How do I know that?

It’s a good question to ask respondents – but maybe put a bit more politely – ‘tell me what makes you think that?’ ‘How come you’ve come to that conclusion?’ etc…

But it’s the best question that researchers should ask themselves…

…how do I know that? What was it I observed, heard, thought about that makes it so…

Edward Tufte (the famous infographics man) says it’s the most important question. He wants us to see more clearly (to have a seeing brain) and he thinks we need to ask ourselves – how do I know that as a way of nudging ourselves to see better.

An argument for more observations in research, and definitely the most important question to ask when we are analysing our results