My earlier post Monk Outside Maverick Inside (http://inquiringeyes.blogspot.com/2006/11/monk-outside-maverick-inside.html) that talked about a good qualitative researcher being very calm outside and a complete radical -iconoclast inside, missed one point.
A good qualitative researcher, actually not just a qualitative researcher but also anyone in the business of consumer needs and innovations, should ideally possess three key traits.
One, he should question things. What I mean by questioning is not random interrogation but an ability to look at the world from a different angle and try to break the status quo down and try to understand what lies behind what we see. In other words, going beyond what is or what can be seen.
Like the Sahlinsian lesson:
Notice everything and pay attention to things that puzzle.
Pay attention to things that demand your attention and then refuse your understanding.
Pay attention to the failure of attention.
Second, he should try to connect the reasons behind the seemingly unrelated occurrences. This helps build a better picture of what really is happening around. Connections help spin the web of possibilities around an unexplained phenomenon or a question
Third, he should be able to identify the contrasts & contradictions between things, people and across time or geography etc. Most of the ideas & insights surface through cracks of contradictions.
These three traits help in observing better, because now we are questioning things & not taking anything for granted . They help in analyzing better because we are trying to question and connect different phenomena. And finally they help in generating ideas and insights because the same contradictions help us explore new dimensions of a hitherto unknown phenomenon.
A good qualitative researcher, actually not just a qualitative researcher but also anyone in the business of consumer needs and innovations, should ideally possess three key traits.
One, he should question things. What I mean by questioning is not random interrogation but an ability to look at the world from a different angle and try to break the status quo down and try to understand what lies behind what we see. In other words, going beyond what is or what can be seen.
Like the Sahlinsian lesson:
Notice everything and pay attention to things that puzzle.
Pay attention to things that demand your attention and then refuse your understanding.
Pay attention to the failure of attention.
Second, he should try to connect the reasons behind the seemingly unrelated occurrences. This helps build a better picture of what really is happening around. Connections help spin the web of possibilities around an unexplained phenomenon or a question
Third, he should be able to identify the contrasts & contradictions between things, people and across time or geography etc. Most of the ideas & insights surface through cracks of contradictions.
These three traits help in observing better, because now we are questioning things & not taking anything for granted . They help in analyzing better because we are trying to question and connect different phenomena. And finally they help in generating ideas and insights because the same contradictions help us explore new dimensions of a hitherto unknown phenomenon.
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