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Remote Qualitative
Your target audience may be scattered across many locations or hard to schedule.  Or you might want to conduct research over a period of time, for example in a home use test of a prototype product.  In such cases, MTI offers many remote options that yield rich information from respondents who are relaxed and focused on the research task.

Telephone depth interviews are a great way to give busy people a broad choice of scheduling slots, making it possible to interview some high-quality respondents who otherwise wouldn't be able to participate.  Often the phone interview will be combined with an online component, such as showing product or advertising concepts on a secure website and asking for responses over the phone.  Interviews can be made on a conferencing service so that clients can listen in.  The conversations are typically recorded.

Online qualitative research is gaining in popularity, and it's no wonder.

--In a moderated discussion group ("bulletin board" group), respondents can log into the conversation as they would on a blog or social media site, answering the moderator's question and commenting on each others' answers. Additionally, the moderator can introduce stimulus materials to the group, and they can also upload images, sound or video. This setting lets respondents participate on their own terms -- when and where it's convenient and comfortable for them -- so they can concentrate on the discussion at hand. Clients may monitor the discussion and communicate with the moderator on the fly.

--Individual interviews can also be conducted online in a secure moderated discussion. In fact, the moderator can conduct a number of individual interviews simultaneously, maintaining a private channel for each respondent.

--Marketing Research Online Communities create social media-style groups of people interested in a topic. They generate their own content as well as responding to questions and exercises posed by the moderator.

--For consumers familiar with virtual worlds such as Second Life, the moderator's avatar can conduct research in-world with the respondents' avatars. There is anecdotal evidence that people maybe be somewhat more forthcoming when communicating through an avatar character rather than attending a group in person.

--Video conferencing is also available when there is a desire for a "regular" group or interview  between distant participants.