“Playing Matchmaker” – When Is It Important to Match Moderator/Respondent Demographics?

Naomi used to tell a humorous story about how she got booted from a female hair care project because her husband Luc ended up bringing inexperience to the group – allowing for the discovery of unanticipated insights!

The story goes that for one of the cities, Naomi got stuck in a previous location and couldn’t get a flight in. She called Luc, a little panicked, to see if he could get to the study to be the Moderator. She had been the Moderator, speaking to African American women about hair care routines, products, and techniques because the Client believed that matching the Respondents’ demographic would yield better results. However, when Luc stepped in during the group Naomi couldn’t make, he had to ask different questions to ensure he understood where Respondents’ answers came from. Thus, leading to more in-depth, below top-of-mind insights for the research team.

The Client loved Luc’s moderating so much, they asked him to moderate the rest of the sessions!

I share this story as it outlines that it’s not always necessary for the Moderator to match the demographic of the people they speak to. A skilled, trained Moderator can talk to just about anyone about anything and get thorough results.

So, when is it important to match the Moderator and Respondent demographics?

The following are cases where it could be better served to have the Moderator and Respondent share demographics:

Written by: Brittany Mohammed, Qualitative Training & Research Specialist & Amber Tedesco, CEO