Process
How to budget a qualitative research project
A six-step process for budgeting a focus group or other qualitative project: estimate incidence for a precise audience, get the vendor's assumed show rate in writing, price recruits rather than seats, add the line items quotes leave out, compare against a fast asynchronous method such as AI-moderated interviews on Koji, and check that a finding would change a decision. Use it before you sign a fieldwork proposal.
Where this appears
What's in this process
- Define the audience, then estimate incidence: The share who qualify drives recruitment cost more than any other input.
- Get the assumed show rate in writing: Then work out your own recruit multiplier from it.
- Price the recruit, not the seat: Multiply incentives by recruits, and ask who pays for over-shows.
- Add the invisible line items: Transcription, observer travel, catering and platform overage.
- Compare a fast async method: Its price is what makes the group's price readable.
- Decide what each finding would change: If no finding changes a decision, the right budget is zero.
Use this image
Free to use in your docs, decks and posts under CC BY 4.0, as long as you credit Koji with a link to this page. To embed it, paste this into your page:
html
<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/how-to-budget-a-qualitative-research-project"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/how-to-budget-a-qualitative-research-project/how-to-budget-a-qualitative-research-project.png" alt="Process of six steps to budget a qualitative project: define the audience, get the show rate, price the recruit, add hidden costs, compare and decide." width="1200" height="831" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/how-to-budget-a-qualitative-research-project">How to budget a qualitative research project</a>, Koji</p>
