Key Terms
Good for
Confirming patterns, measuring proportions, informing decisions with statistically reliable results.
Risk
Results from a small group may not represent the full target audience.
Best for
Capturing real behavior, especially when people can't articulate what they do or why.
Typical length
No longer than 30 minutes to maintain deep engagement.
Advantage
Gets beneath the surface; nuanced responses. Disadvantage: expensive; requires experienced interviewer and participant i
Length
60-90 minutes on average. Benefit: peer interaction surfaces perspectives that one-on-one interviews miss.
Challenge
Volume of data makes it hard to find meaningful signal in the noise.
Key distinction
Social listening happens in public forums, not private research settings. Communities can react negatively if they perce
Key questions in sampling
1. Who exactly should participate?
Qualitative
Typically a dozen or so participants. Quantitative: hundreds or thousands for statistically reliable results.
Probability sample
Each individual has a known chance of selection.
Nonprobability sample
Participants selected arbitrarily or by researcher judgment. Less statistically rigorous; faster and easier to execute.
Qualitative analysis
Summarize key themes; include verbatim participant quotes that capture important points. No tidy percentages — themes an
Quantitative analysis
Clean and format the data; apply statistical tests; identify which findings are significant; look for meaningful correla
Practical framing for quantitative data
Look for the story the data tells. What picture does it paint?