Amidst the complexity of the current media environment and the emergence of on-line qualitative methods, we give our clients clarity and context. Depending on the scope or objectives of the research, we use a variety of established qualitative methodologies to explore all media platforms — social, mobile, traditional.
Social Media
Qualitative Media Research
Our approach to qualitative media research is pragmatically grounded in academic traditions. Beyond descriptive reports, our style of analysis draws on the cross-disciplinary conceptual frames from social science (media anthropology), communication (media studies) and psychology (consumer behavior). As “scholarly research practitioners” we provide our clients with rich analytic frameworks that lead to actionable media insights.
Semiotic Analysis of Social Media
Semiotic analysis of social media is the decoding of the meaning of electronic communication artifacts — words, videos, audio, photos from digital spaces like Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, email, cell phone text messages, message boards, blogs, websites, bookmarks, playlists, digital greeting cards, digital party invitations, etc. The cultural texts can either be naturally occurring user-generated content or branded content. Semiotic analysis, in contrast to other textual methodologies like content analysis, emphasizes meaning and cultural domains over classifying and counting.
Participant-Observation of Internet Communities
Participant-observation is a form of qualitative research that combines the advantage of unobtrusive observation with the benefits of engagement with research participants. With a keen regard for research ethics (full disclosure, privacy of identity, informed consent), we dialog with individuals in both naturally occurring communities and in our own research hosted digital spaces.
Ethnography of Media Users — “the person
in front of the screen”
Media anthropology is an emerging discipline within academic anthropology. Anthropology of media is the application of traditional ethnographic research methods and conceptual frames to the study of the individuals and their media.
The ethnographic interview occurs where media is experienced — e.g., the living room, café, office, gym, car, sidewalk, bus stop, subway platform, cab. With our respondents acting as native guides (showing and explaining), we explore media practices, routines, and perceptions. The in situ ethnographic interview allows the decoding of the complexities and nuances of media usage directly with consumers.
Media ethnography contextualizes social media. In an ethnographic encounter, the unit of analysis is the individual, rather than an act of mediated communication, i.e., tweets, videos, text messages. With a broad analytic lens, we observe how the individual negotiates the meaning of their online and traditional media experience within the context of daily life.
Complementary Methodologies That Generate
Compelling Media Insights
Depending on the research objectives, our qualitative media methodologies can stand alone or complement each other as part of a triangulated research strategy. By studying both online and offline media habits, we get to explore the interaction between mediated life behind the screen (i.e., my Facebook life) and life in front of the screen (i.e., my real life). This is the liminal space where media insights live.
As partners with research directors, brand managers, new product designers, account planners, and digital account planners (connection planners), we are committed to crafting and conducting qualitative media research that serves as the creative muse for innovation and strategy. To borrow a phrase, “media is the new creative.”
To show the richness of qualitative media inquiry, here are some sample research questions:
- What are the roles of various media in the constitution of everyday life — symbolically, emotionally and practically?
- What is the relationship between an individual’s life behind the screens (digital life) and their life in front of the screens? How do they influence each other?
- How are media practices enabling or having an impact on users’ sense of self?
- What social and cultural factors frame media practices and perceptions of media technologies? What are the emergent themes?
- What are the routines surrounding various media? What is pleasurable? Difficult?
- How are media, including digital media, used and shared? Not used or shared?
- How and why are media utilized — to do what in life, for the self and for others?
- How and why do individuals choose one media type over another? What values inform the trade-offs implicitly and explicitly?
- What are the rewards of various media usage and routines? How do these rewards reflect life priorities and values?