{"id":5584,"date":"2023-10-16T14:47:22","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T13:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/50mm.sportspromedia.com\/?p=5584"},"modified":"2023-10-16T16:09:31","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T15:09:31","slug":"why-qualitative-research-is-vital-when-measuring-athlete-marketability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/50mm.sportspro.com\/analysis\/2023\/why-qualitative-research-is-vital-when-measuring-athlete-marketability\/","title":{"rendered":"Why qualitative research is vital when measuring athlete marketability"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

This year marks the first time in the 14-year history of SportsPro\u2019s 50 Most Marketable Athletes<\/a> (50MM) that qualitative research has been integrated with quantitative metrics to determine the final ranking. Doing so has allowed us to continue to raise the bar on providing the most comprehensive understanding of an athlete\u2019s marketability.<\/strong><\/p>

The integration of qualitative research into our 50MM athlete marketability model was always part of NorthStar\u2019s vision upon partnering with SportsPro in 2022, when we set out to reimagine and construct the most complete picture of athlete marketability in the sports industry. It has now become a reality in the second year of our long-term partnership.<\/p>

Through qualitative research, we\u2019ve been able to obtain a rich, storytelling understanding of what athletes are saying or expressing on a variety of topics essential to measuring athlete marketability that can\u2019t be captured in quantitative measurements or through automated processes.<\/p>

There are several types of qualitative research, each with its own processes, methodologies, and applications, such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, and open-ended survey questions. The qualitative research method we integrated into the model for this year\u2019s 50MM was a social media ethnography, which captured the athletes\u2019 organic, unfiltered conversations shared about themselves on social media.<\/p>

The social media ethnography consisted of the following approach:<\/p>