The Association for Qualitative Research
The Hub of Qualitative Excellence
Ruth Preston, Peppermint Research Ltd, UK (Qual Research)

Ruth Preston

Managing Director
Peppermint Research Ltd
United Kingdom

Ruth has almost 20 years experience in qualitative research during that time has worked with a number of impressive companies such as Unilever, Bacardi Global Brands, Johnson & Johnson and GHD as well as numerous smaller companies. Ruth also works in the arts and charities sectors, for example working with Southbank Centre and Smoke Free North East. She brings her creativity to bear in her qualitative research, always exploring and experimenting with new tools and techniques from a variety of fields: NLP; anthropology; psychology and behavioural economics. Ruth has fully embraced the need to focus on System 1 [fast] thinking to understand behavioural drivers as well as to encourage good, in depth System 2 to enable self-analysis and innovative thinking within groups and works with a specialist agency to incorporate facial coding analysis to capture split second emotional responses to stimuli. She also runs moderator training courses for other agencies (marketing and research agencies) and for client companies looking to connect directly with their consumers.

AQR Membership

Ruth has been a Member of the AQR since January 2005.

Notable achievements and contributions

  • 1990 Graduated from Reading University with a 2:1 in Philosophy
  • 1998 Began qualitative research career with Wardle McLean
  • 2001 Director at The Big Picture conducting global design research
  • 2007 Attended AQR's Advanced Course: Applied Creativity
  • 2007 Set up own agency, Peppermint Research Ltd
  • 2008 NLP practitioner (18 day) course
  • 2008 -2009 Tutored on AQR's May Moderating Skills Workshop
  • 2009 Working with energy (1 week's course)
  • 2009 -2019 Wrote and ran AQR's Moderating Skills Workshop
  • 2010 -2012 Tutored on AQR's Advanced Moderating Skills
  • 2014 Attended AQR's Workshop Workshop
  • 2015 Full accreditation as a research lead & moderator from Unilever
  • 2017 Attended AQR Breakfast Bites Infographics

Articles published by the AQR