From gossiping to high-quality research for decision-making

Before we break down how qualitative research can help us leverage our day-to-day decision-making, we must first grasp the fundamental basics of gossip—in particular, high-quality gossip.

Let’s start at the beginning. Some researchers believe that gossip is ingrained in our evolutionary make-up.¹ Swapping stories once served as a survival skill,² acting as a “heuristic” or mental shortcut and reducing the burden of searching for, obtaining, and interpreting information about our environment. After all, there was already someone else who could provide us with the vital information we needed, without us having to waste energy and dig for it ourselves.^2,3

Gossip is still highly influential in modern times: it helps us build trusting relationships, strengthen friendships,² and reinforce our networks.⁴ Even higher up, gossip acts as a channel to communicate expected social norms and learn about our society's expectations surrounding our behavior.³ On the flip side, gossip allows us to identify individuals who do not comply with these social norms and may pose risks to us or our community, in this way acting as a “defense mechanism” of sorts.^1,4 

But do we all really gossip that much? The research says yes—regardless of our age, gender, and social class.⁵ Extroverts may gossip a bit more than introverts, but that's not to say that introverts don't enjoy a juicy story as well.⁶ According to Robert Dunbar, a renowned professor in Evolutionary Psychology at Oxford, we spend about 65% of our casual conversations gossiping.¹ (That, in case you missed it, is more than half of our time!) And gossip occurs in both public and private spaces—including (and especially in) the workplace. 

Moreover, gossip covers a wide range of topics. We gossip about those we know closely, those we don't know at all,⁶ and we may even gossip about ourselves.² We gossip about events that directly involve us and those that involve people distant from us. We are naturally drawn to learning about the ups and downs of other people's lives.³ Plus, don’t lie—most of us can’t resist talking about someone who isn’t there to defend themselves.

At this point, gossip is not just for survival, but for pure entertainment. It can also be a cathartic way to get out our anxiety and anger—or maybe even excitement.² In this way, gossiping is just another form of storytelling. Some research has even claimed that gossip can satisfy us almost as much as literature.² With these uses in mind, gossip surprisingly doesn't always have to have a negative connotation. Research has found that it can be quite neutral and, in fact, informative.^1,6 Which is exactly why gossip reliability should be a concern to us. 

We enjoy learning what happened, with whom, how, where, and why. We even speculate with fellow gossipers about motivations, scenarios, and consequences, trying to understand all of the juicy details of the situation. If all this is accompanied by photos, videos, and testimonies, it's even better… and, well, that sounds a lot like the basic components of qualitative research, doesn’t it? Moreover, we all frequently partake in gossip, using it to stay updated on the news and connect with others. This makes all of us the perfect participants for strengthening the quality of gossip through refined research methods.

As we have established, gossip is a huge part of our daily lives.^7,8 Since it serves many purposes, we often make important decisions based on it. This wouldn't be a problem if we could be certain that all of the information we received was accurate—or that we always understood gossip correctly in the first place. But unfortunately, this is never guaranteed. Gossip is a complex social construct that involves higher cognitive processes to interpret the figurative language commonly used, such as metaphors and innuendo, as well as nonverbal cues, like gestures or signaling.¹ It also requires us to understand or at least make inferences about the sender's intentions (which are not always governed by high ethical standards),² as well as verify whether the details are even at all factual.

One of the biggest challenges in accurately analyzing gossip is the presence of cognitive biases that interfere with receiving and analyzing information. Here are just three of them:

• Suggestibility: The tendency to alter our behavior based on other people's comments or suggestions.
• Illusory correlation: The tendency to draw connections between events, people, and actions that may not actually exist. 
• Illusion of validity: The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our judgments and interpretations, even if we are aware that we don't have the most comprehensive information available, nor the capacity to process all the data we receive.

For small choices that do not directly impact our lives or the lives of others—such as deciding whose side to take in the most recent celebrity breakup scandal—perhaps it’s okay to lean on gossip alone. But we cannot (well, we should not) make important decisions—such as investing all our savings or cutting ties with someone—solely based on rumors of dubious provenance or even bad intentions. Remember that there is no way we have the capacity to process all of the available information at once without biases slipping into play, or even determining what is true in the first place. In situations like these, it’s time that we level up our gossip, especially if we’re going to use it for decision-making.

Gossip involves the exchange of information about people, situations, or things often accompanied by an evaluative opinion—which is pretty much the same procedure that we follow in scientific studies.

When researchers approach the natural environment where gossip originates, observe and talk to the people involved, engage in and try to understand social behaviors, and discuss their findings with others, they are conducting what we refer to as qualitative field research. This type of research aims to understand social phenomena and human behaviors in specific contexts through methods such as observation, interviews, and documentary analysis. Qualitative research is distinctive from quantitative research, which uses numerical data as its main source of information and can fall short when trying to understand a sticky situation like gossip. 

For gossip to be valuable and provide benefits while minimizing risks, it needs to be high quality. Qualitative research is particularly useful when the goal is to understand attitudes, behaviors, and processes over time, along with trying to decipher the complex meaning behind them.9 Esteemed social science researchers and methodologists have shared numerous suggestions and established standards to level up the quality of our inquiries. Here are three basic steps on how to achieve just this.

1. Define the scope of your gossip

No matter how hard we try, it is ultimately impossible for us to know everything about everyone. If we want complete and good-quality gossip, we need to define not only what we want, but what we want it for. This involves both deciding whom we will investigate (what we call “the unit of analysis”) as well as the purpose of our inquiry. 

Just as how gossip varies in scope, the same goes for qualitative research. Do you know very little about your subject and are just starting to get acquainted with it? Then your research will be exploratory. Do you want to identify and report on situations and events with precision? Then your research will be descriptive. Do you want to explain why something happens in the first place? Then your research will be explanatory.⁹ 

No matter what your case may be, you must be clear about how far you want to go with your inquiry since, based on that decision, you will decide the next steps for analyzing your gossip. 

2. Identify the best gossipers, define the ideal method for obtaining information, and do good fieldwork

Although many people may have an opinion about the topic you’re interested in exploring, not everyone will be able to provide the juicy and factually correct details you desire. You will also need to think about the appropriate way to obtain accurate information considering the topic you are inquiring about.¹⁰ If you want to collect and examine textual data (Panama Papers?); audio, video, or images (paparazzi!); testimonies (as seen on Mindhunter); or artifacts (such as sculptures or furniture), then a qualitative approach is what you’re looking for.

Once we have a plan in place, the best strategy would be to lay the groundwork for gathering information about the gossip. Before directly contacting those with juicy details (in this case, we’ll call them your participants), it's important to search for existing information. A literature review would be the traditional approach for this (but stalking someone's Instagram account to try to get a sense of their history is also an option) to better understand previous discussions or interpretations of the topic. 

Once in the field, it's crucial to build communication and trust with the right people, that is establishing rapport. During conversations with participants—whether those be in interviews, focus groups, or similar set-ups—we must stay focused on our main interest while remaining open to stumbling upon other valuable gossip. It is also crucial to do our best to identify trustworthy sources and verify documents or other data we have obtained; we can do this by cross-checking the information provided and our findings (the fancy way of saying this is triangulation).¹²

3. Not only do we have to gather data, but analyze it to tell a story

Data is most valuable when we can make sense of it and construct a clear and plausible narrative about our investigations—which pretty much means finding a good storyline for our gossip. This is achieved through a systematic analysis of the data collected to help us understand what it is about, what goes with what, and so on. We can do this by looking for patterns and themes, categorizing and grouping data, making comparisons, and identifying relationships.¹¹ Additionally, in order for gossip and social research to be considered useful, it is important to communicate our findings to those who have not experienced it firsthand.

Finally, two important considerations for all three of the above steps are the need for validity and reliability, along with prioritizing the ethical aspects of our inquiry.

1. In the context of gossip, validity and reliability—two key features of quantitative research—can be understood as trustworthiness. This combines how believable the information is (credibility), to what degree the gossip emitter is allowing their values to come into play (confirmability), and its replicability to other contexts (transferability) and times (dependability).¹² 

Achieving trustworthiness requires regular check-ups on our data. This involves giving extra consideration to outliers that deviate from patterns, utilizing various methods and sources to validate information, disregarding unreliable connections, and confirming our interpretations with original sources.¹¹ Additionally, we must reflect on our own impact as researchers on the context, informants, data, and interpretations; this exercise is known as reflexivity.¹³

1. The ethics of social research go beyond simply being a good person. When conducting research, it's important to consider that such inherently involves intruding into the lives of others and hence should warrant their voluntary participation. When gathering information and spreading gossip—by this, I mean sharing the results—we must try our best to protect confidentiality and anonymity as well as avoid harming those who have shared their precious information with us.⁹

Gossip is a common part of human behavior and serves various purposes, ranging from necessary survival to fun entertainment. Although gossip can have negative consequences, it can also be informative and valuable—that is if it's approached systematically. Qualitative research methods, such as observation, interviews, and document analysis, can be used to gather high-quality gossip and use it for informed decision-making. This involves defining the scope of the inquiry, identifying reliable sources, conducting rigorous fieldwork, and analyzing the data to construct a coherent narrative. Maintaining the trustworthiness and ethical integrity of the research process is crucial to ensure the reliability and validity of the gathered gossip.

Here at TDL, we are committed to improving decision-making because we believe that better decisions lead to a better world. This is the very reason why we’re in the behavioral science field in the first place. Plus, if we’re being honest, we also love gossip. But, to make the most of it, we make sure to follow a clear set of criteria for what constitutes good work (what we refer to as SPICE). This includes creating positive and fair outcomes for individuals, organizations, and societies and using evidence as our compass.

If you recognize the value of gathering insightful gossip from your beneficiaries, customers, employees, or other stakeholders to enhance your organization's decision-making, don't hesitate to reach out to us! We are eager to engage in high-level gossip, promoting social consciousness, and providing evidence-based insights to maximize the benefits for you.