4 Research Methods to Help Your Organization Thrive
When growing an organization, no tool is more powerful than excellent research. Want to improve your programs, connect with customers, or find your place in the market? Research gives you the insight needed to make smart, data-driven decisions.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What to Research
Before diving into specific data collection methods, it’s important to understand what to research. Whether you're investigating customer needs, evaluating a program's efficacy, or identifying areas for growth, a research and evaluation firm can help. A research firm enables you to ask the right questions that lead to actionable answers.
Research generally involves two types of data collection: qualitative and quantitative.
Qualitative data focuses on understanding the deeper meaning behind people’s thoughts and experiences (ie. interviews or focus groups). It provides rich, descriptive insights that explain the "why" behind trends.
On the other hand, quantitative data is all about numbers. It helps you measure behaviors or attitudes to identify patterns on a larger scale (ie. surveys). Both qualitative and quantitative data are important for a holistic understanding.
Better Way Consulting offers four core research tools: interviews, surveys, focus groups, and content analysis. Let's explore how these services can contribute to the growth and success of your organization:
1. Interviews Capture In-Depth Insights
Interviews are a tried-and-true method; they give an in-depth look at what people truly think and feel. Unlike surveys, which gauge common themes, interviews help you explore individual experiences, perceptions, and emotions on a deeper level. This rich, qualitative data can be invaluable for understanding how your audience interacts with your services or products.
As professional researchers, we enjoy the flexibility interviews provide. They allow you to adapt the line of questioning based on participants' responses — something you can't do with a feedback form.
Additionally, interviews work best when used in combination with other methods, like surveys. By pairing interviews with surveys, you get both a broad understanding of key trends and a detailed narrative of what’s behind those trends.
How Interviews Help Your Organization Grow:
Understand the “Why”: While surveys can tell you what people think, interviews can tell you why they think that way. This helps you understand motivations, barriers, and perceptions that may not be apparent from simple statistics.
Find Ways to Improve: By listening directly to what someone says, you gain insights that can reveal gaps in your current offerings. This allows you to make meaningful improvements.
2. Surveys Get Results You Can Trust
Surveys are perhaps the most common tool used for research, but their effectiveness depends on the design. A poorly constructed survey can lead to unreliable data. A well-crafted one provides you with insights you can trust. At Better Way Consulting, our survey design combines the science of reliability with the art of engaging questions.
We deliver surveys in various modalities — whether you prefer to email, send a text, scan a QR code, or write in. This flexibility allows you to reach your audience where they are most comfortable and makes it easy to share their thoughts.
We use both close-ended and open-ended questions. This gives us numbers that we can analyze. It also helps us understand personal views.
How Surveys Help Your Organization Grow:
Measure Key Metrics: Surveys help you collect quantitative data that shows how well your organization is performing. Want to know your customer satisfaction score? How well a recent event was received? Surveys are the way to go.
Track Changes Over Time: Repeating surveys periodically allows you to track changes in audience attitudes, satisfaction, or awareness. This is a great way to understand the impact of your initiatives and whether they achieve the desired results.
3. Focus Groups Dive Deeper into Group Dynamics
Focus groups offer the best of both worlds: collective discussion and deep-dive questioning. A well-facilitated focus group guides participants away from "groupthink."
An excellent moderator leads participants to share ideas they may not have thought about during an individual interview. Group dynamics play a large role here and can result in richer collection of data.
Hosting and moderating focus groups can be challenging, especially when managing a variety of personalities. An experienced moderator excels in creating a comfortable environment where participants share honestly. They manage both dominant and hesitant participants effectively and ensure the discussion stays productive. Better Way's distraction-free online hosting means that participants from all over can join—allowing for more diverse perspectives.
How Focus Groups Help Your Organization Grow:
Understand Audience Reactions in Real Time: Focus groups can give real-time feedback on a new idea or product. You can gauge not only the individual opinions but also observe how people’s opinions evolve during group discussions.
Validate Findings: Focus groups are a great way to expand on findings from other research methods, like surveys. They help confirm the extent to which an idea resonates with your audience. They also identify any discrepancies in previous research.
4. Content Analysis Finds Patterns in Data
The sheer amount of information available today can be overwhelming. An average organization has to sift through customer reviews, comments on social media, existing reports, and more. Content analysis helps cut through the noise to find the themes that matter most to your organization. Our team can sift through existing content, identify patterns, and provide a clear summary of what it all means.
Content analysis can also be incredibly helpful for policy analysis. When starting a new program, we can compare existing ones to find strengths, gaps, and lessons that can help you create something even better.
How Content Analysis Helps Your Organization Grow:
Identify Trends: By examining customer feedback and reviews, you can identify recurring complaints or frequently mentioned benefits. This helps you understand what is important to your audience and adapt accordingly.
Refine Strategies: Content analysis provides a data-driven approach to refining your current strategies. Whether it's improving customer support or identifying new product opportunities, content analysis helps you stay ahead of the competition.
Bring It All Together: Multiple Research Methods for Maximum Impact
Each of these four research methods—interviews, surveys, focus groups, and content analysis—offers unique advantages, but their real power lies in their combined use. A mixed-methods approach allows you to gain a well-rounded view of your audience.
You could start with a survey to gather broad insights. Then, use interviews to understand the underlying reasons behind survey trends. Next, you could organize focus groups to explore those reasons further. Finally, you could apply content analysis to bring everything together in a clear and actionable way.
When used together, these methods help you:
Gain a Holistic View of Your Audience: Different people communicate in different ways. Some prefer to answer questions privately, others feel more comfortable in group settings, while still others leave feedback online. By using multiple methods, you ensure you’re capturing all these different voices.
Increase Confidence in Your Findings: Using multiple research methods helps validate findings across different types of data. When a theme appears in a survey, an interview, and a focus group, you can be confident that it’s significant.
Conclusion
Research is the cornerstone of informed decision-making. At Better Way Consulting, we help you find the answers you need. We turn data into insights that can guide your organization's success.
Whether you’re refining a current program, launching a new initiative, or simply wanting to understand your audience better, our research services provide the clarity and direction you need to move forward with confidence.
Ready to start your research journey? Let’s work together to find a better way.
