Kath Rhodes, Ambreen Aziz and Claire Thomas are your Qual Street team. We’re three qualitative experts, who’ve each been doing research for more than 20 years.

Kath Rhodes

I would describe myself as a qualitative enthusiast. I’m one of those lucky people that loves what they do. Like Ambreen and Claire, I’ve been doing this job a fair while… long enough for my hair to have gone from mousy blonde to mousy grey. What have I learned along the way? To tune in. To explore how people’s personality and behaviour impacts what we’re researching. Oh and culture matters too.

Qualitative research has transformed during my 30 year career. I think that’s kept my interest in it alive. Recent challenges have been around doing research remotely, but challenges have turned into opportunities: now participants can ‘show us’ their world through mobile apps, they can ‘reflect’ more through communities, they can do research in ways that suits them, which is fantastic.

So, I intend to keep learning, reading, watching…it’s what I love to do

Claire Thomas

I started my first qualitative research job in 1987 and I’ve remained in qual ever since. But in the intervening 30+ years, I haven’t just been doing groups, depths and the like… I really believe in the importance of the qualitative method – exploring an experience or situation rather than facts that can be measured. It’s a broad area of investigation and this is what I love about it. It includes ethnography, semiotics and secondary/ desk research – all rely on qualitative interpretation. And yes, the skill sets are different, but complementary. And insight is insight as long as it’s relevant to the client’s objectives. So, yes, I’m a qualitative research expert, through and through. But I’ve got a lot more tools in the kit bag than that title might suggest.

Ambreen Aziz

I’ve always been interested in what makes people tick & why we do what we do – it lead me to study Interdisciplinary Human Studies – which included Sociology and Psychology – and that’s where I first heard of and started looking into qualitative research, which lead to my first graduate job as a qual researcher in 1996 and it’s what I’ve been doing since … with some time out along the way as a massage/bodywork practitioner, motherhood & raising boys, and a small baking business …

So all these years later, I’m still nosey and interested in what makes people tick and why we do what we do … I love meeting people from all walks of life … I’m interested in personality and cultural background and a deeper understanding of the whole person … and what we can learn beyond talking and listening from observation, immersion, sensing and feeling people and experiences more fully.

I love everyday life, food, nutrition & I’m a visual person so love anything to do with design!

We’ve got an amazing contacts list of very special Street Mates who we collaborate with on projects (many of our projects are combined qual & quant as well as qual-only). All the researchers we work with are senior, experienced and full of commitment.

We don’t just work with researchers, though, we frequently work with film-makers, graphic designers, visualisers, planners, and creative facilitators too.

Quantitative

For a business called Qual Street, it sure does get involved with a lot of quantitative research. We work hand in hand with these three businesses to bring you an all-round research package on full service projects. Highly recommended:

Jo Perkins, Jo Perkins Research
We can’t speak highly enough of her as a person and a researcher. She’s the tops.

Ink Research
They are a quality outfit who are inspired by the best in Behavioural Economics
inkmr.com

Tracer Insight Consultancy
Run by Iona Carter, an expert in shopper and behavioural insight. No stone left unturned with Iona. She’s an amazing shopper researcher. Tracer Insights

Beyond Researchers

Good research needs more than researchers… it needs great fieldwork companies, film makers, designers, technologists and more. Here’s who I recommend:

Beam
Such a can-do field agency and super efficient…
BEAMfieldwork

Saros
We’re so impressed by how this business runs and how they manage their huge database of respondents in a way that means you get really good participants.
sarosresearch.com

Studio HB
Graphic design: Harp makes things look beautiful.
studiohb.ie

Fly Video
Ex qual researcher turned film-maker.
fly-video.co.uk