‘What influenced your decision to study at your chosen university?’

Ask a bunch of students and you’ll hear them recount personal stories about why they chose to study at their university: it was the interesting course content, the reputation of the university, or the good feeling they got at the Open Day.

University marketing teams often conduct focus groups and surveys as we seek to understand what drives students’ decision making. We use these insights to inform the content and campaigns we create. So far, so normal.

But research suggests these decision-making stories may be just that, stories. Our judgments can be influenced by a messy set of factors beyond our conscious awareness.

Diary studies are a great research method to gather real-time, self-reported experiences across time. Here’s how to plan and design your diary study to uncover what you need to know.

Card sorts are so incredibly versatile for audience research – and they’re really simple to set up and complete. Our Research Analyst shares a few ways that we’ve used card sorts creatively.

An appraisal should serve you and your goals – and workshop activities can provide the space for you to explore that collaboratively. Our Research Analyst shares a few activities to help you reflect on your role whilst imagining your progression.

Our Senior Content Strategist reflects on how we can creatively use our intranets to express the key priorities and values within our university strategies.

Survey segmentation is a great way to get more out of your data. Robert looks at how to break down your audience and what to do with the answers.