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Qualitative Research in Asia

Manuela and Andrew Fletcher (New Zealand)

Interviews taken by Piyul Mukherjee with Qualitative Researchers Worldwide

 The photographs of New Zealand are so beautiful! Have you always lived in New Zealand?

Ø Manuela: I was born in Dunedin, so, yes. However, I’m a relatively “new” New Zealander as my parents came over from Europe after WW2 – my mother is Italian, and my father is Austrian. Makes an interesting psychological profile – on the one hand I have the excitable Italian temperament, while on the other, the ice-cold Germanic logic.

Ø Andrew: I was born in Sheffield, England and have been in New Zealand now for 28 years.

How large is the research fraternity in New Zealand? Particularly in Qualitative?

Ø Andrew: Well, bear in mind we’re a country with a population of only 4 million. There are 450 members of the Market Research Society of New Zealand, of whom about 100 are client side. Specialist qualitatives I’d estimate at around 50 only, but another 50 probably think of themselves as qualitative. And the really good ones? About 20 of us. Research industry revenue is about US$100 million (NZ$155 million).

Can you tell us about a project that you’ll always remember fondly?

Ø Manuela: I guess being so new to the industry the best is yet to come for me. Oh, groups of dairy farmers – they’re usually good keen, basic, Kiwi, down-to-earth blokes, real salt-of-the-earth people.

Ø Andrew: One sticks out (no pun intended). A pharmaceutical one, interviewing men with erectile dysfunction, and one of my female colleagues interviewing their partners. Memorable because of the sensitivity and challenge of the topic, the insights it gave us into a topic of great importance to the people it affects, and the good humour with which a team of one man (me) and two women approached a subject we wouldn’t normally discuss.

Can you recall any project with misgivings?

Ø Manuela: Maybe my very first group, with university students in Dunedin, where more respondents than expected turned up -- luckily I had enough incentives to go round! During the course of the group, one of the respondents had to leave the room to be sick in the courtyard just outside! The adrenaline was running then, I can tell you!

Ø Andrew: One of my first. New Zealand was the first country in the world to give women the vote in 1893, and I was privileged to do the research for the Suffrage Centennial Trust in 1993. I had to present the results to a conference of about 80 women who had been actively involved in the Centennial activities. As a man presenting to a conference of 80 women, mostly of the more militant feminist persuasion, I got an insight into something that women have had to face throughout history!

I’m sure this is a question everyone would like to ask: did you two meet at work?

Ø Manuela: No, we met in a bar almost 22 years ago, in Dunedin – I’ve only been working in marketing research for the last couple of years. Although we’ve been in Wellington now for coming up to 20 years, I’m still a “Mainlander” at heart – as we Kiwis call those people originally from the South Island!

From start to finish, which part of a project do you look forward to, the most?

Ø Manuela: Getting paid! No, seriously, it would be moderating a group, or doing an individual interview, and hopefully delivering an excellent result for the client. It’s the people contact and interaction with them and finding out what makes them tick.

Ø Andrew: All the way through, really. The initial client meeting is charged with potential; using this to design the research approach is the foundation of the project’s success; doing the group or interview is always stimulating; analysing the results releases the magic, the report is what is left behind for the client, and the presentation is our opportunity to bring it to life. If I had to choose one area … getting briefed on the next project, maybe, because that shows the last one did work. Or that moment in analysing the results when it all comes together, the inspiration or breakthrough that is going to make all the difference to the client.

And what do you do, immediately after a group or interview?

Ø Manuela: Discuss it with Andrew and have a bit of a verbal debrief. We often work on projects together, where we will share groups and interviews – sometimes running groups concurrently in different towns/cities, but we don’t often have clients coming along to watch, so it’s good to talk about the outcomes and compare notes.

Ø Andrew: Likewise. Frankly, after a full day at work and finishing a focus group at 8.30 or 9pm, the last thing I want to do is make notes. However, I do like to talk through the main issues with Manuela. Then I tend to write up a summary of the main issues the following morning – seeing it more clearly after a night’s sleep.

A part of the world that you’d like to visit?

Ø Manuela: This is a hard one. I’ve had the opportunity to travel to the US, UK, Europe and Australia, so perhaps an easier question might be where would I like to go back to? For me, San Francisco, the wineries at Russian River, the lake district in England, La Pergola in Florence for their spaghetti vongole … but as I’m sure Andrew will agree with me, we have also been very privileged to see a lot of our own country, and Queenstown, in the South Island, would probably have to be our favourite destination. Queenstown was given its name way back in the old gold mining days because “it’s a town fit for a Queen!” And one of the local mountain ranges overlooking Queenstown is called The Remarkables because of the wonderful play of lights on the peaks at sunset. I could go on and on about Queenstown and other favourite spots in New Zealand … I guess for me the important thing, wherever we go, would be travelling there with Andrew and sharing experiences together.

Ø Andrew: I agree with all Manuela’s choices -- plus, of course, New Orleans! But to be honest, it’s hard to go past Queenstown, as a tourist destination. For a more exotic holiday, Kota Kinabalu in East Malaysia (Borneo).

I hope I get to see your lovely country some day. Some books that you’ve enjoyed reading recently?

Ø Manuela: I tend to read fiction mostly – when I’m not reading glossy food/wine/leisure magazines and I’m in a bit of a retro Stephen King phase at the moment. The last weighty tome of his I finished a week or so ago is The Wolves of Calla, part of the Roland/Dark Tower series. I usually tend to visit the library and browse through the “recent returns” trolley, so I pick whatever catches my eye from a rather eclectic mix there.

Round the world, I’ve noticed the most ‘piquant’ relationships exist between immediate political neighbors: US and Canada, Argentina and Brazil, France and Germany, India and Pakistan … How is it, at work, between you and the ‘Australians’?

Ø Manuela: Australians tend to think of New Zealand as their “seventh state” – and the rather scary part about that is that there is provision for this in their constitution! We Kiwis tend to think of ourselves as completely separate, but they are our closest neighbours. Of course there is always plenty of friendly rivalry over sport … we currently are the Netball World Champions, and I think the Aussies recently were gazumped for the rugby world cup – by England no less! We were soooo (not) sad about the Aussies being beaten.

Ø Andrew: A former prime minister said it perfectly: “New Zealanders emigrating to Australia raise the average IQ of both countries.”

Now if you had a choice of being born in any era in history, which would you choose?

Ø Manuela: That’s a toughie. I guess every era has its pros/cons. I think I’ll put that question in the “too hard” basket.

Ø Andrew: I wouldn’t change. Life was a lot tougher for previous generations.

Your motivation for joining the QRCA?

Ø Manuela: The conference in New Orleans.

Ø Andrew: And underlying that is the lack of training opportunities in New Zealand and Australia. How can we continue to get better at what we do?

Your main memory from the last QRCA conference?

Ø Manuela: Meeting all the great QRCA people and marching down with our new buddies in the second line parade.

Ø Andrew: Definitely the people we met.

Your favorite food; and who does the cooking between you two?

Ø Manuela: We have an equal division of labour in the kitchen – I cook and Andrew eats. Andrew’s idea of cooking is buying takeaway foods! I guess I’d have to say that we are both very fond of two dishes – slow cooked New Zealand lamb rump with olive oil, rosemary and garlic, and roast beef and Yorkshire pudding! You know what they say, you can take the boy out of Yorkshire, but you can’t take Yorkshire out of the boy!

Ø Andrew: I’d add seafood to that. Crayfish, especially. And Bluff oysters are rather special. And our favourite restaurant is Flower Drum in Melbourne, a kind of silver service Cantonese fusion, where reservations have to be made weeks in advance – we’re going there next week to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary and Manuela’s birthday! It’s the kind of place that’s so memorable and so popular that you book the restaurant first, then your flights and accommodation.

Final word:

Ø Manuela: If anyone has any questions about New Zealand or is planning a visit and would like some local insights into where to go and what to do, please feel free to contact us – manuela@fletcher.co.nz and andrew@fletcher.co.nz We’d be only too pleased to suggest some of our favourite places/restaurants/attractions to help make your trip here even more memorable!
 

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