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The road to a professional qualification for qualitative researchers has proved long, hard and sometimes frustrating. Now its future lies in the hands of the industry.
A professional qualification for foundation level (bronze) qualitative researchers is very close to being launched. The following necessary pre-requisites are in place:
- The syllabus for training and assessment has industry-wide approval.
- Sufficient funding for launching and administering the assessment for the qualification for the first six months has been pledged by the following industry associations: AQR, MRS, ESOMAR, SRA, ICG and AURA.
- The Global Institute for Qualitative Research, the body which will develop, administer and assess the professional qualification, only needs to be incorporated.
Need for professionalisation
The industry-wide Steering Group spearheading this initiative for professionalisation surveyed 984 qualitative respondents last May. Key facts underlining the need for a professional qualification supported by professional training are:
1. The reaction to a professionalisation scheme and qualification proved very encouraging with an 85% positive rating. Importantly, those most positive are client side and newer entrants to the industry
2. Qualitative training is predominantly informal. Some 57% say they have had a lot in their career compared with formal training (19%). Indeed, 10% say they have had no formal training at all.
3. Only 9% of the qualitative cohort rate qualitative research high on professionalism, viewing medicine (67%), law (55%), and accountancy (47%) as much higher. They even rate quantitative more highly at 12%.
Next step is for the industry
The professionalisation qualification will only succeed if it is financially self-sustaining which will only be possible if the qualitative sector really wants it and is prepared to make it happen. The industry-wide Steering Group met in London in mid-December and concluded that, to proceed with launching the professional qualification, it needs hard commitment from research agencies to put its researchers through the qualification at £400 per candidate.
Clients, who are one of the most positive cohorts about professionalisation, also need to fully endorse the scheme. The Steering Group aims over the next few months to ask you,
the qualitative industry, to commit your researchers and your support to a professional qualification.
It has taken three years to arrive at this point on the professionalisation journey and in my opinion, if it does not happen now, it will be another generation before we are here again. Professionaliation is just a step away: it sits on the launch pad, everything is in place but that next step is in the qualitative industrys hands.
Michael Herbert
Alumni Member
This article was first published in InBrief magazine, February 2017
Copyright © Association for Qualitative Research, 2017
About the author

Michael Herbert
Michael has been working as an independent qualitative consultant, mentor and trainer for the last 6 years. He spent much of 2012 working in Shanghai with a Chinese qual agency and their clients and coaching their executives. He was a board director of Henley Centre HeadlightVision for two years prior to this, where he ran the biggest qual account as well as creating their qual training programme.
AQR Member Profile
Michael Herbert
Articles by this author
February 2017
Just one step away
September 2016
Edging closer to professionalisation
December 2015
Qualitative Professionalism
June 2015
Accreditation morphs into professionalisation
June 2014
Calling all quallies
Full Index for this author
8 articles by Michael Herbert