Research philosophy + approach

There are a million different things that feed into understanding humans and culture. Overhearing something at a coffeeshop, movie posters, commercials, the latest toy craze. These all offer clues into bigger themes that are happening in our world. Some of the most valuable tools I use for connecting dots are outlined below with a brief description of why I think they matter.

Myths and stories. Stories are the best. We all love them for a reason. Since the dawn of time it’s how humans have made sense of the world. The most classic and most potent stories have survived and offer roadmaps into what we find valuable, what we fear and what we strive for. They make us feel stuff. No matter how modern the storyline or character, we can always go back and draw parallels to the classics to find a deeper meaning. The ability to tell a good story is also a powerful device to get your ideas across to people in a more approachable way.

Archetypes and symbols. These words typically get some serious eye rolls. But when used correctly, symbols can be used as keys to understanding the collective unconscious. In the simplest terms, the ‘collective unconscious’ is a collection of things we all just inherently understand in our gut. Why does an image of a lion make us think of courage or majesty? Generations and generations of souls have internalized what these animals stand for in the human experience. It’s become a part of us at an almost cellular level… this is gold! (The advertising community knows and uses this, so keep an eye out for clues.)

Psychology. Understanding what people think and what they believe are huge indicators for everything. But it doesn’t always dictate how people behave. Cognitive dissonance is real and things like behavioral economics and life stage implications all factor in. While psychology is a fairly ‘new’ science, the theories and study of psychology give structure to the deeply complicated and often contradictory nature of how we function in the world. These principles help us reframe things in ways that make us feel better, communicate with others with more ease and at the very least help explain some of the crazy things that baffle us.

Metaphor. “Life is like a box of chocolates.” “America is a melting pot.” We are surrounded by metaphors because they are powerful teaching tools. Artists, and even popular tweeters, know this well. The best ones use something common to illustrate a point about something complicated. Deconstructing metaphors is often illuminating to piece together a deeper meaning behind something that can sound simple on its face. Like symbols they help us connect our intuition to our daily, rational brains. Marion Woodman, a master at using metaphor, says it best: “The language of the Soul is metaphor. The metaphor gives you the meaning of the instinctual situation. The metaphor connects spirit and body.” That’s why the best books and movies literally move us to feeling.

Interviews and focus groups. Qualitative research is not an exact science, but there is no better way to understand people’s reactions to and opinions on things. Interviews allow you to have deeper discussions about why people feel a certain way. Knowing how to use this information to answer more complicated questions is where the magic happens. The format of qualitative research can range from super structured studies with 100s of respondents to in-home ethnographies to ‘friend groups’ on someone’s couch over wine. No matter what, all research used on this site or on client projects will follow the baseline of proper practice. Names will often be changed for anonymity, but verbatims are verbatim.