Many researchers will dismiss contradictions as just being noise and will focus on the main story. I won’t do that because I know that sometimes contradictions are hiding treasure.
I once did a segmentation study for a brand that targeted the youth market. They wanted to better understand the types of young people who exist in the world along with their values, attitudes, and behaviors. I collected a large amount of data and tried grouping them in many different ways. Every time, I had one group of young people who made no sense. They believed one thing and did another. Many agencies would have ignored or discarded them. Instead, I investigated because my experience working with segmentations told me there was more going on here. I talked to people I knew and asked about the young people in their lives. I examined the group from every possible angle, until finally, the answer appeared. This was a group of “cool wannabes” who cared deeply about what other people thought of them. Everything about their stated values and behaviors matched what was popular, even when those statements contradicted, as they often did. Their inconsistency was their truth.
With that knowledge, I was able to give the client results where all the segments made sense and were useful. The “cool wannabe” group ended up being the favorite of the client because it was true to the way some young people behave, and an understanding of the mindset of the group gave the brand a rich picture to aid with their marketing and product design.
Contradictory data can be hiding an opportunity that deserves deeper investigation before it is discarded.
