BACKBONE

Schneer, the co-founder and CEO of Merrill Research, presents an introduction to the field of qualitative research through reflections on his own life.

The author succinctly defines qualitative research by contrasting it with its better-known counterpart, quantitative research. The latter, he says, aims at statistical reliability and predictability, while the former produces a greater “depth of understanding”—a fuller perspective on the complexity of an issue, which can be vital for a company about to launch a new product: “We tell companies which of their babies is ugly, to put it bluntly.” The author discusses qualitative research from a variety of angles, focusing on the characteristics of the competent practitioner, including a zeal for preparation, boundless curiosity, and the ability to “synthesize complexity,” or weave a jumble of minutiae into a coherent whole. Schneer develops this portrait within a brief memoir of his own “journey of perseverance and resilience” in both his professional and personal lives. These include accounts of his medical travails, including a devastating back injury in 2015that required five spinal surgeries. The book is impressively informative when Schneer focuses on the mechanics of qualitative research; the sections on reading body language and how to identify “reliable signs of lying” are concise and analytically rigorous. However, the work as a whole feels disjointed, as it meanders into digressions far too often; for example, the author’s contention that the biblical figure of St. Paul employed a kind of qualitative research is unconvincing, as it requires one to automatically label any fact-finding that isn’t methodologically quantitative as qualitative. Also, much of Schneer’s broader counsel amounts to mere platitudes, such as “Take your time and break your long-term goals into smaller tasks, conquer those, stake the victory banner in the ground, and move on to the next. Be sure to celebrate small victories along the way. Have some fun.” The author has conducted thousands of interviews since 1978, and his expertise regarding qualitative research is beyond question. However, his advice sometimes gets lost in frustratingly frequent detours.

An edifying but poorly organized overview of a relatively little-discussed discipline.