Demystifying the exploratory research process with Voxco

Start by defining the objectives of the research

To initiate the exploratory research process, it’s important to determine the goals first. You shouldn’t avoid this part as the research is an open-ended one. Consider the following issues for every research project:

• What type of questions do you want to answer?
• What type of answers do you expect?
• What decisions are you likely to make on the basis of research?

By using terms like “uncover” or “learn” or “understand” as a prefix to your goals instead of “test” or “evaluate”, you get into the league of exploratory research. After you become aware of your exploratory goals, it becomes easy to specify what you prefer to learn and the questions that you aim to answer. 

Formulate an effective plan 

After establishing your objectives successfully, it’s time to create an actionable plan. You should begin by filling in the following details: 

• Background research as well as stakeholder interviews for ensuring you take into account the previous work along with the in-house competencies.
• A list of participants for recruiting. Here you should prefer finding people who resonate well with your objectives. In the case of exploratory research, focusing on behaviors is more important than demographics.
• A precise yet targeted summary of your research objectives for addressing what you need to learn and how will you learn about it.
• A declaration related to the methodology and the reason for selecting it. For instance, using the remote study as a method for capturing video from people’s daily routines and collecting answers to the open-ended questions for seamlessly completing the story behind those specific moments.
• A chronology of research, i.e. when will it take place, how long will it take for analysis, and how the result sharing will happen. 
• A detailed study plan outlining the instructions, questions, as well as activities for the participants.

Develop a guide wisely 

An interview guide or online study can play a pivotal role in the case of exploratory research. Usually, the guide gets categorized into three sections namely: an introduction, the experience part including the activities & questions, and the conclusion or wrap-up.

Introduction

The introduction is used for ensuring that a participant is comfortable and understands what to expect. During in-person, start by introducing yourself & the topic to your participant and spare some time for the participant to ask questions. In the case of online, you need to plan a bit more as there’s no face-to-face meeting. It’s important to focus on regenerating the ease of a conversation & anticipating questions. You should introduce the topic, highlight what a participant can discuss, and provide answers to common questions.

Experience 

To effectively plan this section of the study, one way is by getting back to your research objectives and frame 3-5 questions for each objective. It’s essential to include a framing question for each objective that empowers a participant to share what they do and feel. Also, don’t forget to include an elaborative question that asks the participant to share a story or quote an example. The other way of structuring the study is through each goal. This could be an inventory that lets participants showcase everything they do for a specific topic. It might be a process that features the step-by-step activity that participants go through. 

Wrap-up

This is where participants need to look back on everything they’ve said and verify, elaborate, or fill in the required gaps (if any). Including some summative questions could be a great idea. Also, you need to make sure that participants know that their contribution is valued.