Interviews taken by Piyul Mukherjee with Qualitative Researchers Worldwide
How long have you been in this field, and what brought you
to it in the first place?
I started formally in March 1983 at the qualitative department of the
Spanish subsidiary of Research International, and then I created my own
company – INNER -- that recently became Synovate. So I started twenty- one
years ago, and the reason I prefer qual was related to the tautological
state of things -- to my eyes -- on the quant side. Best expressed by the
Argentinean humour specialist at that time, Les Luthiers: “Of each ten
people that watch TV, five are… half.”
Things evolved more positively later on the quant, and I became both-sided
by need to focus on solving client problems of every nature rather than
just being a method-specialist.
How is working in qualitative research in Spain similar to or different
from any other European country?
Spain is [at] a cross of paths in that sense. We have a significant
influence from French schools of thought in semiology, psychoanalysis, and
structuralism. But also, you could see a strong presence of British
pragmatism and traits of German social psychology orientation and more
recently, the Palo Alto school influence is also visible. In terms of
quality standards and techniques used, it’s very much comparable to other
European countries. Perhaps, because of the openness and expressivity of
our culture you need less warming up to get people to talk.
Do you participate in a lot of global projects? What is the approximate
ratio between local projects and international ones that you conduct?
Nowadays … more than one third of what we do [is] with an increasing
number of projects being handled from Spain, although most international
projects are incoming. That has been a main source of influence and
learning to me, having to adapt to international designs made somewhere
else, and always trying to give it the local flavour. Nowadays, company
management takes most of my time rather than concrete project management.
There is a lot of interest in the US in Hispanic Research. Any comments?
How does that compare with the work you do in Spain?
The Hispanic community is a complete mosaic of different cultural
backgrounds. One needs to be very careful not to get confused by the many
similarities on the surface and by the language we share. But, of course,
[it] is very interesting to recognise, as well, the Old Spanish presence
and influence between the lines of speech. Spain itself is a mosaic of
medieval kingdoms that have given rise today to diverse regional cultures
and dialects. I think there is room for more cooperation with Spanish
researchers to better understand Hispanic target groups.
What about Latin America, do you do a lot of work in, say, Mexico and
Argentina?
Of course, there is a natural bridge that allows us to cross to what we
call Iberoamerica -- as the community of countries influenced by the
Iberian Peninsula -- and we work across the whole region. In that sense,
Brasil is probably the main point of attention lately due to its enormous
immediate potential.
In your opinion, what is the most important part of a research project?
Having the rest well done, the analysis and interpretation stage is where
the real value of ideas is created. The ‘eureka’ moment is the unique
contribution of the researcher, something genuine that cannot be
substituted by any colourful PowerPoint presentation. But, it is probably
on this last moment of communicating with the client that we need to make
more emphasis for our own evolution in the future.
How do you see qualitative research evolving in the near future?
I think we need to compensate our strong capacity and interest in
understanding consumers by adding our understanding of clients. Or better,
to put that capacity to help clients understand themselves. Very often,
organizations lack the ability to do real team working and creating
collectively shared visions. We can help them on this, acting as
facilitators of the internal communication process, as well as maintaining
high the voice of the consumer.
You know, here in Mumbai, India, we had these bomb blasts in 1993. I
always feel our local residents became more kind and caring towards their
fellow citizens. Post 3/11, the train attack at Madrid, I expect the
citizens of Spain may have also become 'different' in some essential ways?
How do you perceive it?
You may well be right, but it may be too soon to perceive it yet. All I
can see at the moment is the maturity with which Spanish society has
reacted to the tragedy and the continuous flow of events related. It’s
been a very conscious and controlled reaction. I would like to see
something like you mention in the near future, at the same time I am
worried about the danger of growing xenophobia against Muslim citizens
amongst a part of the society as a less constructive possibility. Let’s
hope it all evolves rightly. This ubiquitous terrorism threat is
definitely increasing the feeling that we are all citizens of the world.
We would love to know a little bit about yourself. What do you like to do
when you are not working? What activity do you wish you had more time to
pursue?
I am currently a family man with three children of 8, 5 and 3 years of
age; playing with my children or just being with them is what makes me
happiest. With work and family taking all my time I would like to have a
bit more of it for myself. I miss reading more literature out of
professional interests.
Your favorite person in history & why so?
Leonardo da Vinci, for his capability for a holistic vision of science and
life.
Your favorite sports game & why so?
I like football (soccer) because is very much like real life, a lot of
play, few opportunities, and the fact that getting a single goal can make
the difference…
The person you wish you could meet and have dinner with? And what would
you be eating?
Miguel de Cervantes, Author of El Quixote. He was an insightful person,
able to give account of his reality and his time. I would hardly eat not
to miss a single detail of the conversation.
For a visitor to Spain, what are the 'must-do's' that you would recommend?
Depending on the style of the traveller, there are several alternative
must do’s. But something for all could be visiting Segovia, a small
historical town near Madrid, where you can easily recognize the many
different influences in Spanish background from Roman Empire, to the
conviviality of Jewish, Christians and Muslims in the middle ages, and see
from there the start of the plateau of Castilla backed by the mountains.
An alternative is Granada in springtime (avoid summer, too hot). Always
enjoy the rich traditional cuisine present everywhere.
Finally, how do you find the QRCA?
A very attractive and open community. Although so far away from the U.S. I
really feel part of it. The Internet is making things easier.