QRCA Views Summer 2024

Synthetic data is moving from buzzword to practical helper for qual. This article demystifies what it is (and isn’t), distinguishes spreadsheet-style synthetic datasets from narrative synthetic personas, and shows when to use each—screeners, guide tests, privacy-safe storytelling, and bridging gaps between qual/quant—without replacing live human voices. You’ll get starter use cases, guardrails (seed quality, labeling, sanity checks), a beginner’s playbook, and hybrid workflows so synthetic data lightens the load while real conversations do the delicate listening. […]

Oana Popa Rengle reviews renowned music producer Rick Rubin’s book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being—which she praises for being written in language that flows like a poem and inspires readers to open themselves up to the creativity that lives around and within them. […]

This article presents a unique perspective of tying the Japanese artform of Kintsugi (golden joinery of broken pottery pieces) to the development of more powerful insights in marketing research. The author shares her journey learning that less pristine insights can actually result in more effective brand partnerships. The article presents three readily deployable frameworks that enhance the strategic thinking of qualitative researchers. […]