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Practical Tips for 7 Online Projective Exercises

Monica Zinchiak of Z. Research Services recently presented "Moving Traditional Projective Techniques Online" as part of the Global Online Moderator Community webinar series from Itracks. (See my recap Projective Techniques in Online Qualitative Research). Monica provided practical advice for using many types of projective exercises.

Image-Based Exercises

• Photo Decks. Present the respondent with an array of images (photos, illustrations, cartoons) and ask them to choose the image that best illustrates the topic or describes their attitude towards it. Monica provides no more than 20 images, so that respondents don't need to scroll down, while the images are still large enough so that respondents can clearly see the content in each. She typically arranges the photographs in four rows of five similarly-sized images, grouping images together by orientation (portrait vs. landscape). She will often assemble the photo deck into one illustration, with each image lettered (A through W) for the respondent to choose.
• Respondent Collages. "Collages are really involved for both the respondent and researcher but worth gold when they work," said Monica. Be specific about how many images should be incorporated into the collage: "three to five seems to work best; you don't want to overwhelm them." Provide instructions about placement of the images, having respondents put the most important image in the middle of the collage and larger than the other images. Do not provide examples of collages because that can create bias. After respondents create the collage, ask them to explain it in detail. You can have participants create a collage on paper, scan it or take a picture of it with a digital camera and then upload it to the community. Alternatively, you can direct participants to Scrapblog.com and to Flickr's Picnic feature. Some online collages can be set up with a library of images or with a blank library for respondents to select their own images. "The downside [of a library] is finite number of images that biases the exercise, but on the upside it is easier for respondents, and on the backside it is easier for you to track the images. " Because of the significant effort on the part of respondents, when your group completes a collage exercise, make sure that everyone gets to see the finished product; "it helps the respondent feel rewarded and shows that you appreciated the hard work they put into it."
• Other Image-Based Exercises. Ask respondents to snap a picture of the inside of their car, fridge or closet. You can have respondents create picture diaries or video diaries, search the web for a picture and share it or pull an image from their Facebook page.

Language-Based Exercises

• Storytelling. Respondents are quite adept at telling stories, which provide a rich data set for researchers, full of emotional content. Because people often feel that they aren't good writers, let them know that you are more interested in what they have to say than their writing abilities. You will get stories of people in real life situations with the brands and product categories you are researching. "It's funny," said Monica, "but I always get fairy tales (‘Once upon a time'), news stories (with headlines and formal writing) and day-in-a-life settings. And respondents almost always write endings that provide a moral to the story: these make for the greatest verbatims for your reports and for probing the respondent."
• Sentence completion. Provide respondents with a range of sentence stems for them to complete. Instruct them to fill in the blank and explain their answer. Sentence stems are easy to assemble and easy for respondents to do well.
• Metaphors/Similes. These are similar to sentence stems but invite a direct comparison. For instance, "The extent my bank acts in my best interests is like..." or "Saying it is easy to do business with my bank is like saying..." Monica finds that presenting these sentence stems in thought clouds (as in comic strips) or other visual representations "makes it fun and engaging and helps respondents be more creative."
• Other Language Based Exercises. Besides the above techniques, Monica uses word associations, obituaries, letter writing and semantic differentials. For semantic differentials, put opposites on either side ("one column on left, one column on right: love and hate, tastes good/tastes bad; shy or outgoing") and have participants place themselves on the continuum and tell you why.

When scheduling projective techniques like the above, you may often roll out a different technique each week. Even on a 5-day bulletin board focus group, "don't give an activity on Day 1 - give it on Day 2, providing Days 2 & 3 to complete it, Day 4 to upload it.

Projective techniques such as the above are a surefire way to make the research process more engaging for participants.