Naomi, RIVA’s Founder, former CEO, and fantastic Trainer, used to share a fun story with RIVA students about packing your ego, personal opinions, assumptions about the research, assumptions about the respondents, and nerves into a suitcase. Then, leave the suitcase outside of the research room before you went in to conduct research. This often came up in relation to students’ nerves regarding their practice session with recruited Respondents during their moderation training courses – but it’s worth using to illustrate how Moderators should also be managing their expectations before walking into a research session.
Never Pre-judge Respondents
Often, Moderators have reviewed the Respondent grid and had conversations with Observers/Clients about the people who will be seated in the room. When having these conversations, it’s really important to avoid making any pre-judgements about who they are, ideas they’ll have, their willingness to “think outside the box,” and their ability to be creative. Don’t let your preconceived notions, or others’, affect how you interact with them.
Often, this is where Unconditional Positive Regard comes into play. Walk into the room, interact with your Respondents, expecting to hear a variety of opinions and being open to them – even if they far differ from your own. Everyone’s answers are good answers.
Additionally, don’t set expectations on how willing people are to play. Some of the most creative people come from backgrounds that you wouldn’t expect. Sometimes, people who have the most “serious” jobs or titles are the most willing to have “fun” exploring new ideas in the research space.
Don’t Bring Hypotheses into the Session
While Clients, and even you, may have formed a hypothesis of what you will hear, leave it in the suitcase as well. The only thing you should bring into the research room is your study purpose and the willingness to go where your Respondents take you (as long as it remains on purpose).
It is not the point of qualitative research to confirm pre-conceived hypotheses; rather, it is to hear the voice of the consumer. And you can’t do that if you’re only asking questions to prove a point of view.
You’re Human – not a Robot
Perfection is unattainable. You are a human, and humans make mistakes all the time. Whether it’s not giving clear instructions, forgetting a ground rule, stumbling over your words, asking a “why” question, or something else, it’ll creep in. If you’ve been to a RIVA training, you probably have your Trainers’ voices in your head telling you all the things you should do, should avoid, and then considering what would be the best way to get the next question up to English.
In the wise words of RIVA Trainer, Romaine: “It’s not about you.”
Don’t focus too much on yourself in the room. Remember you’re there to listen TO your Respondents as they divulge their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes. Any mistakes on your part should just be stepped over with grace. If you need to acknowledge it, do so, and then move forward how you wanted/intended to. Your Respondents will forgive any minor mistakes, especially if you’ve built rapport at the start.
Leave Your Ego/Personal Opinions Outside
Along the same lines of “it’s not about you,” it’s important for Moderators to leave any of their personal opinions about the topic at hand and their ego at the door. The Client doesn’t want to hear your thoughts and opinions. They are paying you to get Respondents’ points of view, so even if you have an option or an answer to a question it’s not your job as a Moderator to share that information.
This includes answering questions from your Respondents. Inevitably, they might ask something about you (outside of the Emotional Handshake) or about something to do with the topic. At that point, either throw the question back to the room or adroitly dodge answering. (You can remind Respondents that you’re there to hear their opinions.)
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Every research study is different; every focus group, every IDI, every QRE is different; and every Moderator is different. Walking into the room with an open-heart and listening ear is tantamount to getting the best insights for your Client.
Written by: Brittany Mohammed, Qualitative Training & Research Specialist