Every Study Starts with a Report

It’s not often you hear T.S. Eliot mentioned in connection with qual research. But there’s a quote from his Four Quartets poem I find particularly relevant to the work we do: “The end is where we start from.” Granted, Eliot’s poem is more about existential quandaries than market research, but it does speak to one important aspect of how we approach our work here at Thinkpiece: beginning at the end.

In other words, we start every study with a report. Before we develop the screener and discussion guide, before we choose the research methodology and start recruiting respondents, before we pose the first question to the focus group or interviewee — we ask our clients to tell us their ultimate objective from the research. What do they plan to do with the report we generate, how will they use it, what business questions are they looking to answer, which business challenges do they want to resolve? By understanding the end game at the very start, we’re able to customize and craft the study around meeting those goals.

Why Starting at the End Makes Sense

Taking the time to clarify the rationale behind the study early in the process has multiple advantages for both researcher and client. Completing this upfront discovery allows the research team to determine the parameters for designing the most effective study to achieve the desired goals. Ultimately, this ensures that the final report we produce delivers meaningful insight the client can use to make informed business decisions with confidence. Along with resulting in a report that can be used immediately, this approach also produces enduring insights that help drive tactical and strategic decisions for years to come.

By taking the time to understand how the client will ultimately be using the report, we can also ensure the final product we deliver meets their expectations. This minimizes the need to make revisions, saving the client significant time and frustration by putting the insight they need into their hands faster. This also serves to reinforce trust between the client and researcher, assuring the client that you get them and are in their corner from the word jump to the bitter end.

There’s another key advantage to starting with the end in mind. There’s a tendency in our industry for researchers to fall back on cookie-cutter reports, then try to cram the client’s study into that pre-existing format. Rather, the report should fit around the client’s specific needs and goals. Because those needs vary greatly from client to client, every report should be as unique as the client they’re crafted for.

Clarifying End Objectives

 We understand the urgency clients often feel to dive headfirst into the study, especially given the breakneck speed of today’s business landscape — particularly in the realms of healthcare and technology. But as I advise my clients, you go faster if you go slower.  Clients find that the investment of time we make in thoroughly understanding and identifying their end goals up front pays off multifold — not only in the quality of the final report, but in the overall research. A really good researcher, especially one who has first-hand industry expertise, can get this discovery done in a matter of days or even hours.

There’s been times when, as part of the discovery process, clients realize that their original questions or goals need to be shifted or redefined. Often, we’re able to help clients identify and better articulate what they want and need the study to truly accomplish, and how best to use the final report. Sometimes, clients’ objectives are overarching, all-encompassing, and amorphous. During discovery, we can help them sharpen their focus and prioritize. We can provide that impartial voice from researchers who know their industry to steer them in a direction that sets them up for success.

Clients frequently have diverging goals and interests from individual to individual and department to department, as well. Doing the upfront discovery enables the clients’ team to align and unify around clear objectives and expectations. Ultimately, all the above drives better research ROI.