Research — What We Do

Qualitative research for public-impact decisions.

PRC Impact designs and leads qualitative research for organizations that need a real understanding of the people their decisions, programs, and messages affect.

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Our Research Lens

We study how people think, decide, and respond in their own language.

We specialize in research involving communities where trust, cultural context, and careful facilitation shape what you actually learn.

This includes work with Black residents and families, women and caregivers, voters, rural and Southern communities, and people directly affected by public systems.

Service Lines

Each engagement is designed around the decision, audience, and context in front of us.

Qualitative Research Studies

End-to-end design and execution, including question framing, sample design, fieldwork, analysis, and strategic recommendations. Led personally, start to finish.

Focus Groups, Interviews, and Listening Sessions

RIVA-certified moderation and qualitative facilitation. Available as full-service research support or moderator-only support.

Message and Issue Research

Research into how language, framing, and positioning land with the audiences your strategy depends on. Clients receive guidance on what works, what falls flat, and why — before it goes public.

Strategy From the Findings

We translate research into recommendations for policy, communications, planning, engagement, and next steps.

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How We Work

  1. Clarify the decision

    We begin with the decision, message, or strategy the research needs to inform.

  2. Design the study

    We shape the audience, method, questions, and fieldwork around the context.

  3. Listen carefully

    We conduct focus groups, interviews, or listening sessions with senior-led facilitation.

  4. Analyze and interpret

    We identify patterns, tensions, language, and implications.

  5. Translate findings into strategy

    Clients receive clear recommendations they can use for planning, messaging, engagement, or decision-making.

Frequently Asked Questions

A few of the questions clients ask before we begin.

What types of organizations does PRC Impact work with?

PRC Impact works with public agencies, nonprofits, coalitions, campaigns, foundations, and mission-driven organizations making decisions that affect communities, public trust, or civic life. We are a good fit for organizations that need more than surface feedback and want research that can inform strategy, messaging, planning, or engagement.

What kinds of research do you conduct?

We conduct qualitative research, including focus groups, interviews, listening sessions, stakeholder conversations, message testing, issue research, and field-based studies. Each engagement is designed around the decision, audience, and context in front of us.

What is qualitative research?

Qualitative research helps organizations understand how people think, feel, decide, interpret language, and experience an issue. It is especially useful when a decision depends on trust, context, communication, public support, or lived experience.

What is the difference between a focus group and a listening session?

A focus group is usually a structured research conversation with a specific audience and discussion guide. A listening session may be more open-ended and is often used when organizations need to understand community experience, concerns, or context before making decisions. Both can be useful. The right method depends on the question you need answered.

Do you only conduct focus groups?

No. Focus groups are one method. We also conduct interviews, listening sessions, stakeholder conversations, message and issue research, and strategy sessions based on findings. The method depends on what you need to learn and who needs to be heard.

Do you provide moderator-only support?

Yes. PRC Impact can provide moderator-only support for organizations, agencies, or research partners that already have a study design, screener, recruitment process, or discussion guide in place. We also provide full-service qualitative research from design through final recommendations.

Where AI Fits in Our Work

We use AI where it sharpens analysis. We do not use it to replace the listening itself.

Qualitative research depends on what is said, what is unsaid, and what becomes visible only when a senior researcher pays close attention.

We use AI to support analysis, identify patterns across transcripts, surface themes, and stress-test interpretation. It accelerates rigor. It does not replace it.

Clients know exactly how we are working with their data. Tools in use, what stays in our hands, and how sensitive material is handled are documented before the engagement begins.