It’s been a busy few weeks, but I’m glad to be sneaking in under the wire with my once a month blog post! I’ve had such a great range of projects
Last week I went to moderator training at RIVA. It’s one of the best known training centers for qualitative researchers, and I’d been wanting to go for several years (and
I’ve been teaching Questionnaire Design at the University of Michigan’s Summer Institute in Survey Research Techniques, and I’m finding it hugely fun for a few reasons: 1. My students are
Like many people, I was saddened by the passing of author Maya Angelou last week. After her death, I learned that she had once been a market research interviewer. In A
Summer is my favorite season, and I’m always happy when Memorial Day kicks it off. To start my summer off even better, this year my Red Cross client got some great media
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’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 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
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
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,
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.
