Qualitative research involves an in-depth individual or focus group interview to better understand thoughts, feelings, human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior.  Whether using a conversational or structured interview, the intent is to explore the why and how of decision making, not just what, where, when.  

Quantitative research involves larger samples of respondents and instead of using just words, as with qualitative studies, we also assign numbers to represent opinions and statistical tools to compare perceptions of different segments of members within a sample.  Such studies can project the array of perceptions of an entire membership, within a specified error range.

Cornerstone supports the process by designing samples as well as working with leadership to develop discussion guides and survey instruments, facilitate interviews, focus groups and member opinion studies.  Data collection can use a combination of many methods ranging from online to telephone to paper questionnaires.  Samples can be taken from the total membership population or from a more focused group of service-users to better understand differences in preferences or perception about the service offered.

Roger Hietbrink, Cornerstone’s founder and principle consultant, has conducted hundreds of club related studies in his thirty-year career.

Opinion research, whether conducted by the club or by another source becomes a critically important source of intelligence that contributes to a club’s data base, as shown in the graphic. 

Ongoing research, no matter how small or large, helps a club’s leadership sort the most critical issues that influence member satisfaction.  Such intelligence helps management develop more precise goals and ultimately strategic direction.  When actions are tracked, the results add a new layer of information to the decision support data base which continues to influence the focus of management and staff.