What techniques should you use when?

This is NOT EASY to explain simply. A number of them fit into more than one category and have more than one role. Here are two ways of giving you guidance – by TYPE of technique, and by USE for common research needs.  Once you have used, or seen the techniques being used, you will have a much better sense of how they can help you in your particular project.

TYPE OF TECHNIQUE

Association techniques     Require a quick, intuitive response, to bring to mind vocabulary, image and product attributes, to scope out a subject.

• Word association
• Personification (associating with a personality or lifestyle)
• Collaging, to give more emotional and cultural associations

Completion techniques      Require pre-preparation of sentences or scenarios. You would be looking for more specific information than with association techniques.

• Sentence completion
• Fill in bubble drawings, dialogues
• Familiar formats like obituaries, job applications, school report

Construction techniques    Also require a stimulus for focus; people are asked to create a story from a picture, scenario or other starting point. They are usually more extensive than completion techniques and the structure of the story can be analysed as well as its content. Useful for context and the bigger picture around an issue.

• Storytelling, Serious play, Creative visualisation

Structuring techniques     In these techniques we learn by asking respondents to move elements around, to compare and contrast, and to discuss their perceptions and reasoning.

• Mapping, Brand families
• Kelly Grid
• Snakes and ladders
• Balloon game

Expressive techniques      These are projective in as much they take inner feelings and express them outwards, by translating them into another modality, paper, 3d models, acting.

• Role play,  
• Psychodrawing, 
• Serious play,  
• Clay modelling

Metaphors & analogies     Bring meaning by describing something within the framework of something else

Intrusive/disruptive techniques   These are intended to disrupt normal habits or patterns of thinking. Graffiti encourages people to be ‘anti-social’ about advertising, while product deprivation or saturation for people to re-examine their views and habits.

• Advertising graffiti,
• Product deprivation, saturation

ANOTHER WAY: USES for common research needs.

Please note that these apply not only to products and brands, but also services and organisations and can therefore be used both in market and social research. 

Tweet