Have you struggled to recruit students for qualitative research? Many Librarians acknowledge that organizing usability testing and focus groups can be both time-consuming and daunting. Often requiring experience and expertise from multiple individuals, qualitative library assessment is complicated. How do you improve the effort-to-outcome ratio and facilitate data collection and assessment in academic libraries?
Librarians at a public academic institution have developed an innovative approach in the form of a library-wide research event. Billed as the “Pub(lic) Opinion Crawl”, this qualitative research event allowed for multiple investigators to create and conduct research studies with an engaged and motivated student audience. Running independent investigations simultaneously from the same potential participant pool allowed for the consolidation of time and financial investment. The Pub(lic Opinion) Crawl planning team coordinated marketing, recruitment, and event planning to create a festive atmosphere for study participants, and were able to reduce barriers for individual researchers.
Intended to mirror a pub crawl, the event encouraged students to move from station to station and complete studies to earn credits they could use towards food and treats. This case study will include reflections from individual investigators on their experience and the benefits of this model. It will demonstrate the value of collaboration to plan and execute research studies while reducing psychological obstacles. Investigators are then able to focus on their study and methodology as opposed to tricky logistics. Presenters will share results and lessons learned through three iterations of the Public Opinion Crawl, in order to provide recommendations for others attempting to conduct multiple qualitative research studies at a single place and time
This guide is a companion to the Qualitative Research Made Easy: Implementing the Pub(lic) Opinion Crawl in Your Library presentation at the 17th Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference
Reference:
Campbell, L., Franklin Rey, C. Holvoet, K., Jeffrey, K., &. Nowicki, R., (2025, May 29). Qualitative Research Made Easy: Implementing the Pub(lic) Opinion Crawl in Your Library. Presentation at 17th Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference, Lisbon, Portugal.
