This case study explores an innovative approach developed by librarians at a public academic institution to improve the effort-to-outcome ratio in qualitative library assessment.
Recruiting students for qualitative research can be challenging for librarians, as organizing usability testing and focus groups often requires significant time and expertise, require substantial resources and often yield low participation rates. The investigators wanted to address the complexities and barriers associated with qualitative research and create a more efficient and engaging way to collect actionable student feedback.
A group of Academic Librarians developed the "Pub(lic) Opinion Crawl," a library-wide research event designed to mirror a pub crawl. Multiple investigators conducted five in 2020 and ten in 2024 independent research studies simultaneously, drawing from the same pool of motivated student participants. The planning team coordinated marketing, recruitment, and event logistics to create a festive atmosphere, encouraging students to move from station to station and complete studies in exchange for food and treats. Debriefs of the events were conducted to assess its usefulness and uncover challenges and opportunities for planning the next iteration.
The event successfully increased student participation and engagement, consolidating time and financial investment. By presenting research as a fun event, it removed psychological obstacles to participation. The initial event in 2020 recruited 55 students to participate in an average of 2.07 assessment activities and in 2024, 99 students participated in an average of 3.56 activities. Limitations of this approach include the inability to obtain a randomized, representative sample due to proximity-based recruitment.
Key lessons of the event include the importance of offering immediate rewards, the effectiveness of a single consent form, and the value of a collaborative, party-like atmosphere. The event demonstrated that conducting multiple qualitative research studies in a single event can significantly reduce logistical challenges and resource requirements. We learned that repeating the event on a regular basis allows for continued assessment that demonstrates how services must change over time. Debriefs from researchers and individuals supporting the event uncovered a need for more structure and workshops for researchers to help develop studies. These findings have shaped the planning for our third iteration in Fall 2025 .
The Pub(lic) Opinion Crawl model offers significant potential value to the wider library community by providing a scalable and replicable approach to qualitative research. It allows libraries to overcome common challenges in recruiting participants and obtaining meaningful feedback, ultimately leading to improved library services and user experiences. The event has provided valuable research that informs evidence-based decision making and provides professional growth opportunities for academic librarians and staff and its success highlights the benefits of collaborative research and the importance of engaging students in innovative ways.
This guide is a companion to the Lowering the Stakes: A strategy for kickstarting qualitative research for students and investigators presentation at the International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries International Conference
Reference:
Campbell, L., Franklin Rey, C. Holvoet, K. Jeffrey, K., &. Nowicki, R., (2025, May 27-30). Lowering the Stakes: A strategy for kickstarting qualitative research for students and investigator. Presentation at International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries Conference, Liverpool England.
