research magazine

Industry Focus

When Grocery Shoppers Say One Thing but Buy Another—A Qualitative Research Approach to Decoding Clean Eating Contradictions

December 19, 2025 0

Research expert Carly Fink presents an innovative qualitative framework for understanding the complex contradictions between a consumer’s stated desires for clean, sustainable grocery products and their actual purchasing behaviors. Drawing from extensive industry experience, she provides actionable methodologies, including System 1 techniques, ethnographic interviews, and journey mapping to help brands build authentic trust. Readers will learn practical strategies for designing research that capture real-life decision-making contexts and translating consumer insights into business solutions that align stated values with shopping cart reality. […]

Spanish Translations

Co-Moderando el Futuro: Adoptar la IA sin perder la chispa humana

September 16, 2025 0

En este artículo oportuno y revelador, Lauren McCluskey comparte su experiencia personal al adentrarse en la moderación con IA, detonada por una sorpresiva solicitud de un cliente que llegó mientras estaba en una pista de esquí. Con una mezcla única de reflexión personal y orientación práctica, desglosa dónde las herramientas de IA pueden potenciar la investigación cualitativa y dónde los moderadores humanos siguen siendo esenciales. Los lectores obtendrán un marco claro para evaluar plataformas de IA, ejemplos reales de uso híbrido y una hoja de ruta para mantenerse relevantes en un panorama en evolución. Ya seas curioso, cauteloso o entusiasta de la IA, este artículo es lectura obligada para investigadores cualitativos que navegan el futuro de la co-moderación con IA. […]

Schools of Thought

Co-Moderating the Future: Embracing AI without Losing the Human Spark

September 16, 2025 0

This personal essay chronicles a qualitative researcher’s pivotal moment in embracing AI moderation. What began as fear—a client’s unexpected request for AI-led IDIs—transformed into curiosity and confidence through hands-on exploration of AI platforms. The article outlines where AI moderation works (structured, low-emotion contexts; large sample sizes; hybrid models) and where human moderators remain indispensable (emotionally nuanced, culturally complex conversations). It also shares practical hybrid use cases, key questions for evaluating AI platforms, and a call for moderators to evolve from “resisters” to “meaning makers” who blend human intuition with AI’s efficiency to serve clients better. […]

Toolbox

Striking the Right Balance Between Human and AI Transcription for Qualitative Research

April 4, 2025 0

By now we all know AI transcription of interviews is anything but flawless–especially when cultural references are critical to insights, as they can easily be missed by machines. But, if used properly, AI transcription can add efficiency to projects. In this article, multilinguistic researcher Jill Kushner Bishop outlines a decision-making framework to help researchers decide when to consider human or blended human and AI solutions to optimize resources and maximize the quality of insights. […]

Luminaries

From French Literature to Future Technologies: Maria Bezaitis’s Pursuit of Creativity and Diversity in Thinking as a Humanities-Trained Research Leader

April 4, 2025 0

Maria Bezaitis, a humanities-trained UX researcher and former Intel Fellow, shares her unconventional path from academia to pioneering ethnographic research in business and technology. With a PhD in French literature, she transformed her expertise in reading and interpretation into a powerful research approach, influencing corporate innovation at E-Lab, Sapient, and Intel. […]