Kath Rhodes

I’m the owner at Qual Street and a qualitative enthusiast. I love interviewing people, tuning into their lives. I love to think and reflect, figuring out what this means for businesses – how can businesses deliver good growth?

Once a Qual Street project is delivered you should feel … I know what to do because I understand: the challenge and the opportunity is clear now.

That’s why Qual Street’s promise is ‘dedication to the answer’.

Ambreen Aziz and Claire Thomas are Qual Street’s go-to consultant freelancers and long-term collaborators who add strength and depth to Qual Street project work

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