If you’ve ever participated in a qualitative market research focus group or focus group, your recruiter will have explained to you about any audio or video recordings that are made, to help the researcher write his report later. It is important that during the discussion the talk can flow and develop naturally without being stopped or interrupted by taking notes or asking for it to be repeated, and these days it is very normal to record and even broadcast the investigation live. You are, of course, protected at all times by the UK Market Research Society’s code of conduct and similar bodies in other countries, and nowadays people are much more comfortable with the idea of video surveillance and recording, that a camera in the corner of the room rarely feels awkward or intrusive.
However, many professional research facilities have another feature that you won’t find in the average living room, which looks like a huge mirror, often filling one wall. It doesn’t look like a normal mirror, and that’s because it isn’t; as everyone knows, it has a reflective surface, in the research room, but from the other side it acts simply as a window. Behind the glass is where the client sits to watch the research being carried out. The name ‘two-way mirror’ is actually not very good, it would make more sense to describe it as a one-way window, because that’s how it works. If the lights were on in the back room you would see them sitting there, they have to watch you in the brightly lit studio sitting there in the dark.
The moderator leading the research group will, of course, refer to the mirror and let you know if there are people behind it; typically, if someone pays to use a viewing facility, they’ll want to view the groups directly. But part of the moderator’s job is to make everyone feel completely comfortable, and while it may be hard to imagine the first time you look at the big gray wall and see your own surprised face reflected in it, you’ll soon forget you’re there. ! Once he’s caught up in the discussion and sharing his views in a lively, well-planned group, he’ll just fade into the background.
Of course, you’ll know on one level that it’s not just a group of friends having a chat: it’s a guided discussion designed to find out certain things from your opinions, and someone is paying for it, hence the mirror, camera, and camera. delicacy. snack trays. But when the researcher does his job well, he can put all that awareness aside and get stuck responding to what’s being talked about, knowing that industry codes of ethics and conduct control who sees and knows what extremely tightly. safe. so that your opinions can be shared with total security. It’s actually much less intrusive than having a group of observers sitting IN the room, taking notes or raising their eyebrows at what’s being said about your product or brand.
Why do people still sit behind mirrors, in these days of streaming and video technology? There are a variety of reasons. Most researchers would say that it has nothing to do with habit or what they’ve always done, and will tell you that it’s just closer to the actual atmosphere and perceptions of the room, when you’re sitting a few feet away. instead of looking on your own. screen at home They know that being in the room itself could unduly influence the discussion, but they are eager to get as close as possible and to be able to choose who to pay attention to at any given time. The video is great and getting better all the time, but the nuances of body language and facial expression can be hard to capture, especially in a group, and different viewers will have different priorities and notice different things. Qualitative research is often about getting as close to the customer experience as possible, without changing what they are trying to observe…and using two-way or one-way glass in a viewing setup is a good way to simulate that.
