Projective Techniques in Online Qualitative Research
Posted by Jeffrey Henning on Sun, Apr 18, 2010
On Friday, Monica Zinchiak of Z. Research Services presented "Moving Traditional Projective Techniques Online" as part of the Global Online Moderator Community webinar series from Itracks. Monica provided advice for how to adapt offline techniques to the online world of bulletin boards and market research online communities.
Projective techniques "provide ambiguous stimulus designed to evoke inner thoughts and emotions". First popularized by Freud and Rorschach, projective techniques originally met with some resistance from academic researchers, who were concerned about how to validate the techniques. Monica says that she looks for "validation by the respondent"; to her, it doesn't matter what the stimulus is, so long as it succeeds "in starting discussions with that respondent that we couldn't get in another way."
Examples of projective techniques include both verbal and non-verbal tasks for respondents:
- Image-based Exercises
- Photo decks - Which image best reflects the topic or the respondent's attitude toward the topic?
- Collages - Assemble three to five pictures into a collage representing the respondent' view on a topic.
- Picture or video diaries - Create photo or video diaries about the topic being researched.
- Language-based Exercises
- Storytelling - Write a story in the style of a fairy-tale, fable, newspaper story or diary entry about the topic.
- Sentence stems - Fill in the blanks to complete sentences (e.g., "I am best when...").
- Letterwriting - Write a letter to the newspaper or to the President or write a "Dear John" letter breaking up with a business or brand.
[For more detail on each, see Practical Tips for 7 Online Projective Exercises.]
Moving such techniques online is a challenge. When face to face, you get to see the responses and expressions, so that you can see in their faces whether they get the exercise; even on the phone you can hear a pause in their voice, or they can ask you a question immediately to make sure they understand. Online you don't have that luxury. As a result, provide an outline and clear directions. "I write my instructions in a conversational tone," said Monica, "to make the respondent feel comfortable. It's more personable and more personality comes through, establishing a rapport with the respondent." Good instructions can do a great deal to instill confidence and can make participants feel good afterwards (you'll get comments like "that was a wonderful way of helping me understand this product"). Make sure to tell them there are no wrong answers. Good graphics and images help create fun and excitement.
When recruiting participants for studies that will include projective techniques, structure your profiling survey to better understand participants. How comfortable are participants with online activities? Monica's profile of online sophistication includes 16 questions, such as: Do they belong to social networking sites, have a Facebook page, do online banking, or play fantasy sports online? Don't screen out respondents based on their answers but use the responses to develop a better understanding of their sophistication. Just because a participant doesn't share photos online or doesn't have a Facebook page does not mean that they are not going to be a good respondent. Besides online sophistication, Monica also tries to understand who can express themselves in writing to determine who may do a better job with verbal projective techniques.
Such qualitative research techniques produce a tremendous volume of information, and one of the questions put to Monica was "How do you manage or cut that back volume, or do you even want to?" Monica said to embrace the rich set of data. "You will have a ton of material. Boards, communities and longitudinal studies produce a lot of material."
Projective techniques help the research participant by "circumventing rational thinking or self-editing, giving them permission to say what they mean (or want)." Such techniques help the researcher by prompting the respondent to immerse themselves in the topic prior to the actual discussion, tapping into the right brain and improving respondents' overall engagement. The techniques provide rich material that can prompt detailed probing. Improving online engagement is crucial to Monica: "These techniques improve the engagement of a pretty flat environment. They spend more time with you and spend more time creating thoughtful responses."