ABSTRACT
Qualitative research is rightly associated with in-depth studies of human experience, in which time is taken to sit with people, hear their stories and give them an opportunity to explore the nuances of their opinions and reminiscences. Such studies are therefore usually small-scale, giving close attention to relatively few participants, and seeking insights from the quality and depth of the data, rather than its quantity and replicability. This chapter, however, reflects on the experience of conducting large-scale qualitative research. Drawing upon the Understanding Audiences for the Contemporary Arts (UACA) project, which involved in-depth interviews with 187 audience members across four UK cities, this chapter considers the benefits of large-scale qualitative research, and the challenges of collecting and analysing such huge volumes of interview data. Themes are brought to light on this larger scale that are often overlooked in audience studies, such as the context in which attendance at specific events takes place, the understanding that audience members have of the cultural ecology of their location and the extent to which they are ‘at capacity’ or open to changing their attendance habits. The chapter concludes with reflections on the ethics and emotional dimensions of qualitative research, and the extent to which these are often gendered and undervalued.
