..What is the "Total Cost of Research" (TCR)? What are the direct and indirect costs associated with designing, conducting, analyzing, and reporting a custom research study, especially for qualitative research?  

..From a direct perspective, an organization normally attributes the costs of retaining a third-party research firm to conduct the study.  However, most corporations also will have one or more representatives who will be actively involved in the study, including traveling to different locations, domestically and/or internationally, to observe the research sessions first-hand. Consequently, the company needs to add the direct air fare, hotel, meals, and local transportation expenses for them.  Indirectly, the business needs to consider the lost productivity due to traveling and attending research sessions, so these people are away from their offices and normal responsibilities.  Equally important, how do you measure the indirect costs personally for these individuals to be away from their homes, families, and friends?  

..GQG Online creates and delivers custom, integrated online solutions using state-of-the-art technology tools and telecommunication resources to help reduce TCR.  Online 'conversations' and 'listening' with key constituencies or target audiences, domestically and globally, results in improved communication, enhanced collaboration, increased market domination, and decreased costs. 

..Among its services, GQG Online provides secure, private, and virtual focus group rooms where custom research studies are conducted by skilled and experienced online moderators with invited and confirmed participants, who fit the specific needs, requirements, and objectives of a particular study.  Client representatives can view these real-time research sessions from any location, e.g., office, home, hotel.  An online focus group can be supplemented with audio, video, and/or Web conferencing, as appropriate, too.  Click GQG Online to visit and view its home page with a list of current languages as well as request a free demonstration.

..In addition to real time and distributed live 'conversations' in the online focus group facility, GQG Online also offers bulletin boards for ongoing, short- or long-term, threaded and moderated discussions.

..GQG Online's team can assist your private, public, and/or non-profit organization with all aspects of an online study, including, but not limited to:
  ...• Designing
  ...• Planning
  ...• Organizing
  ...• Recruiting
  ...• Programming
  ...• Managing
  ...• Moderating
  ...• Compensating
  ...• Analyzing
  ...• Developing and delivering presentations
  ...• Writing reports
  ...• Recommending 

..For example, GQG Online handles all aspects of recruiting and confirming participants.  Each person can participate from virtually any place and any time on Earth, as long as it is the scheduled day and time (by specific time zone) for the research session.  The requirements of each individual participant are simple:  PC, modem, and Internet connection.  Occasionally, some studies will involve a parallel or companion audio conference, i.e., conference call, so the research and the participants can hear each other as well as see what each person is writing in response to questions.

..During the research session, which might involve from one to 15 participants, (plus the client’s designated observers in the virtual back room the moderator can use a range of tools and applications to engage the individuals, including, among others:
  ...• Audio
  ...• Excel
  ...• GIF
  ...• JPG
  ...• PDF
  ...• Polling
  ...• PowerPoint
  ...• Video
  ...• Web sites
  ...• White boards
  ...• Word
 
..Five key advantages of GQG Online make it a viable, cost-effective research tool:
...  • Research sessions can be designed and conducted in any language around the globe (it's wise that the researcher and the participants are 'speaking' the same or a commonly understood language, e.g., Spanish), so it's particularly useful for large scale or even small targeted studies in different countries on any of the seven continents.
...  • The research sessions can be either 'synchronous' or 'asynchronous', i.e., participants are communicating simultaneously at the same time (even if on opposite sides of the International Dateline or different time zones within a country) or on different days and various times, whether short- or long-term.
...  • During the research session, when the moderator poses a question, each individual can simultaneously keyboard his or her response.  Thus, the quantity and quality of input and feedback from participants is significantly greater and faster.  The ability to ask probing and clarifying questions enables the researcher to go "a mile wide and a mile deep" in addressing a client's objectives and answering their questions.  
...  • Client representatives can 'observe' the research session and interact with the moderator from anywhere in the world.  They can be sitting at their desk, home, hotel room, board room, (even the beach).  
...  • The researcher and client representatives receive a verbatim transcript within minutes of the conclusion of the research session, significantly accelerating analysis and report writing, and resulting in faster, better, and higher quality deliverables.

..For more information about conducting research sessions through GQG Online, e-mail info@gqg-mr.com or call 503.471.1397.