Q4 on a fantastic global qual project: doing in-home focus groups
Last week I described five of my favorite things about freelancing. It’s not all puppies and rainbows, though, so today I’m sharing some thoughts on one of the biggest challenges to
I recently celebrated my 5 year “freelance-i-versary:” 5 years since I left my last job in PR research and went out on my own. I’ve been having a ton of
I’ve written before about my mobile life, where I spend a few months in a place before moving on. I’m lucky to have the technology to be able to service my
Last week I shared the beginning of my research wish list, mostly focusing on types of clients I’d like to have. I want to continue the list this week with a
I’ve blogged in the past about recent projects I’ve done, but today I wanted to share an incomplete list of types of clients I’d like to work for. Sometimes just putting these
I love this scene from Annie Hall, where Annie and Alvin are telling their respective therapists how often they have sex. Alvin: Hardly ever. Maybe three times a week. Annie: Constantly. I’d say three
So far this year, I’ve worked from half a dozen US cities, as well as Mexico, Thailand, China, and, currently, the Dominican Republic. As a location-independent researcher, I’m delighted by
A friend just pointed me to this article on a Washington Post survey of local issues in my hometown of Washington, D.C. Seems there’s a little hullaballoo about the framing of the survey results—namely,
Welcome to the 5th and final segment of the response process model: reporting. Encode –> Comprehend –> Retrieve –> Map –> Report Imagine a respondent has gone through the first four steps: they know
Welcome to part 4 of the response process model: mapping. Encode –> Comprehend –> Retrieve –> Map –> Report A respondent could understand your question (and remember the answer), but not be able to place their response in
This is the third post in my series of real life examples of the response process model in action. Encode –>Comprehend –> Retrieve –> Map –> Report If respondents know what happened and understand what is being asked
This week I’m continuing my series depicting Tourangeau, Rips, and Rasinski’s response process model in action. Encode -> Comprehend -> Retrieve -> Map -> Report Last week I wrote about encoding: people can’t answer a question about
I’m trying to keep this blog as practical and non-academic as possible, but one thing I learned at school that I still apply in every questionnaire I write was the Response Process
I’m always surprised (and frankly, a little alarmed) when clients don’t want to pre-test a questionnaire. This strikes me as a little bit like launching an ad campaign without testing the content.
“There is always a story in the data—you just have to find it.” This simple advice from an old boss got me through last week, when I got a desperate
Here is a sample of topics I’ve done surveys and focus groups on in the past few months: Challenges to immunizing children experienced by health workers in 14 developing countries
When I teach Survey Design Boot Camp, I like to remind students that open ended questions are like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get. I
I meet a lot of people who tell me their company or organization can’t afford research. I almost always tell them, “Actually, you can’t afford NOT to do research! What kind
When I ventured out to work on my own, I was really excited about working from home. I quickly learned, though, that working alone all the time is not for
After qualitative research, my clients often ask questions like “What were the key take-aways from respondents in this market?” This is what they’re concerned about, and rightfully so; it’s their
I recently did a week-long juice fast at a wellness center. Upon arrival, I was handed a questionnaire asking about my eating habits and how often I suffered from each
Survey design is a linguistically intense undertaking. Every respondent should get the same meaning from your questions—and it should be the meaning you had in mind when you wrote the
I’m still looking for the perfect description of what I do. “Research” conjures images of white coats and Bunsen burners, and “survey” often leads people down the path of topography.
