RTi Brings Quant and Qual Together at LIMRA
JUNE, 2007: John Houghton, Vice President of RTi’s Financial Services practice was recently asked to speak at the Life Insurance Market Research Association’s (LIMRA) annual conference. His talk, part of a panel presentation, focused on innovative ways quantitative and qualitative research could be brought together.
John’s presentation highlighted several new and exciting tools used to leverage the power of research by combining qualitative and quantitative techniques in innovative ways:
One tool in particular that captured the interest of attendees and sparked discussion was RTi’s Pathways™. Pathways™ provides a way to gather both quantitative and qualitative learning in a single two hour session. A large group of respondents (usually about 50) come together and respond to questions using wireless audience response technology in a classroom style setting. Then, a smaller subset of the group is selected to participate in a focus group immediately following the quantitative session. One of the most powerful elements of Pathways is that the focus group participants are chosen based on their answers they gave during the quantitative session (which are immediately available).
“The primary benefits of using Pathways™ is the compressed cycle time and deeper learning obtained through the process.” John continued: “Also, clients love the fact that the research process is brought to life as they and their business teams watch the real-time results of the quantitative questioning charted on monitors in the back room.”
Additional benefits of Pathways™ that were discussed during the presentation include: reporting that can directly tie the qualitative and quantitative learning together, the flexibility of design that allows for changes to the questionnaire or stimuli on the fly, and for learning in one session to be incorporated in the next, and most importantly, the immediate action steps being understood by the core business team.
John also spoke about an exciting new tool that enables research companies to incorporate a 10-12 minute online moderated chat as part of a standard online survey. He said, “this is a great way to go beyond traditional open ended questions and really drill down to understand the why behind the what. It is truly the glue that bonds the quantitative data to the true motivations of the consumer.”
The learning gained by bringing qualitative and quantitative elements into one project are greater than the sum of the parts. Based on reaction of the conference attendees, it’s likely we’ll see more and more researchers taking advantage of these innovative approaches to enhance the return on their research investment.