
Firstly, photo and video data is qualitative in nature so you can’t get around coding it in some fashion to get the most out of what you’ve collected.

So back to the quantifying of your qualitative data... Microsoft provides MS Pivot, which we’ve used to pull in metadata (i.e. survey answers) associated with photographic data – then you can start to do some dynamic sorting and get a feel for the quant story behind the mountains of qual data you’ve collected. We first explored this with Ipsos last May on our Great British Weekend (MCASI) project.

It’s getting easier and easier to collect photos, video and GPS (heck – even barcode capture will be mainstream by 2012) as consumers become more savvy with smartphone technology and handset sales continue to increase. This will only continue to rise, as will the adoption of tablet devices built on Google’s Android and Apple’s iPad platform.
We don’t have all the answers – but we want to find them with you.
Industry trend watchers continue to talk about what to do with the large volume of qualitative data that is being captured (not to mention the space it requires to store them all) and it’s an issue that industry leaders and innovative market researchers are continuing to advance. The key point is that the information provided in photos, video, GPS and barcodes (and other forthcoming advances) in real time is valuable in offering richer insights into the consumer’s experience which is valuable to clients and researchers alike.
We can offer market researchers the opportunity to provide a holistic view of the consumer experience validated in real time as they take their smartphone from home to work, to the supermarket, cinema, restaurant and back home again. If your clients knew this was available for diary studies, mobile mystery shopping, CAMI and mobile panel, wouldn’t they ask for it?
With apps-based research that is appropriately designed to answer the research question, for the audience, for the device and for how the respondents use it, it is possible to conduct qualitative research on a quantitative scale. We want to work with you to make this happen.
@jtimed and others in our community – we’d love to hear your thoughts on this industry challenge.




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