Editor's note: Ruth L. Zanes is president of Zanes Communications Consultants, a qualitative and quantitative research firm headquartered in Atlanta

A great deal of attention has been paid recently to the subject of professional standards for moderating focus group sessions. Unfortunately, most of the attention focuses on basic moderating skills and goes no further. There is no question that the mastery of the fundamentals for controlling the dynamics of how people behave in the focus group setting is important. Other techniques are also important, such as: knowing how to control a dominating respondent, using non-verbal cues to orchestrate the group, cutting off redundant or irrelevant speakers, and stopping more than one respondent from speaking at once. However, these fundamental skills for controlling group dynamics are just part of what it takes to produce the kind of quality insights and understanding about marketing issues that will really make a difference to the decision maker.

Anyone involved with any aspect of qualitative research, whether it is using the results for decision making purposes, idea generation or enhancing their understanding of the issues and the marketplace, should be aware that there is an important distinction between a professional qualitative market researcher and a focus group moderator. The professional qualitative researcher operates from a contextual point of view while the moderator operates from a functional point of view.

A focus group moderator, also commonly referred to as someone who "does groups," is someone who is (hopefully) capable of using group leadership skills to present a specified line of questioning to a group of respondents.

In contrast, the professional qualitative researcher has the ability to combine unique marketing instincts with an intuitive understanding of human behavior and motivation. The professional qualitative researcher delivers perspectives of the marketplace that allow marketing managers to see new possibilities for the services and products they manage. They deliver insights into the motivations and needs of the marketplace that allow advertising creatives to develop strategies and executions that are inspired and on-target.

Qualitative researchers who produce these kinds of results for their clients excel in the following areas of the qualitative process.

1. Defining what the client really needs to know

A professional qualitative researcher knows how to ask clients the right questions to clarify what the clients' needs are. Clarity of objectives is just as important to qualitative research as it is to quantitative. What is it the client really wants and needs? How will the information be used? Is qualitative research the appropriate method to address these objectives? If it is, should focus groups, mini-groups or in-depth personal interviews be used?

Clients often come to the planning stage of a qualitative project saying that they just want to hear respondents' reactions to an idea or some alternative stimuli they have prepared. They are vague about their information needs because they are not quite sure of what their expectations should be beyond getting some commentary about the subject. The professional qualitative researcher helps the client to see what is available from the project and opens the way to the statement of definitive objectives.

One example of this occurred in the initial exploratory work that was done for the development of Passion, the fragrance for which Elizabeth Taylor is the spokeswoman. Brand management was committed to marketing an Elizabeth Taylor fragrance and began with the objective of finding out how women would respond to that idea. They had various artwork showing Elizabeth Taylor in different settings and wanted to know what women thought about these stimuli. When we clarified the objectives, it turned out that they really needed to know answers to such questions as: "How should we position this fragrance?" "What characteristics of Elizabeth Taylor's complex personality should be played up and which should be played down?"

As a result of clarifying the objectives, it was possible to get information that led to such decisions as naming the fragrance "Passion" rather than using the name "Liz," which was the name that had been considered prior to the research. The use of the color violet in the packaging was another recommendation that came out of the research.

In addition, guidelines and direction for the advertising strategy and execution were formulated and, to this day, the same study is used as the foundation for developing new advertising and line extensions. Passion for Men and White Diamonds are second generation products marketed under the Elizabeth Taylor banner that wouldn't have been considered if the objectives of the study had not been clarified.

2. Determining qualifications of group participants

The professional qualitative researcher brings experience to the process of deciding who should be excluded from and who should be included in the study. While respondent characteristics may seem an obvious or simple matter, it is often the most critical factor in obtaining meaningful results. Does the study call for separate groups of brand users or should users of different brands be in the same group? How are brand users defined? Should users or purchasers be specified? What occupations or people with special expertise should be excluded? What demographics need to be taken into account? Which characteristics take priority over all others in situations where separate groups cannot be conducted with every sub-segment?

Understanding how groups interact and what respondent characteristics are liable to influence respondent interaction is essential to making the decisions that will maximize the results from qualitative projects.

For example, in a project where the objective was to understand why a major brand seemed to be losing share to a new product entry, we decided to specify past users of the established brand who bought the new brand and also intended to buy the new brand the next time a purchase was made. Separate groups were conducted with those who tried the new brand and intended to buy another brand for the next purchase. Seem obvious? Perhaps. Except that the client initially thought only of talking to people who had used the new brand. Separating the groups into satisfied and dissatisfied tiers provided a depth of understanding of the appeal of the new product and the strengths and weaknesses of the established brand that wouldn't have been possible had we talked to homogeneous groups of tiers.

The professional qualitative researcher knows the finer points of respondent characteristics that can interfere with the group process and will specify qualifications that will eliminate people who might be considered "experts" by other participants in the group. For example, for food groups we always need to exclude nutritionists, those who work in health related fields, those who may be on diets or are in households where someone is following dietary restrictions that are medical or religious in nature. For package design projects, anyone who is a graphic designer or has any art background as an occupation or hobby would be excluded.

Designing the screening questionnaire and managing the field process requires the knowledge and experience of how recruiting is done plus an appreciation of the realities of what is and isn't possible within the time and budget constraints of the project. Making judgment calls on changes in specifications because of problems in locating qualified respondents must be done in the framework of project objectives. The professional qualitative researcher knows which specifications can be relaxed without seriously affecting the study.

3. Designing the topic guide

The professional qualitative researcher will insist on personally designing the topic guide. In those instances where the client wishes to provide the topic guide, the professional qualitative researcher will state firmly that it is important that the objectives be clearly stated and that he or she will be responsible for designing the questions which will satisfy the objectives. The moderator, on the other hand, will take the client's guide and administer it faithfully. The professional qualitative researcher will design a topic guide that allows for unanticipated and "third level" consciousness responses.

Background information that provides the basis for interpreting reactions is usually the point of departure for a good guide. It starts with the broadest possible point of view and gradually narrows to the specifics. The topic guide is exactly what its name implies -a guide. If the professional qualitative researcher has a true understanding of the project's objectives, he or she is able to depart from the topic guide according to what transpires in the group. The truth about topic guides is that there are no hard and fast rules. Each project with its own set of objectives calls for its own unique treatment. So while it is usual to start with background information, in some cases it is appropriate to start off by asking for reactions to a concept and getting background information later.

4. Conducting the qualitative interview

As mentioned previously, group dynamic skills and techniques are prerequisites. But something else goes on in a qualitative interviewing session, something far more complex and subtle than simply being able to handle a respondent that is trying to dominate the group. The purpose of research, after all, is to elicit information. In qualitative research we seek information that goes beyond the clichés and the superficial, the logical and the rational.

The true skill in qualitative interviewing is in creating an environment in which respondents feel perfectly comfortable in expressing their thoughts and feelings, even if those thoughts and feelings seem irrational and may be embarrassing. These are the thoughts that respondents themselves may not be aware of prior to entering into the qualitative interviewing session. The woman who expresses her feeling of inadequacy and stupidity when she has to buy skin care products; the respondents willing to pretend that they can see different brands of batteries suddenly coming to life as different personalities; these are the quality of responses that the professional qualitative researcher can elicit. It is the skillful orchestration of the group by the professional qualitative researcher - who knows when to challenge and cajole, when to play dumb, inject humor, or probe more deeply - that gets the job done.

Something else transpires in expert qualitative interviewing, something hidden from the observer. The qualitative researcher listens to respondents in a very special way. The professional qualitative researcher transcends the judgments and evaluations of what is being said so that the respondent has a sense of being totally understood. At the same time, the skillful qualitative researcher is formulating hypotheses based on what is being said, testing those hypotheses on the spot by formulating questions, evaluating what material should be probed and what conversation is irrelevant. It's a balancing act requiring intense concentration, all the while appearing very grounded. Unlike moderating skills, this is a talent that cannot always be taught.

Phrasing questions to get at the "truth" requires what the Freudian psychologist Theodore Reik called "listening with the third ear." For example, one of our clients, a firm based in France, wished to examine the probable impact of changing the place of manufacture of the products sold in United States from France to the U.S. Regulations required that these products bear the legend "Made in the USA" on the packaging. Reports from the firm's field people indicated that customers were upset at the prospect because they loved the idea of using French products.

In the groups, instead of asking how important is it that the product comes from France, I chose a more indirect line of questioning. I asked, "What does it mean to you when a product in this category is associated with France, or the company that makes it is French?" This phrasing not only allowed respondents to express the idea that, to them, the French association was very important, part of the brand's mystique, it also allowed them to express their assumption that all French products sold here are probably developed in France but manufactured in the United States. Furthermore, it allowed them to express that it made no difference to them where the product was manufactured as long as the French associations were maintained.

5. The analytic process

When all is said and done, all the food is consumed in the back room, all the questions asked, what does it all mean anyway? The professional qualitative researcher understands and will caution the back room observers that what they think they heard, the literal answers to the questions, and their own pet theories, may or may not be true.

The observer room is often a hotbed of politics. I am occasionally amazed at the conversation that transpires there after a group. I sometimes question whether the observers were watching the same group I conducted. Most of the listening in the back room is actually listening for responses that confirm the pet theories or thoughts and beliefs of the observers. Few observers have the skill of listening for discovery of new ideas.

The process of analysis involves the qualitative researcher who conducted the groups to carefully review transcripts, audio and - when possible - video tapes of the groups. However, these are merely the functional steps that are taken. The real professional qualitative researcher goes through an analytic process that is not easily explained. It requires knowing when to take responses at face value and when to disregard a line of responses. It is the drawing of the threads from one respondent to another, the ability to see patterns and differences from group to group and then weave it all together in a way that is actionable from a marketing point of view.

6. The ability to communicate the findings.

The professional qualitative researcher has the ability to present sophisticated, complex findings about human motivations, relate them to alternative marketing actions, and communicate all of this to management in a succinct and actionable manner. The ability to graphically depict the relationship of how the findings and the marketing issues interact, and familiarity with multi-media presentation techniques, enriches the value of the study. However, the most high-tech presentation techniques will not compensate for an inability to present the findings of the study clearly, concisely, and cogently.