Moderator (for Research)
What is it? A moderator is the person who conducts or facilitates 1:1 interviews, or other type of research sessions (e.g. group discussion). They build rapport, apply strategies (e.g. projectives) to handle various situations, probe responses and engage participants in the discussion, while collecting qualitative data and moving the discussion along. They can moderate in-person, virtually via webcam or chat, or via a bulletin board. A moderated session is run by a moderator.
When is it best used? A moderator is used in most types of qualitative research. Occasionally an individual interview can be self moderated (e.g. a video app).
What does it entail? The moderator is most often the same person as the lead researcher. Both lead researcher / moderator are fluent in the research objective, stakeholder needs, and discussion / topic guide. The moderator is always responsible for facilitating the research sessions to meet the study’s objectives.
The lead researcher is usually responsible for the research design, analyzing the learnings, authoring the final outputs /n deliverables and sharing them with the team / stakeholders. Lead researchers may also oversee participant recruitment, scheduling, incentives as well as selecting the venue or platform used for the research.)
Interchangeable term: Facilitator, Interviewer, Lead Researcher
Use in a sentence: The moderator of the study kept the research participants organized by reading them instructions and asking them questions so they stayed on track.
Related Terms: interview, qualitative
Visual: No
Additional Resources
Articles
How to Moderate User Interviews from Interaction Design Foundation
The Art of the User Interview from Springboard
How to Build Better Rapport in User Interviews from GV Library
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Additional Resources from Curiosity Tank
