When Life’s Passions Shape Research Perspectives
By Tamara Kenworthy, MBA, IPC, PCM | Editor-in-Chief, QRCA VIEWS Magazine | President, ON POINT STRATEGIES | Des Moines, Iowa, tamara@on-pointstrategies.com
As a long-term active member of Rotary International, our mission is “service above self,” which was also ingrained in me as a child by my mom that serving others should be in the fabric of our lives. Over the years, we’ve had many VIEWS articles that reflect on authors’ personal involvement in areas they have a deep passion for supporting and how they leveraged these experiences in their market research work.
Our Toolbox cover story does just this and features a wonderful reflection on one of my personal passions—the arts. The author serves as a board member for North Carolina Arts in Action, a nonprofit leading an in-school dance residency that empowers students and teaches them life skills through dance and music. She provides a fresh take on what she learned from an observational visit to refresh her moderating skills. This article is a must-read for all of us conducting qualitative research.
For those who get to immerse themselves working in an industry that is also their personal passion is an opportunity not many get to have. In our Industry column, our author penned a really fun read on current trends and skills needed to work in the area of sports marketing research—he is thankful every day to spend his career focused on all angles of sports.
A couple of articles feature case studies, which are always popular in VIEWS. First, in our Schools of Thought column, is an article based on a large-scale Gen Z study, a generation who is living from the heart and inner wisdom. In Travelwise, the author shares his experience working on a research project in South Africa and how he used his expertise in empathy and dismantling judgment.
We strive to bring tech/AI thought leadership to each issue, and we have two articles doing just that. In Trends, we showcase B2B Technology Research, in which the author features four client-side research experts, and, in Global, there is a great story of digital immersive research and the evolution from focus groups to Roblox.
Our second Toolbox article, which is also translated in Spanish on our website, outlines the “Six Thinking Hats” method that provides a powerful holistic process for effective meeting management and client studies—think pre-study, debriefs, post-study, and more. In Quant Lens, the complex topic of conjoint analysis is broken down for quallies—how qual work identifies a variety of attributes that are then leveraged in quant work in understanding buying intent.
In Luminaries, our Q&A features Mark Earls, who has worked on reframing market research through social and behavioral lenses. In Business Matters, the author focuses on behavior analysis emphasizing nonrational and rational factors for richer outcomes.
Our quarterly Podcast is with Frank Murgalo, an author and master of reinvention, even at the age of 82. Don’t forget to check out our latest Book Review, Reset—How to Change What’s Not Working by author Dan Heath.
Please share this summer issue (qrcaviews.org) with your network, post the digital flipbook link on social media, and email your clients an interesting article relevant to them.
Happy reading!
¡Feliz lectura!
Tamara Kenworthy
