Focus Groups: When you need the collective energies of people generating new ideas and building on each other's experiences to create a "big picture," Horizon Research International can gather the right people and elicit focus group discussions that are both spontaneous and focused on obtaining the information you need. Whatever your need…

• Exploring reactions to product or service concepts
• Generating ideas for new products or names
• Understanding your customers' attitudes, hopes, and dreams and the vocabulary they use to describe them
• Getting a fix on images of your company and competitor products

Extensive experience in a wide variety of industries has provided us with an arsenal of techniques for generating productive discussion around any topic. Because our researchers are conversant in the specifics of many industries, they can understand and interpret what respondents have to say, whether it's 

• a healthcare focus group to develop or refine medical/insurance services offered,
• advertising focus groups to develop campaign concepts and understand imagery communication,
• financial services focus groups to understand service delivery and product design, 

…or any number of other industries and reasons for seeking rich answers.

Individual In-depth Interviews (IDI's): For research that involves very personal, sensitive topics or that requires individual reactions outside of a group dynamic, Horizon Research International has extensive experience meeting with respondents individually and distilling the information of multiple viewpoints into a succinct report that clearly identifies important themes common to respondents' individual opinions.

When your study involves sensitive issues with important customers or hard-to-reach groups like physicians and CEO's. . .

. . . the professional presence of our recruiters and qualitative interviewers ensures that each interview provides thorough information yet remains a truly positive and pleasant experience for the respondent.

When you need the "gut" reactions of consumers to an advertising concept or execution without the peer pressure of a group dynamic . . .

. . . we have the techniques to uncover individual respondents' conscious and subconscious responses and turn that into collective knowledge that provides guidance on selecting and refining the best approach to communicate your message.

Teledepth Interviews: Today's global markets have created the need for sampling the opinions of customers and potential customers in many locations to understand the full range of attitudes. Horizon Research International has developed effective techniques for recruiting and conducting teledepth interviews which allow our qualitative team to capture much of the same depth of information over the telephone as could be obtained from in-person interviews, but allow for a much broader scope of participation. That means you don't need to limit your understanding to a few key markets or to people who live in urban areas with research facilities.

• Teledepths have become an increasingly important method to our clients who depend on e-commerce for their business or for financial services clients with a national presence because of the broad customer base they must satisfy.
• Teledepth interviews can also be helpful in reaching important respondents like physicians or high-level executives who have difficulty scheduling time for an in-person interview but can make time for a "research phone call."

Interactive Observation: Similar in nature to reading body language in focus groups and IDI's, this technique has become an essential method for providing guidance in the design and communication abilities of web sites and other interactive products or services.

In this technique, professional moderators observe respondents as they use a web site or other interactive service (like automated telephone menus and even brochures or training films). As respondents react to what they see, the moderator uses the respondent's verbal and nonverbal clues to identify areas that cause difficulty or create a positive reaction. The moderator can then pursue attitudes and expectations that relate to those specific aspects of the site or document through appropriate questions.

Our experience has shown this to be the most direct way to uncover confusing navigation in web sites or designs which communicate an image of the company that is vague, off-target, or even negative, since users are often unable to articulate verbally what their behavior reveals clearly.