Our skills 

Over the past eleven years, Stormy Lake Consulting has developed and refined research expertise in a number of specific areas.

Academicliterature reviews– lead by our social psychologist, our academic literature reviews place particular emphasis on identifying peer-reviewed behaviouraltheories that can form the framework for a strategic plan.

Best / promising practices– through a combination of secondary research reviews and in-depth interviewing, we bring rigor, discipline and insight to best practice studies. 

Dialogic research– we are pioneers in a new field that builds on the strengths of qualitative research, public consultation and facilitation, called Dialogic Research. It embraces multiple perspectives in generative dialogue using projective tools to provoke discussions. This has been a very powerful tool that we have used in recent strategic and branding initiatives for Travel Alberta, ParksvilleQualicumBeach, the National Music Centre and Dalhousie University among others. 

Ethnographic research– immersing ourselves in people’s lives, watching what happens, listening to what is said, asking questions to more deeply understand behavioursand what drives them. 

Expert interviews– combining in-depth and academic research reviews, we are able to tap into the knowledge of global experts on virtually any topic. 

Forward-looking research – trend research that forecasts and anticipates key trends is extremely valuable. It is best accomplished through a combination of expert interviews, secondary research reviews, and in-depth analysis, along with a significant amount of judgment. 

Immigrant consultation– sometimes we conduct qualitative research in the participants’ primary language. Other times we conduct English-as-an-additional-language dialogue circles, using specific projective research techniques to surface the key stories and insights. 

In-depth qualitative interviewing– primarily through in-depth, one-hour long, one-on-one interviews, but also with focus groups and ethnographic studies. 

Photojournalism– bringing the reality of the lives of target audiences to life for clients through imagery and video. A well taken, well chosen, and honest photograph speaks volumes. Couple this with insightful questioning and the output of our photojournalistic research always makes an impression.

Secondary research reviews – combing existing research to identify previously unrecognized insights, both qualitative and quantitative.

Semiotic research – the study of how meaning is made within a culture, it looks broadly at cultural products such as popular media and at all the advertising, packaging and merchandising in a field, as a context for analysis. 

Trend research– forward-looking research that forecasts and anticipates key trends is extremely valuable. It is best accomplished through a combination of expert interviews, secondary research reviews, and in-depth analysis. And a significant amount of judgment

All of these tools are not required for each project. However, we are certain that, depending on the business problem that we are asked to help solve, we can use the right research tool to help us find the necessary insights.