Qualitative Research in the 21st Century
Serpents with tails in their mouths
A reflexive look at qualitative research
Anjul Sharma & Gareth Pugh
Abstract
Picture the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Knowledge. Around this tree stand so many Eves – qualitative researchers – who revere, create and deliver knowledge. They look upon the apples that represent knowledge with a hunger to consume and appropriate that knowledge for themselves and their clients.But in doing so, they often forget to ask the serpent, who represents the respondent that gives the knowledge, about their experience. The serpent’s experience of sharing their knowledge as a respondent is often ignored in favour of a focus on how they reacted to the new product, packaging or ad as a consumer.
This paper aims to address precisely this issue of being a respondent. It goes full circle and uses qualitative research to delve into respondents’ experiences of being researched qualitatively in the UK, USA, India and China. It is about turning the tables, reinventing research and situating it in a different paradigm.
Expect to come away with a sense of how research has got into certain habits and long-unquestioned assumptions. What prizes can be won if we dare to challenge these assumptions? Would we acquire richer, deeper, better and more actionable ‘knowledge’? How would we benefit? How would our clients benefit?
Come and find out. Be prepared to have your assumptions about qualitative research challenged and your sacred beliefs questioned as we take you through the new Garden of Eden.
Anjul Sharma
Director, Synovate, UK
Anjul is a Director at Synovate, UK with over 12 years experience of research. Her main areas of focus are branding and communications, new product development and thinking about innovative dimensions to qualitative research. Anjul is also well known for her writing, publication and speaking in the industry at a national and international level. A first class honours graduate in Sociology (with Social Anthropology), Anjul also holds an MA in Communication Studies. Furthermore, she is a Polyglot, and respondents once experienced her moderating a single group in three different languages, and simultaneously translating it for the client!
Gareth Pugh
Director, Synovate, UK
Gareth is a Director at Synovate, UK. As well as a specialism in qualitative research, he spent over 10 years as a brand consultant, with particular experience in new product and service innovation, concept generation and development, and brand strategy including brand name creation, research and registration. He has written extensively on these in the UK marketing press.
His key areas of focus are branding, new product development in Fast Moving Consumer Goods, and client brainstorming and workshop planning and moderation.
Gareth holds a first class honours degree in History, with an MA in Contemporary History. And his most remarkable ‘respondent experience’ story is of the time ran a focus group in a West African brothel (he swears he was unawares) for a well-known brand of beer!
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