Glossary: 16 terms of qualitative research
These are the words any research agency will use in a proposal. Here they are explained in plain English, with a note on why each matters to a client.
In more detail
Formats
Focus group — a moderated discussion with screened participants, recorded and transcribed.
In-depth interview (IDI) — a one-to-one conversation, usually 60–90 minutes.
Expert interview — a conversation with someone who knows a situation from the inside.
Dyad, triad — a discussion with two or three participants at once.
Mini group — a group of four to six participants.
Group series (iterative groups) — several groups where hypotheses carry from one to the next.
Preparation and recruitment
Screener — short questions that decide whether a person fits the study.
Discussion guide — the moderator’s plan of topics. At SmartPoll it is a frame, not a route.
Identity verification — confirming that a person is who they say: role, employer, contact.
Exclusion of professional respondents — removing people who attend studies too often.
In the room
Difficult participant — someone who disrupts the discussion. For a moderator this is group dynamics to work with.
Secret ballot — participants record their position in writing before and after the discussion.
Double-blind design — neither participants nor the fieldwork team know the sponsor.
Output
Transcript — a verbatim written record of the discussion.
Decision note — a short written conclusion by the person who ran the discussion.
Behavioural check — testing a conclusion against what people did next.
Terms in detail
The same terms, with the reason each one matters to the person paying for the study.
The screener decides everything
The screener determines who ends up in the room. If it is written carelessly, the rest is wasted: the moderator will spend four hours with the wrong people. Clients should read the screener before fieldwork starts.
Why the guide is a frame
A guide lists the topics to cover, but a discussion rarely follows that order. Cutting off an important theme to keep to the sequence is a mistake. We record where the moderator departed from the guide, so the decision is visible afterwards.
Why the transcript beats the impression
After a long discussion, what stays in memory is the most vivid remark, not the most important one. A verbatim text restores proportion: how long the group spent on each theme and who actually said what.
What a secret ballot adds
Writing a position down before the discussion fixes the participant’s own view. Afterwards it shows whose view moved. The value is not the count but the explanation of the change.
Professional respondents
People who attend studies regularly learn the rules, guess what is wanted, and take time from everyone else. Screening them out is part of recruitment, not an optional extra.
What a decision note is
A short written conclusion, five to seven pages, by the person who ran the discussion. A forty-page report is read by one department; a note is read by everyone who decides.
Author: Pavlo Karaichentsev · Updated: 31.10.2026