Back to basics

I have been engaged in qualitative research for about 25 years and coordinated projects in 20 countries around the world, including Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Morocco, Israel, and many other truly fascinating markets

I started my career working at a regional research agency that organized fieldworks in the Western region of Ukraine. I worked there for about 7 years after graduating from University and know the specifics and complexities of fieldwork from the inside

Since 2002, I have been working as a manager, moderator, and analyst of research projects; and over time I also work as a methodologist and consultant, helping clients transform information received from their target audience into useful business insights

At first I worked in a small international agency, then in a global research company, and since 2008 to the present day in my own agency (yes, "Mustang" is already 16 years old! I can hardly believe it...), so I know not only what people say, but also what truly matters for business

Nowadays, I do full-service local projects, manage studies in foreign markets, coordinate multi-country research, and sometimes work as a local field partner for research agencies from other countries

Previously, I really enjoyed collaborating with other agencies both as a project coordinator and as a local fieldwork partner, as it was always beneficial for both parties in terms of experience exchange

In recent years, we have been horrified to note the decline in quality of fieldwork in several countries. We were even thinking to organize a network of agencies, which I would specifically train not only to do research, but also understand marketing specifics and objectives of the Client. A long time ago, one of the Clients trained me like that. It was invaluable, and I still don't know where else I could have gained that experience!

Brief for qualitative research from a Client, brief for fieldwork from a research partner, screening for local and international projects, guide for local and international projects, briefings for fieldwork managers and moderators, debriefs, etc. - all these were done perfectly, but now, instead of learning from experience and developing the category of qualitative research, it is going to hell with a bunch of unnecessary branches and digital games…

Previously, I thought that both researchers and clients have a solid professional foundation, and there is no point in reminding about the basics. Now I see that I was wrong, and a lot of seemingly basic knowledge is simply lost

So, I decided to start writing about what is important at each stage of qualitative research, both local and international

Obviously, there are a lot of confidential cases that I cannot share. But there are also quite typical and significant issues that, it seems to me, are worth raising

And if you need an advice or help with a local or international qualitative research - let's get in touch. If you're in Kyiv – welcome for a cup of coffee to our Human & Sound Insight Home

Pleskova, your old-school face-to-face qual researcher 😉