SEEK: BLOG

Social Media is Where Research is AT!

 Five short years ago, MySpace dominated the burgeoning Social Media landscape, Facebook was emerging to help connect college students to their campuses, and “twitter” was still just a noise that birds made on sunny mornings.  Three years ago, Facebook was exploding into mainstream use, MySpace was beginning a decline into niche usage, and blogging was beginning to surpass paper media as a primary news source for US adults.  Today, real people are connecting to their world and to each other in ways that were unimaginable half a decade ago: 140-character summations of their lives, instant status updates sharing product and service experiences at all times, “check-ins” at every restaurant, gym and grocery store they go to, and reviews of those experiences in real-time as they have them... it is a new and constantly-changing landscape. 

Many books, blogs, and scholarly articles have been written speculating about the impact of Social Media on market research (we're happy to recommend a few fantastic sources if you like!), and MR forums are rife with debate over that impact.  The truth is, only time will tell how social media will grow and stretch market research into new territories, and we're pleased to be along for the ride.

For our little part, we've discovered that, when explored using the right tools and mined using an informed perspective, social media provides a rich new data source and an invaluable inroad to qualitative fieldwork.  Here are a few of the ways that you might consider using user-generated content found in social media platforms to strengthen, focus, and enrich your qualitative fieldwork:
 

• Let Your Users and Detractors Tell You Where Your Blindspot Is.

We live in a culture of instant digital feedback, and social media servers are packed with data about your category, company, brand or product.  Even as you are assessing your initiative plans or building learning plans for your coming quarter/year, spend some time finding out what your users and detractors are already saying about you.  You might be surprised how your learning focus shifts when you are able to see your organization or product through the eyes of several hundred thousand people at once.

• Learn to Speak Like Your Target.

Anyone who has ever found themselves trying to get directions in an international airport, tried to order a beer on a destination vacation, or tried haggling bag prices in an ethnically-diverse garment district has thought, "I probably should have learned a few words of the language first."  Every sub-culture, class, and socio-economic stratum has its own dialect and sub-dialects within that one... exploring existing discussions about your category or industry of interest will give you the right words to speak to your target, and the right vocabulary with which to accurately hear them respond.

• Let It Focus Your Fieldwork.

Great researchers, like great jazz musicians, plan fastidiously and improvise feverishly.  A glimpse into existing discussions and debates about your category/industry/product will help you not only sharpen and hone your original research plan by offering areas of specific prioritization and focus, but will allow for the type of informed improvising that leads to truly deep insight at delivery.

• Learn from the Whole Before Learning From the Individual

Qualitative fieldwork, due to its low base sample size, is particularly susceptible to regional geographic and cultural skews.  While nothing can replace the experience of meeting real people in their real contexts and learning with all five senses in their worlds, it is important to take a broader perspective before taking an ultra-focused deep dive.  Social media offers a unique opportunity to look across the broad geography and understand the bigger picture before mining for rich insights with a few selected individuals in a couple of key regions.

• Watch the Fish Before Disrupting the Pond.

People aren't fish, but let's work with the analogy.  In-person fieldwork allows us to observe behavior and probe deeply in our focused areas of interest, but once we have visibly entered into someone's life (via focus groups, online forums, in-home visits, in-context immersions, etc.), we have disrupted the waters.  Before taking that important plunge into the natural context of your target, take a moment to watch the pond via a social-media window; observe the natural and unaided interactions first; once we're in the water, we can't go back, and we'll miss key insights from this undisrupted moment.

We don't know how social media will develop, what the next big platform will be, and what the ultimate impact will be on Market Research.  But we do know that there has never been a time in our industry when we could listen on real conversations from real people at such a scale, at such a pace, and with such cost efficiency.  The investment to dive into social media learning is minimal compared with other qualitative and quantitative fieldwork, and will offer an absolutely invaluable in-road that will make your fieldwork focused, effective, efficient, and far more insightful.

By Justin & Renee with the Seek Learn Team

Imagine Being Perfect

Next time you’re trying to solve a problem, improve a product, or optimize a service... try going to the extremes of perfection or complete imperfection.   Nothing exposes opportunities like being in the midst of perfection or imperfection.
 Here's how... 

 

HOW?

Create tension for everyone solving your problem!  Encourage your team to forget about feasibility and take dead aim at absolute perfection or total failure.  

1. THINK perfection/imperfection

When you’re in one of these two mindsets, you’ll begin to notice clear opportunities for improvement or radical change.   

2. DO perfection/imperfection

If you’re working in a category/business where you’re able to physically attempt perfection/imperfection, we recommend giving your team the task of “doing perfection/imperfection”.  Of course, they won’t able to achieve either one… that’s the point!  The goal is to experience the extremes, which will expose opportunity. 

Example of Creating Imperfection:
The Need: Shoe company improving comfort

TRY THIS! Create tension by making your team walk around all day...

- Without shoes 

- With wooden boards strapped to their feat 

- In ski boots

 

Example of Creating Perfection:

The Need: Carpet cleaning company improving cleaning

TRY THIS! Create tension by creating a team competition... Clean muddy carpet one fiber at a time using whatever tools they wish (perhaps a microscope) to determine the winner.  

By Greg with the Seek Create Team

Greg

greg@seekresearch.com!

SPOTLIGHT ON BEN BURKETT

Role: Visual Communications Designer

Team: Seek INSPIRE

Most Recent Big Win: Creation of SPARK (an innovative, interactive, and secure online research deliverable) in collaboration with the Seek INSPIRE team. 

What excites you about the future?

Are you kidding??? It is all pretty exciting right now! I just moved to a great new condo in Highland Heights area of Cincinnati and I love it there. I am still unpacking and getting stuff organized, but it feels like a place I could see myself for the next few years. Also, I cannot wait for the summer to end (I never thought I'd say that) because then my girlfriend will be coming back from her internship in Los Angeles. We have been dating for a couple of years and I couldn't be any happier. I am planning to propose sometime next summer. Finally, I am extremely excited about the work we are doing here and to be working at such an awesome place.

What is on your playlist, reading list, or movie queue?

Haha, I have kind of an eclectic Netflix Movie Queue. Right now, the first ten in there are:

• Bottle Shock
• Letters from Iwo Jima
• Pan's Labyrinth
• Traitor
• Let the Right One In
• Blindness
• Gunfighters
• 12 Monkeys
• Day of the Dead
• Where the Red Fern Grows

What are some of your favorite sites and / or blogs?

I tend to browse a few different Design blogs, but my favorite is www.motionographer.com. It is a site where every week they post some of the coolest motion work from around the world. It's a great place to find inspiration or check out what some of the latest trends in motion are. 

The Power of the Little i

iPod, iPhone, iPad--there’s more of them all the time.  Even when it comes to bringing your research to life, we recommend cashing in on the power that sir i-ness wields.  No no no, we're not talking about doing iResearch and having an iReport (we made those up).  We're talking about getting to the heart of why those i-guys are successful. Let's start with what that cantankerous little i stands for?  

As it turns out, the meaning of that little i is somewhat in the i of the beholder (OK no more puns, we promise).  The little i is synonymous with interactive.  Seek is already ahead of the curve with the interactivity of qualitative research, and now we’re pushing the envelope again with SPARK, an interactive magazine designed to communicate research learning in an exciting and game-changing way.   

So, in light of SPARK’s debut, here are the Top 3 Reasons to go Interactive with your research deliverable:  

1_ Getting Engaged. There’s nothing worse than being boring.  When you’ve got a lot to communicate, you want be sure that your audience is hanging on every word.  Still, there is a big difference between getting your audience to listen (a passive act) and getting them to engage--to actively pursue your level of understanding.  

We’ve been tossing around the idea of an interactive, integrated platform for sharing the learning for a while now.  SPARK is a literal leap forward in research deliverables, combining text, images, video, diagrams, data visualizations, social media, and motion graphics in a living, breathing interactive experience that keeps everyone in your organization coming back again and again for the pure enjoyment of learning what you want them to learn.  Cool, huh?    

2_ Something for Everyone.  A pretty smart guy once said that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Does insanity describe your organization’s method of sharing research learning?  Before you say no, think a little more.  When the PowerPoint you send out is either partially or completely ignored, what do you do?  Do you send another PowerPoint? 

PowerPoint is not the solution.  In fact, it may be part of the problem.  Don’t believe me?  See this New York Times article about the U.S. Military’s great disdain for the rampant misuses of PowerPoint.  To assume that one format is best equipped to express all types of information is to assume that all information is the same.  It’s not.

3_Consume at Will.  Want to know the secret behind the runaway success of Facebook, Twitter, and every other major player in the i-era?  It’s choice--an individual’s ability to choose when, where, how, and at what pace they want to learn.  Self-guided consumption of information is the defining characteristic of new media.  There have been a myriad of initiatives, platforms, and entire companies devoted to leveraging the power of new media in conducting research and sharing the learning.  Most of them fall short because they miss the point of new media--the ability to choose not just the circumstances but also the nature and the method of consumption.   

In designing SPARK, we emulated best-in-class new media exemplars and created a “click at will” method of navigation; allowing users to choose in what way and even in what order they choose to view and interact with each module of the magazine.  It seems simple, but this minor change improved our user-testing results significantly.  People seem to really like choosing how to learn rather than being told (go figure, right?).  When people interact with information, they engage with it, and when they engage, they learn.  

By Jason & Jon with the Seek Inspire Team

Jason Hauer

jason@seekresearch.com

Jonathan Smith

jonathan@seekresearch.com

“The Lie of ‘Consumers’”

“What’s in a name?  That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet.”

William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

 

When Juliet whispers these words to Romeo, she is telling him that his last name is irrelevant to his being, and that she would love him regardless of what family he comes from and what his last name is.  However, while love may have been blind for these star-cross’d lovers, it was their names that ultimately decided their fate, and it is the names we give ourselves and each other which continue to describe and define us, for better or worse, today.

The problem is when a name is wrong, and marketing and market research is harboring a dangerous linguistic relic that threatens to limit the course of true innovation by limiting the expected potential of the very people who decide the fate of the business itself... those who purchase.

At issue is the term “consumers.”  (You can substitute “diners,” “drinkers,” “users,” “guests,” “drivers,” for your industry as appropriate... I’m using “consumers” as the term I run into most commonly in my market research work).  The term shows up in everything from our businesses (“Consumer Village” / “Consumer Dynamics”) to our objectives (“seek consumer understanding”) to our conferences (“Consumer Knowledge Roundup”) to our reports (“Consumer Impulse Purchase Drivers”) to our very job titles (“Consumer Insight Manager” / “Consumer Understanding Researcher”).  It is a staple of my every day work, and I use it as freely as I use the word “woman” or the word “restaurant,” as an ostensibly objective taxonomical delineation between ‘our side’ (marketing/market research/brand-building) and ‘their side’ (those who pay/purchase/buy/use).

The problem is, it’s a lie.  Or, at the very least, it’s a misleading limitation.  Our names are our identities; the way we refer to each other not only reflects our position and function, it defines and creates it.  (There’s a reason the difference between buying coffee from a “cashier” costs two dollars less than buying it from a “Barista,”  and why we pay “administrative professionals” a lot more than we paid “secretaries”).  When we refer to a “consumer,” we are referring to a momentary function, and betraying a marketer/producer-centric industry mindset versus an end-user-centric mindset while short-selling the bigger picture of the person behind the purchase.

The reality is, nobody buys anything in a vacuum.  Regardless of your industry or category, your product or service exists as a momentary morsel of reward or function in the tremendously rich and complex life of each person who buys and uses it.    Understanding how to create and market to that person requires understanding the whole person, which requires understanding the infinitely-faceted web of motivations, histories, and rewards-systems that drives that person through all of his/her choices in a given day, not just the one he/she makes when “consuming.”  To continue to think of real people who sometimes purchase as “consumers” only limits our ability to truly understand what moves them; and by doing so, limits our ability to create for and reach them.

Am I a consumer?  I am.  I am also a father, a husband, a guitar player, an asthmatic, a caucasian, a bourbon drinker, a dreamer, a people-pleaser, a leader, an Ohioan, a heterosexual, an insomniac, an idealist, a coward, a follower, a writer, and a wandering Catholic to highlight only a few of my names.  Undoubtedly your list of names and those of your “consumers” is just as long and varied, and profoundly reaching them will require understanding all of these names.  We can’t reverse the system overnight, but perhaps we can start changing the way we think about “consumers” by changing the way we talk about them first, and letting the real people behind the purchase smell as sweet as they deserve to.

Justin Masterson

justin@seekresearch.com

The Laws of Attention

 

We’ve all felt the pain of report rejection, creating a beautiful presentation only to have it ignored or forgotten.  It is not because your work was bad, or even that your readers don’t care. It is simply that the majority of people’s attention is so fragmented due to multitasking that in order to get them to listen, you have to simplify, visually represent the information as much as possible or just be really, really interesting.  

This is a collection of communication insights gathered “in the trenches” of the INSPIRE/Visual Communication wing of lil’ ole’ Seek.  After all, we really care and are – no kidding - devoted to deep people understanding!

Here are a few things to keep in your hat when thinking about... 

1_Data

Graphs are good for providing context or proving a point.  They should be employed as an eye-catching appetizer, never as the main course.  Let’s face it, those old Excel bar graphs are a bit bland.  Next time, try customizing your graph to the subject.  If we’re talking about number of units shipped, use little trucks as your data points.  Also, who says pie charts have to look like pies?  I’ve seen pie charts that looked like countries, buildings, and even people.  

For examples of great graphs and charts, check out informationisbeautiful.net/category/datavisualisation

2_Language 

Like with data, simplicity is key.  Above all, be direct.  Your words should create a path to understanding, and that path needs to be as short and enjoyable as possible.  Don’t use 15 words when 5 will do.  Be active in your wording; try to avoid the passive voice (“It was written by me”, vs. “I wrote it”).   Don’t be afraid to be funny.  Chances are, if your audience is as serious about success as you are, they’ll appreciate the chance to chuckle.   

The best advice I ever received on writing comes from a little book published in 1918 entitled The Elements of Style.  You should own a copy.  Seriously.  And read between the lines; being a student of the English language means not only knowing the rules, but also knowing when to break them.  

If you don’t know anyone with a copy of Elements of Style lying around, you can get it at www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Fourth-William-Strunk/dp/020530902X

3_Text 

I know what you’re thinking-- “What’s the difference between language and text?”  In short, everything.  When you open your word processor, you have a variety of weapons in your arsenal.  Bold.  Italic.  Underline.  Font family.  Color.  The combinations are endless.  You wouldn’t believe how much thought goes into typeface choice for one of our design pieces.  It’s not because we’re OCD (ok maybe a little), it’s because we know how important typeface choice really is.  It can make or break a presentation, meaning the difference between being easily understood and being hopelessly diluted.  

The default font on your word processor (helvetica for me) is the default for a reason.  Don’t underestimate small changes. Going from black to dark gray can really soften the text.  Jumping from 18 point font down to 10 is like jumping off a three story building. A small indentation can have the same effect as a font, color, or size change.  The more that people clearly understand your words, the less time you spend reexplaining yourself in the future.     

Because there are numerous schools of thought on typography, I won’t suggest any individual blog, course, or resource.  Instead, start to educate yourself.  You should begin learning where everyone else does:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typography#Text_typography

4_Images 

When we design QuickCards (basically 1-pagers crammed with research learning), magazines, or other print materials for clients, we spend a lot of time and effort selecting the right images.  The right image should add value, and be worth its weight (and its page area) in words.  Before you snatch that image off of Google search, consider the following questions:  Is this image necessary?  Does it enhance the story I’m trying to tell?  Does it require explanation?  Rule of thumb:  if it requires a caption, ditch it.  

5_Motion 

I’ve left motion for last because it’s the most valuable and the least accessible to the average person.  Film and motion graphics are definitely the next big things in research reporting;  the most likely to command the attention of a wide audience for an extended period of time.  With the release of Apple’s new iPad, magazines, newspapers, and other traditionally static print pieces are embracing the idea that text and motion can not only coexist but thrive together.  At Seek, we’re pioneering the use of motion graphics to bring quantitative and qualitative data to life like never before.  More and more, we’re seeing requests for treatments combining photography and motion to recap research or ideation sessions.  Placing consumers in front of the camera to tell their story (the hallmark of our insight, who, and receptivity films) is more popular than ever.  We’ve discovered that the best way to communicate insight is with beauty, and all of your consumers are beautiful.

Probably the best example I’ve seen of the power of motion graphics comes from
 crisisofcredit.com

Imagine a day when your colleagues not only engage and remember your reports but eagerly await the next one! 

Jonathan Smith

jonathan@seekresearch.com

NEW Seeker Spotlight...

 Courtney PeGan

Q. Tell us a bit about your background and how it led you to Seek.

A. I have always been fascinated by people and understanding why we do what we do, and one day in a marketing class at Purdue University, I realized that I could make a career out of this!  I loved the idea of understanding what a consumer really wants, and using that knowledge to guide strategy and new product development. After realizing this, I went to P&G and worked in the Consumer & Market Knowledge group for about 5 years.  I loved being so connected to the consumer and using that to drive meaningful business growth.  I followed this passion to Seek only a few months ago.  I had worked with Seek while at P&G, and I loved the people, the culture, and the opportunity to work more closely with the consumer.  It was a perfect fit for me to take on a role here as an Account Leader because it combines my love of deep people understanding with my skills in understanding business drivers and how to use consumer insight to guide strategy.  I love this work and couldn’t imagine my life without it!

Q.  Strengths Finder is a popular assessment here at Seek. Tell us about your #1 Strength? 

A. I wasn’t too surprised to find out that my Top Strength is “Strategic.”  I love problem solving and identifying the key drivers of a situation.  I am energized by creating strategy to overcome these issues: short term and long term.  I believe that this strength also taps into the perfectionist in me because it allows me to constantly look for ways to improve and change things for the better.

However, I also love my 2nd Strength because I think that it is central to who I am as a leader- “Individualization.”  This basically means that I am intrigued with the unique qualities of each person and figuring out what they need to be their best and work together most effectively.  My favorite line in the Strengths Finder assessment is, “People simply fascinate you.”

Q.  We know you’re an avid reader. What book(s) are you reading now?

A. I love reading- especially now that the weather is warm and sunny.  You can typically find me spending at least a couple hours in the sunshine reading a book. I always like to balance my reading with fictional fun books and business focused, educational books.  Right now I am re-reading “Wuthering Heights” because I love revisiting the classics.  I find that it is an excellent way to connect with history and all those who have read this book for over a century now.  As soon as I finish this, my “on deck” book is "Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business."   I was drawn to this book because I believe that Social Media is such a HUGE untapped resource for consumer understanding and guiding business strategy.  After all, Facebook surpassed Google in weekly hits for the first time less than a month ago! 

Q. So how are you coping with Spring Fever?

A. I am most definitely a creature who thrives when challenged and busy.  So this Spring I am taking on both professional AND personal challenges to keep me busy and constantly improving.  Professionally, I am challenged everyday at work by thinking through exciting business questions from clients and brainstorming new ways to learn from consumers.  Personally, I am challenging myself through training for the Flying Pig Half Marathon & my first Triathlon.  I love being active and spending time outside in this beautiful weather- but sometimes my biggest challenge is taking the time to relax- even if just sitting on the porch with a great book and a glass of wine.

Courtney PeGan

courtney@seekresearch.com

Ideation Gone Horribly Wrong!

True Story!  Imagine that you’ve been invited to participate in an important ideation session.  You walk into a room with 15 of your colleagues sitting in a nicely formed circle.  There are no pens, post-it notes or anything to even write on!  The leader of the meeting says… “Okay everyone, we’re hear to come up with some new ideas for____.”  “Does anyone have any ideas?”  One person speaks up and says… “What about a ______?”  Another speaks up and says… “No, we looked at that idea last year… it didn’t test well.”  The room goes silent until another brave soul speaks up as the same scenario happens over and over again.

Can you even count the reasons this was bad?  No one thing can fix this session, but I’ll offer up something that could have helped a little!

Simple tip to improve your ideation sessions… Share some stimulus!

What is stimulus?  Stimulus is anything that will get participants to think about your challenge in a new way and stimulate multiple ideas.  At Seek, we believe that just about anything can be used to stimulate great ideas.  At the same time, we know that choosing the right stimulus for your topic and audience is important.  There is a direct correlation to the type of stimulus presented and the number of new/different ideas generated.  See chart below.  

Scenario:  Let’s pretend an office furniture company needs to fill their pipeline with some new desk designs.  The goal is to design a new desk that will increase productivity…

What type of stimulus might you bring in to inspire great ideas?

 

Consider pushing your comfort level out to the more analogous stimulus to create the newest ideas.  

Questions to help you think about what analogous stimulus to present:

1.    What other categories/industries do something like (insert ideation goal) “designing for productivity?”  

2.    Who else thinks “productivity” is important?  

3.    What are other words are related to the idea of “productivity?” 

Oh, and by the way… please don’t shoot down bad ideas… encourage them!  

Greg Hewitt

greg@seekresearch.com

Research As A Safari

Metaphors are a crucial means of expressing ourselves.  We've been working on a metaphor around here that helps express our philosophy behind research.  
 

I believe that research should be a safari and not walk through the zoo.

 Safaris get out there and tour the real terrain.  You can stick your arms out the side of the truck and touch the animals.  You can smell the smells and feel the textures of the land. Zoos provide a re-created environment to get a snapshot of what the real thing would be like.  The upside of the Zoo is that it's much safer and pretty darn predictable - you know what you're getting yourself into.

 From a research perspective, we believe in getting in there and trying some new things - treading some new trails.  We provide an experienced safari guide who is trained in research scenarios and can guide the team through any unexpected hindrances.

 Recently, on a global project, we had some unexpected things show up... in the terms of results.  The team put their trust in the safari leaders and at the end of things, we came to some new and fresh conclusions.  It was an extremely rewarding process, albeit quite uncomfortable at times. Isn't it pretty true in life that being comfortable doesn't yield the ground breaking results?

Renee Murphy

renee@seekresearch.com

Twitter: ReneeAtSeek

6 Tips to a Respondent-Friendly Screener

Respondents are a researcher’s most valuable asset— without them, the deepest probing we may find ourselves doing in a given work day may be “Paper or plastic, sir?”  As researchers, it is in our blood to seek out knowledge, but we need to do so in a way that will respect our respondents and the way they naturally think and communicate.  The following are some helpful tips to building a good screener when beginning your recruiting journey.

#1 - Clearly define your research goals.
This is a no-brainer, Marketing Research 101 type of a thing, right?  Yes, but it’s amazing how often we forget to keep our goals in mind when designing research.  Whenever you add a new question, ask yourself “will this lead to my ideal respondent?”  If the answer is “kind of” or “no,” try again.

#2 - If it’s not necessary, then don’t ask.
It may be tempting to ask lots of interesting questions, or questions you may want to know for other studies in the future, but it is best not to frustrate your respondent with irrelevant questions.  A frustrated respondent may develop question-fatigue and give short, gruff responses to a question where they would have otherwise provided rich, accurate responses.  They could also develop an inaccurate impression of your company and come into a focus group with unwanted biases, or even quit the screener altogether.  Bottom line: respect their time.

Let’s say you’re recruiting for a cat food study.

• DO: ask about the number of cats, type of food used, etc.
• DON’T: ask about their dog (unless you are recruiting for people with multiple pets) 

#3 - Prioritize your qualifications.
This is ideal when working with a low-incidence population.

• DO: figure out the most important questions to ask and terminate those who don’t qualify
• DON’T: get “trigger-happy” with terminations and eliminate everyone who isn’t perfect.  Put them on a “wait list” and revisit them if you get down to the wire.

#4 - Be sensitive
When obtaining personal information, it’s important that you don’t inadvertently offend the respondent.  Choose your wording carefully.

• DO: Ask questions as if you were at a dinner party (i.e. when did you graduate high school?)
• DON’T: Ask questions as if you were conducting a science experiment (i.e. how old are you?)

#5 - Give your respondents a heads-up
Inform your respondent ASAP about the pieces which may be most important to them: time and money.

• DO: tell your respondent how long the screener will take and how much money is in it for them if they qualify.
• DON’T: guilt/pressure them into an interview, or wait until the end to tell them how much money they could make for their time.

#6 - Train, prepare, and trust your interviewers
Your interviewers are on the front line and are handling your most valuable asset.

• DO: Find intelligent interviewers you can trust to use their best judgment and be friendly to respondents.
• DO: Write a conversational script that gives the interviewer some logical freedom
• DON’T: Micro-manage your interviewers and insist they read your screener word-for-word.

In the end, our main objective is to dig our hands into the thoughts and actions of our respondents and determine the whos, whats, whys, and hows.  If we remember to take our research hats off for a minute and put on our people skills hat, we can ensure we are treating our respondents like the valuable asset that they are.  Remember that your interviewers and your respondents are real people, and you can talk to them like real people.  Considering feelings, offering advance information about time and money factors, and making your questions and criteria intentional will go a long way toward netting you exactly the recruit you want in the time you need it.

Kelley Edelmann
 kelley@seekresearch.com