Projective techniques

There are a number of these tests which are often used within individual depth interviews or focus group. However, I have also seem them appended to (otherwise quantitative) questionnaires, where a qualitative component has been thought useful. The aim of projective is to overcome barriers of communication and subconscious attitudes and feeling. What we do (and what we buy) reflects what kind of person we are. Direct questioning may not reveal true feelings because people can falsify information to impress. To uncover the motivations behind the self-image that people project needs a technique that people see as non-personal.

Some examples of these techniques are:

• Sentence completion
• Word association
• Cartoon completion
• Picture interpretation
• Third person technique

For the last test, see the Mason Haire (Nescafe) study in Enis & Cox.