Lipstick on a pig - Getting the tastiest pork from Japanese qualitative research

This article discusses qualitative research (focus groups) in Japan, which, the author argues, is often not true qualitative research at all but really quantitative in disguise.

Lipstick on a pig: Getting the tastiest pork from Japanese qualitative research

James ParsonsFlamingo Tokyo

INTRODUCTION

President Obama's newsworthy phrase used during the US election campaign was thought by some to be a reference to Sarah Palin (an assumption perhaps not without value). The official version, of course, is that he was referring specifically to his opponent's economic manifesto – and to the notion that however prettily you package something, its unfavourable underlying reality remains the same.

It's a handy phrase for thinking about qualitative research in Japan.

Whilst qualitative research in Japan is, typically, 'packaged' in the same...

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