Asking people to be a part of qualitative research, whether that involves in-person interviews as part of a mall intercept or focus groups at central locations around the country, requires much more than simply getting a yes or no from the participant. The MRIA, Canada’s marketing research association, has outlined a number of criteria that recruiters must explain to participants before they can take part. Some of these criteria are solely the responsibility of the researcher whereas others are shared with the participant.
Below is a summary of some of those requirements.
Recruiters must inform participants:
- Source: Where their name was sourced
- Voluntary: That their participation is voluntary and they can decline to participate at any time
- Confidentiality: That their personal identification will be kept confidential
- Honorarium: What the honorarium is and what they are required to do to receive it
- Rescreening: That they may be screened again at another time
- Recordings: That recordings or transcripts may be made for research purposes only
- Viewing: That the sessions may be viewed or listened to by the client
- Date: Of the date, time, location, and accessibility of their session
- Commitment: The time commitment expected of them
And, in return, participant are responsible for:
- Allergies: Informing the researcher about any allergies when asked
- Punctuality: Being on time
- Authenticity: Participating themselves as opposed to allowing someone else to participate on their behalf
- Identification: Bringing identification to the session when requested
- Technology: Ensuring they have the technological requirements to participate fully if the session is remote
- Materials: Providing materials to the researcher when that is part of the agreement, e.g., photographs of themselves, video recordings, diaries, IP addresses, geo-location
To read all the exact specifications, download the entire code of conduct for qualitative research on the MRIA website. There’s a lot to learn!
We’d be happy to discuss our options for qualitative fieldwork in Quebec and across Canada. Please get in touch!
