“God gives the nuts, but he does not crack them”

The AQR/QRCA Conference attracted delegates and speakers from around the world. Here are the reactions of Philip Smith of Environmetrics

The quote in the title was on one of the Kafka postcards distributed at the Kafka Ball overlooking the Charles Bridge during the 5th Worldwide Conference on Qualitative Research. Kafka was not the only one to be challenged in the magical city of Prague.

I can thank Shaili Bhatt and Shamsu Bhaidani and their presentation "What are your participants doing right now?" for highlighting the use of mobile phones to gather information and provide insight. I text (and so does most of the world, cell phone ownership far outstrips internet access across all age groups) but I never thought of this as a method to gather information from respondents as they experience it. This is a simple and practical adaption of technology in order to gain potential insight.

In "Not artifact, in fact art", a snappy yet elegant Pecha Kucha presentation by Patricia Sunderland and Rita Denny where they compared respondent collages to great artworks, I marvelled at the beauty, effort and thought in the development of these collages. We use these to gain insight but here we looked at them through different eyes. Something we should do more often. This was inspiring and a fitting tribute to the source of our knowledge. In fact, all the Pecha Kucha sessions were clever and intriguing, acting to balance the longer more intensive sessions.

Over two and half days we were presented with diverse qualitative research thinking and practice. There was also time to share and enjoy time with friends and colleagues. I have most definitely come away with additional thoughts on how to crack the nut.