I recently teamed up with my colleague Betsy Leichliter to rewrite Greenbook’s New Qualitative Research Guide: Choosing Among Today’s Qualitative Options.  The guide is available online at http://www.newqualitative.org/qualitative-research/introduction-to-new-qualitative-research/ and provides a handy reference to the various methods (some examples: mobile research, webcam focus groups, online journals, etc.) as well as the strengths and challenges of each.

We wrote the first edition of the guide last year, and one of the most popular features was the checklist of things to consider when choosing among the various methods available.  In this year’s edition, we expanded the list of considerations to reflect the more extensive options now available.  See http://www.newqualitative.org/qualitative-research/choosing-among-methods/ .

We also included 11 tips to ensure things to smoothly when using new research methods – http://www.newqualitative.org/qualitative-research/tiplist-for-your-qualitative-research-project/ .  Here’s one tip we’ve found particularly useful:

Set clear expectations with participants about what they can count on from you and what you will expect from them in terms of their time and involvement. If you need group interaction during remote or asynchronous projects, address this during recruiting and build into the on-boarding process easy ways for participants to interact with each other right from the start.

To determine the best way to answer your research questions, give us a call at (818) 752-7210.