1. Pick Up the
Nuance of Language
Get the most out of your respondents
Author: Jacky Cheung
2013 Mar

2. What do They Mean by “Very” Young?
I have been in research industry for more than 17 years by now, and
the more I interact with consumers, the more I feel that a good
researcher is actually like a detective; at the same time, the
respondents are like some kind of very clever, smart
criminals...wooo...sounds freaky…criminals who can hide the truth
perfectly from the crime scene. By the crime scene here, I mean the
comments thrown on the table during an FGD.
Say for example, personification of a brand, we may hear respondents
describe a brand as being "young" - most of time, this is a positive
description associated with the attributes of energetic, progressive,
trendy, bright...etc. But what if a respondents describes the brands as
"VERY young", does that mean the brand is outstandingly energetic,
progressive, trendy...etc.? Well, unfortunately not, in most of the
cases, when there is the word "very" put in front of "young", they
usually mean the brand seems inexperienced, not knowledgeable,
unsophisticated...etc. Amazingly well crafted wording, isn't it? But if
you are not a detective, you probably leave the truth buried behind.

3. Moderator: Dear Respondent, You
just Contradicted Yourself!
Perhaps the previous example was not tricky enough? What about this
one...I conducted research for a condiment once, a brick-like chicken
powder, with a new packaging - a beautiful, transparent jar. The
respondent said, “Wow, great, it is protective for the product inside, and
you know, you can also use the jar for storing other things".
Do you notice any clue that some truth is hidden behind her reply? Give
yourself a minute before going down…
Anyway, let's continue the story. Later on I asked her if she was interested
in buying the product and at what price, and she said, “Well, no, I'm not
that interested" . “Wait,” I said, “I thought you just said it was great with
this and that!”
Was she just playing nice and over-claiming her appreciation of the new
pack? Actually, she has already made herself clear in the earlier reply …of
course, if you are a good detective, you will notice…(if not yet, give yourself
another minute before going on)

4. Respondent: Dear Moderator, I
Did, Did I?
Let's rewind to her answer “You can also use the jar for storing other
things"...any clue now?...the key signal are the words “YOU CAN".
Let's try to understand the words this way - “YOU" means “NOT
ME", “CAN" means “THEORETICALLY USEFUL, PRACTICALLY NOT
APPLICABLE“.
Now, if we replay her comments using this interpretation, what she
was saying is really "I don't need the jar for storage (well, I said YOU
CAN, I did not say I WILL, did I?)”. Now, it is clear why she was not
interested in the product, isn't it?
So, sometimes I say to my clients, don't believe the
respondents...hahaha, freaky again, isn't it? Well, I don't mind if you
call me Freaky Cheung instead of Jacky, haha...but it is also obvious, if
a good researcher is like a detective, then who are the respondents?
They are "suspects"! A detective does not ask for comments, a
detective interrogates for confession, no kidding.

5. Poor Translator, You have been
Dragged down to this Muddy Water
The picture comes worse if translation involved. Do you expect a translator to
pick up and then translate this possible hidden meaning accurately to our
clients? Simply not possible, not only because of the subtlety of language, we
should also understand that the translation is simultaneous by nature (no
rehearsal, pre-reading provided) and that the translator need to translate
comments of multiple people – so, don’t blame translators, they are
innocent, though they may actually “help” the respondents to “lie” (without
knowing they have done so).
Let’s use the above example to illustrate, the comment “Wow, great, it is
protective for the product inside, and you know, you can also use the jar for
storing other things” will very likely be translated as “Wow, great, IT IS
protective AND USEFUL for storing” – you know how the critical truth is lost.
Worse still, when clients hear the translation, they would automatically pick up
the message as “the RESPONDENT THINK it is protective AND USEFUL” – the
notion of “RESPONDENT THINK” directly implies that the respondent endorses
the idea PERSONALLY – now it deviates even further from the hidden meaning
of “YOU CAN” which are the actual words used by respondents

6. The Traffic Light Question
I have been saying respondent this, respondent that, but actually what I'm describing is
a quirk of human nature that we all share; sometimes we don’t really mean what we
say.
Well, try this one, I'm going to ask you a question, it will be a very simple question that
I'm sure everybody can give an answer right away, the only thing I would like you to help
is to answer this question in the most natural and spontaneous manner, that is, don't
think!
Ok! Now the question...imagine you are walking alone on a street, arriving at an
intersection, you want to cross the road but you see the red light is on, so what do you
do? Answer it immediately…
"Stop", I have asked this question to many of my friends, my clients, my colleagues and
this is the unanimous answer I get. Then I always follow up to ask, "so, have you never
ever crossed a road when the red light is on?“ ...well... er...yes actually”. So why don't
you answer “Well it depends, sometimes I cross, sometimes I stop"?
Just now I said don't believe respondents; but don't get me wrong, I don't mean stop
believing in research - please still do research, because you can believe in the
researchers. A GOOD RESEARCHER WILL HELP YOU TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THE
RESPONDENTS. Feel free to comment 

7. thank you