A concern with qualitative market research is that it lacks the statistical validity of quantitative research. However, using a method called “Triangulation,” you can find trends that, while not statistically valid, can reassure the leaders of your company that you’re on the right path.

Recent industry blog posts lament that research has become a commodity and qualitative is on its last gasp. I agree that some research practices are being commoditized by online, mobile and big-data research approaches. But I actually believe that these tools will create strong growth in qualitative research in the next 5 years.

Online communities are producing some exceptional qualitative market research results. But how can you convince marketers to follow your recommendations and use this powerful tool? Here are six ways marketers can benefit from online community research.

From focus groups and surveys to mobile apps and online communities, it can be a challenge to find one market research tool that’s a perfect fit for your project. But here are three examples of how multimodal research helped generate positive results for these online communities.

We’ve all heard a lot about big data for market insights. (We even talked about it in an earlier blog post.) But looking at the newly released Fall 2014 Greenbook GRIT report, one big insight stood out that makes it clear that big data is far from the only answer.  The fastest growing segment in that report was the growth of in-person qualitative research.  That’s right!  

If you just looked at the sheer volume of mentions in marketing and business publications, you’d think that consumer insights are all about data science and analytics. Talk of Big Data abounds. (Never mind that Big Data was crowned the “Most Confusing Tech Buzzword of the Decade” so far according to The Global Language Monitor.)