Post on 06-Aug-2015
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
From Data to Storytelling
Ray Poynter The Future Place
JMRX – Tokyo – June, 2015
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Agenda
1. Why storytelling?
2. Finding the story in the data 3. CreaBng the story 4. Conveying the story 5. QuesBons
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
How Good Could Our Stories Be?
An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore won an Oscar and a Nobel Prize)
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
What is Storytelling in MR?
It is not the same as ficBon
In market research, storytelling means 1. NarraBve flow 2. InteresBng 3. AUenBon grabbing 4. AUenBon keeping 5. Memorable 6. Delivers a message – creates impact
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Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Storytelling
Narra@ve Theme
Wake Breakfast Travel Work Lunch Work Dinking Travel Sleep
Get changed Warm up Run Warm down Shower Get changed
• A boy is found inside a giant peach
• Grows up big & strong • Goes off to fight ogres • Befriends pheasant, dog
& monkey on the way • At the Ogres Island they
all play a role in winning • A_erwards the family live
happily
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Primary Narra@ve Axis The storyline, the plot, core idea, the spine
• A boy is found inside a giant peach
• Grows up big & strong • Goes off to fight ogres • Befriends pheasant, dog
& monkey on the way • At the Ogres Island they
all play a role in winning • A_erwards the family live
happily
Boy Found
Quest
Comrades
Victory
The Old Couple
Food
Fights
BaUle
A_er
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Frameworks Most of the teams that reliably produce good analysis and useful stories use frameworks
– Individuals are less dependent on frameworks
Elements of frameworks – How to frame the problem – Linking the project to a wider context – A standard method of organising the data (qual and quant)
– SystemaBc methods of analysing data – A preferred method for extracBng the story and linking it the wider context
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
From Data to Stories
1. Define the problem 2. Establish what is currently known/believed 3. Check and organise the data 4. Find the message in the data 5. Cra_ and tell the story
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The process starts when the request for a proposal is received and conBnues throughout the research process, it does NOT start when the fieldwork finishes.
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Define the Problem
“A problem defined is a problem half-‐solved”
Sources of informaBon: – The RFP/RFQ (request for proposal/quotaBon) – The proposal – Discussions with the client
• What is the background to the project? • What would success look like? • What acBons should follow from the research? • What do people think the results are going to be? (Or, what are the prevalent hypotheses?)
Smith & Fletcher, 2004
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Establish What is Already Known?
• The frameworks approach avoids focusing on just the current research project
• The analysis, the validity, and the story need to blend research with the wider context
• The context is a web of exisBng knowledge: – Within the client – Within the agency
• One popular route is to commission trend studies/reports as addiBonal background
– In the public realm
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Is My Data Right?
We see paUerns, even when they are not there. Image from Viking I, 1976 Mars – led to theories of intelligent life.
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Check and Organise Data? Quant Data
– Standardise? – Missing data? – Index or re-‐base
Qual Data – TranslaBons – Transcripts – Notes
Assess the credibility of different sources Don’t fixate on combining datasets, it is o_en sufficient to access the messages
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
The Lead
Nora Ephron When Harry Met Sally Sleepless in SeaUle
1st Day in Journalism School 5 Ws (Who, What, When, Where & Why?)
Asked to write the Lead for “The enBre school faculty will travel to Sacramento next Thursday for a colloquium in new teaching methods. Among the speakers will be anthropologists Margaret Mead, college president Dr. Robert Maynard Hutchins, and California Governor Edmund Brown.”
All the students wrote about the 5Ws – good, but not right. The Lead? No school next Thursday!
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Hermeneu@c circle
1. The parts can only be understood in the context of the whole
2. The whole can only be understood in the context of the parts
3. Analysis should move from the whole to the parts, and from the parts to the whole, iteraBvely
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Find the Total Picture First Then the relevant detail
Quant • Look at the Total Column
• Look for big numbers and big paUerns
• What is the big picture?
• This will frame the detail
Qual • Read all the transcripts
– Unless you conducted the fieldwork
• Create notes and memos
• What are the main messages
In the context of the Business QuesBon
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Where does the best MR come from?
Column % Which of the following best describes you? Countries Merged
Total Research or Consultancy Supplier
Supplier to the research industry
Research Buyer/User
Academic + Other
English Speaking
Non-‐English Speaking
UK 63% 61% 60% 92% 40% 66% 60%
USA 51% 52% 50% 46% 60% 52% 50%
Germany 18% 13% 30% 15% 60% 16% 21%
Australia 15% 14% 15% 15% 20% 16% 12%
Canada 11% 8% 20% 0% 40% 9% 14%
France 7% 7% 10% 8% 0% 7% 7%
Japan 5% 3% 15% 0% 0% 3% 7%
Brazil 3% 3% 5% 0% 0% 3% 2%
China 2% 1% 5% 0% 0% 3% 0%
Italy 2% 1% 5% 0% 0% 0% 5%
Other 8% 10% 10% 0% 0% 9% 7%
None of these 11% 15% 5% 0% 0% 9% 14%
Column n 109 71 20 13 5 67 42
The wrong approach to starBng analysis
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Where does the best MR come from?
Column % Which of the following best describes you? Countries Merged
Total Research or Consultancy Supplier
Supplier to the research industry
Research Buyer/User
Academic + Other
English Speaking
Non-‐English Speaking
UK 63% 61% 60% 92% 40% 66% 60%
USA 51% 52% 50% 46% 60% 52% 50%
Germany 18% 13% 30% 15% 60% 16% 21%
Australia 15% 14% 15% 15% 20% 16% 12%
Canada 11% 8% 20% 0% 40% 9% 14%
France 7% 7% 10% 8% 0% 7% 7%
Japan 5% 3% 15% 0% 0% 3% 7%
Brazil 3% 3% 5% 0% 0% 3% 2%
China 2% 1% 5% 0% 0% 3% 0%
Italy 2% 1% 5% 0% 0% 0% 5%
Other 8% 10% 10% 0% 0% 9% 7%
None of these 11% 15% 5% 0% 0% 9% 14%
Column n 109 71 20 13 5 67 42
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Which Country Produces the Best MR?
The Big Message
Big step!
Ques@ons Why are the UK & USA so high/different? Is this true for everybody? What are the implicaBons of this?
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Selec@ng Variables for Analysis
1. What are the objecBves of the research?
2. What does your experience suggest?
3. What variables are ‘acBonable’?
4. Expect to develop the list of key variables during the analysis, including: – Dropping variables – Merging variables – CreaBng variables
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Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
What are the key findings?
1. Link to the project objecBves 2. ‘Need to know’ not ‘nice to know’ 3. Supported by paUerns or themes in the data
– Not just a single data point
4. Clear findings – e.g. In our chart UK and USA are a long way
ahead in terms of Best Research
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Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Want to see more speakers from Best research quality Non-‐English
If people do not see enough speakers from your country, they expect the research to be of a lower quality!
NewMR Survey, May 2015, N=133 (Non-‐English Speaking=43), PopulaBon = English speaking followers of NewMR
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Primary Narra@ve Axis – NewMR Study
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Want to see more speakers from Best research quality Non-‐English
1. People want to hear speakers from important countries that they rarely hear from.
2. Key Point! They think the quality of research is best from countries who produce many speakers.
3. The implicaBon is that not speaking is associated with low expectaBons
4. So, researchers from Japan should speak at more events
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Workspace Study • Staff of a modern office in North America
• What is success? – Making our workspace a more fun, collaboraBve and producBve place
• What do we need to know? – Achievable ways to make it more fun, collaboraBve & producBve
• What do we know? – Staff retenBon is good – Downtown locaBon – Most people work from about 9 Bll 5:30 – Mixture of big tables, cubicles and meeBng rooms – mix of siwng and standing desks
• Volume of noise in the office (by meter) is quite low
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
What New Data Do We Have?
1. A survey with 220 completes (over 70% of the staff)
2. Lots of open-‐ended comments in the survey – E.g. What do you love about our workspace? & What are the challenges?
3. A forum discussion with about 50 members of staff discussing the workspace and being prompted by members of the research team.
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
The Big Picture
Overall evaluaBon of the office – 25% Great, 50% Good, 25% Poor – This compares well with external data – This does not compare well with other offices of the same company
Everything else we discover/report will be framed with this split in mind, i.e. 25% not happy, 75%.
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Noise and Distrac@ons The main negaBve about the office relates to noise and distracBons
– 60% of people menBoned Noise, Noises, Noisy, or Loud in the challenges open-‐end
– 44% say their area is too noisy -‐ quant – 38% they need more privacy -‐ quant – 60% regularly use headphones -‐ quant – The forum highlighted problem created by team ‘stand up meeBngs’ adjacent to other teams
Even though noise is not high according to meters, it is seen as annoying and distracBng
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Studying Noise and Distrac@on Further
Study and reporBng then looking into: – PaUerns in who were most impacted by noise – Teams, locaBons, funcBons – Type of space – The issues that the staff thought were causing the problems
– The soluBons that the staff were suggesBng (Including the use of white noise)
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Other Topics and Issues
Other topics were explored, such as standing versus siwng desks, ameniBes, and space/locaBon
Linking to – The main staBsBc 75% happy – The business quesBon – The number 1 issue of noise and distracBon – IdenBfying problems and soluBons, or exisBng strengths
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Pulling the Story Together • Two useful and challenging ideas emerged from the research
1. The company was between a rock and a hard place.
– In order to be modern and funky it wanted a downtown locaBon
– But that is expensive, so space was Bght. – An out of town locaBon would provide space, but
deprive it of the ‘buzz’ and status
2. One open-‐ended comment nailed the issue “it is like a call center” – that is the essence of the story and the problem
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
The Presenta@on • Started with the 75%:25% observaBon re happiness • Followed the rock and a hard place analogy • Went through the main themes starBng with noise and distracBon
• Closing with the call centre descripBon • Summarising the key points in the story and the key acBons recommended
• About 40% of the quesBons in the survey were reported in the presentaBon – The ones that were part of the story – A full data set with notes and verbaBms was made available
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Not in the Presenta@on
A list of points that were not relevant to the presentaBon were sent to different stakeholders
– Problems with one of the types of pedestals – Problems with the men's toilets on one of the floors
– The need to provide webcams and headsets to everybody who is expected to Skype
– Issues with recepBon – SuggesBons for food and drink
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Developing your narra@ve theme
• Select your primary axis
• This is the elevator pitch • Use a structure that works with the audience • Typical US structure
– The main finding was X so we recommend doing Y and Z
– So, let’s tells you why it is X, and why are recommending Y & Z
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Hans Rolsing
1. What is his key message? 2. What is the story? 3. What has he le_ out?
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Hans Rosling for the BBC hUps://youtu.be/jbkSRLYSojo
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Hans Rolsing
1. What was his key message? 2. What was the story? 3. What had he le_ out?
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Hans Rosling & Narra@ve Theme?
Key Message: – It is possible to tackle world health problems
Key Story: 1. 200 years short-‐life expectancy was the norm,
then the West moved ahead, but over the last 50 years most countries have caught up
2. There are some countries sBll behind, and some regions of other countries, but since most of the world has been solved, the rest can be
Key narra@ve axis: – 200 years from 1810
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
What Did Hans Rosling Leave Out?
Numbers: – A few dates, 3 life expectancies, 3 income levels – Based on 200 countries and 120,000 numbers
Defini@ons: – Which 200 countries? – How did he deal with country amalgamaBon and fragmentaBon?
517 other sta@s@cs: – GapMinder lists 519 key global stats, over Bme
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
Advanced analy@cs procedures
We use advanced analyBcs when there isn’t an easier, faster, cheaper opBon
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Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler. Albert Einstein
Ray Poynter, The Future Place – JMRX Lectures 2015
The Big Picture
• Develop a framework approach
• Define the problem before you try to find the answer to it
• Put the research project into the context of what is already known
• What do you want the client to do a_er hearing the results? – The story is a device to deliver that acBon