Gonzalo Alvarez – Curran Research Associates

Bio

Wanting to work with and understand people has been a recurring theme in Karin’s life and has accounted for her qualifications in psychology and human resources management as well as the seven years she was a telephone counsellor with Youthline.

She has specialised in qualitative market research since 1994, after several years of business management. As a Senior Qualitative Director in the qualitative division of TNS (previously CM Research and NFO), one of the largest custom market research companies in New Zealand, she designed and led projects in a wide range of industries and for many well-known companies. She has specialised in pharmaceuticals & healthcare, travel & tourism, IT & telecommunications, financial services and building/construction – but there are few areas she has not explored in her career.

Since 2007 she has focused full-time on Curran Research Associates (CRA). In addition to traditional face-to-face methodologies, she is a leader in online qualitative research, especially discussion boards. A successful relaunch of CRA showcased the discussion board approach in a presentation to the 2007 Market Research Society of New Zealand conference, which won Best Paper. She prefers HatchTank and VisionsLive, but is familiar with and happy to use other online research platforms.

Although Karin is one of the most experienced online qualitative bulletin board moderators in the Asia Pacific region, she continues to employ face-to-face methods when appropriate. With moderation of thousands of focus groups and depth interviews, she has a deep practical understanding of the benefits and limitations of each approach. Online bulletin boards can be used as a standalone method or to complement a more traditional face-to-face approach to create an iterative or more robust outcome. She understands and delivers to the need that research be tailored to the individual project, client and target market.

Memberships and affiliations

Curran Research Associates is a corporate member and Karin is a Fellow of the Research Association New Zealand (formerly the Market Research Society of New Zealand). Members are bound to the Code of Practice, which helps to ensure that research buyers and the public can be confident that research is professional and performed to accepted criteria. RANZ Code of Practice.

Karin served on the 2014 Transitional Board of RANZ after 5 years on the MRSNZ committee, the last as Vice President. She was elected to a second term on the Board in 2018. She served as the MRSNZ Complaints Officer from 2010-2014 and the RANZ Professional Conduct Officer from 2014-2020.

Karin is a member of QRCA and the Australasia/ SE Asia representative for their International Chapter.

QRCA is an international not-for-profit association of qualitative research consultants. Founded in New York in 1983, it is the largest group of its kind, with almost 1,000 members in over 25 countries.

The QRCA Code of Member Ethics and Guide to Professional Qualitative Research Practices are recognized in the industry as one of the most comprehensive efforts by any professional research association to address the issue of ethics and best practices.

Online qualitative bulletin boards

(online discussion boards, online moderated discussions)

Online qualitative research is less well known in New Zealand than its face-to-face counterparts, although it has been used successfully internationally (e.g. USA, Europe) for many years and is gaining a loyal and appreciative following locally.

At CRA, our online qualitative discussions are actively moderated to ensure the richest information and the best experience for respondents. We don’t launch an open-ended survey and then analyse whatever we get back. We engage with every single respondent every time they participate and this requires 3-8 hours a day per board. It’s not in real time, but every person in our boards knows that they’re talking to a real moderator who comments on their answers, asks for more information, and generally validates their participation. It is not uncommon for us to end up with transcripts that are the length of a novel – with every word being relevant to the central and outlying topics.

Boards generally fall into two categories: group-style, with 8-13 respondents; or depth-style, with 20-30 respondents. As their names suggest, they have different dynamics mainly to do with the amount of inter-respondent discussion. A board can be “open” for 3-14 days or longer, with 5-7 being most common.

Group-style boards will have fewer questions and respondents will be recruited on the understanding that they are expected to read and respond to not only the moderator’s questions, but also posts that their fellow participants have submitted. This creates an atmosphere that lends itself to more bonding, interaction, and iterative discussion, resembling a focus group.

Depth-style, or silo, boards have more questions and interaction is solely between the moderator and each participant. The volume of detailed information gained in this approach is comparable to a depth interview, with the added advantage of interaction being over several days.

When to consider discussion boards

Topic is sensitive or complex
Desire to deeply understand issues
Need to see how an idea or concept will age; or when it can be modified and retested during the research
Target market is geographically spread or typically difficult to recruit to focus groups (i.e. professionals, youth)

For more comprehensive information about discussion boards, click here to download our guide.

Karin was one of the very first researchers in NZ to embrace online qualitative research. Since 2005, she has overseen and moderated hundreds of discussion boards involving several thousand people from New Zealand, Australia, the US and the UK, making her one of the most experienced online qualitative moderators in Australasia. She also enjoys moderating the more niche text-based chat groups.

In-depth interviews

(depths, IDIs or 1-to-1 interviews)

Depth interviews are common with certain target markets (e.g. senior management, healthcare professionals), when the topic is sensitive or complicated, or when we need people to share their opinions or feelings in an environment that is less subject to groupthink and social pressures.

Interviews generally last between 45-60 minutes and are held centrally or in a location convenient to the respondent.

When to consider depth interviews

Target market is high end consumer, C-suite executives, or healthcare professionals
Topic is complex, requiring individual attention and feedback and more time than a focus group provides (focus groups allow around 10-15 minutes of actual contribution per person)
Topic is sensitive (commercially or personally), making public discussion in a group inappropriate
Respondent attributes such as age, gender, ethnicity likely to affect views of the topic and be counterproductive in a group situation

Karin has interviewed thousands of people face-to-face, over the phone and with video calling, from a wide range of backgrounds in New Zealand, Australia and the United States.

Focus groups/workshops

Focus groups are the best-known qualitative research methodology – so much so that sometimes clients say they “want a few focus groups” as a shorthand for qualitative research. Focus groups have much to recommend them but are by no means the only approach.

Typically five to eight respondents (sometimes more, sometimes fewer) meet at a central location to take part in a discussion of 1½ to 2 hours. This approach encourages interaction between participants and stimulation of new ideas. Focus groups are often held among internal staff to discuss their working conditions, the company, or its products or services – and it’s generally called a workshop in this setting.

When to consider focus groups

Target market is easy to group into relatively homogenous segments
Topic is interesting and lends itself to public discussion
Need to have live interaction to witness dynamics or spark new ideas
The stimulus needs to be touched or manipulated (and cannot be sent to respondents)
When team/staff bonding or buy-in is desired

Karin has moderated many hundreds of focus groups in three countries, from mini-groups of 3-4 to supergroups with 10 or more people.

Designing your research

At CRA, we recommend a research design after we understand you and what you hope to achieve from the research. Some of the questions we’ll ask will include:

What has triggered the need for this project or consultation?
What do you know already and what is that based on? What hypotheses do you have?
What’s happening in your market right now, including competitor activity?
What decisions will you be making based on the information you get?
What are the objectives of the research (questions the research needs to answer)?
What thinking have you already done about how these objectives could be met? Quant? Qual? Focus groups? Depths? Particular subsets of clients or maybe ex-clients or competitors’ clients?
Who are the stakeholders and other people affected by the research? How should they be included to gain their knowledge and support?
What are the important practical issues that will impact the research design, i.e. deadlines, budgets, willingness to go beyond the familiar if that could get you better and more useful insight?
What else do we need to know about your company or the market in order to ensure the research and recommended strategies are realistic and meaningful?

Click here to download our Research Brief template that will help you define the scope of your issue and understand what you really need from your research agency. Taking time at the front end ensures the best possible research outcome for results you can use.

Bio

Wanting to work with and understand people has been a recurring theme in Karin’s life and has accounted for her qualifications in psychology and human resources management as well as the seven years she was a telephone counsellor with Youthline.

She has specialised in qualitative market research since 1994, after several years of business management. As a Senior Qualitative Director in the qualitative division of TNS (previously CM Research and NFO), one of the largest custom market research companies in New Zealand, she designed and led projects in a wide range of industries and for many well-known companies. She has specialised in pharmaceuticals & healthcare, travel & tourism, IT & telecommunications, financial services and building/construction – but there are few areas she has not explored in her career.

Since 2007 she has focused full-time on Curran Research Associates (CRA). In addition to traditional face-to-face methodologies, she is a leader in online qualitative research, especially discussion boards. A successful relaunch of CRA showcased the discussion board approach in a presentation to the 2007 Market Research Society of New Zealand conference, which won Best Paper. She prefers HatchTank and VisionsLive, but is familiar with and happy to use other online research platforms.

Although Karin is one of the most experienced online qualitative bulletin board moderators in the Asia Pacific region, she continues to employ face-to-face methods when appropriate. With moderation of thousands of focus groups and depth interviews, she has a deep practical understanding of the benefits and limitations of each approach. Online bulletin boards can be used as a standalone method or to complement a more traditional face-to-face approach to create an iterative or more robust outcome. She understands and delivers to the need that research be tailored to the individual project, client and target market.

Memberships and affiliations

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Curran Research Associates is a corporate member and Karin is a Fellow of the Research Association New Zealand (formerly the Market Research Society of New Zealand). Members are bound to the Code of Practice, which helps to ensure that research buyers and the public can be confident that research is professional and performed to accepted criteria. RANZ Code of Practice.

Karin served on the 2014 Transitional Board of RANZ after 5 years on the MRSNZ committee, the last as Vice President. She was elected to a second term on the Board in 2018. She served as the MRSNZ Complaints Officer from 2010-2014 and the RANZ Professional Conduct Officer from 2014-2020.

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Karin is a member of QRCA and the Australasia/ SE Asia representative for their International Chapter.

QRCA is an international not-for-profit association of qualitative research consultants. Founded in New York in 1983, it is the largest group of its kind, with almost 1,000 members in over 25 countries.

The QRCA Code of Member Ethics and Guide to Professional Qualitative Research Practices are recognized in the industry as one of the most comprehensive efforts by any professional research association to address the issue of ethics and best practices.

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