me

I’m a real human, working with another real human (that’s you), to understand how other humans (your clients and your clients’ customers) feel and think about your products and services.

Even when we are exploring a slice of big data, we are studying people. What could be more fascinating?

SQMRC is Carol M. Booton, Ph.D., an independent marketing researcher specializing in consumer and business-to-business research. I also dabble in organizational development research, higher education assessment, service quality research, and marketing research training for small business owners. I’m also learning WordPress and SEO, and developing my content marketing skills. See my academic research here.

About me

Here are some “facts” about me. I use the word facts loosely, because you and I both know that people are a lot more complicated than personality tests can reveal. This is probably more than you want to know, but when you hire a marketing researcher, you should know what you are getting. So here goes.

First, the MBTI. That’s the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. I’m currently wavering between INFP and INFJ. The INFPs, according to the Myers & Briggs Foundation, are idealistic, and loyal to their values and to people who are important to them. We want an external life that is congruent with our values. We are curious, quick to see possibilities, and can be catalysts for implementing ideas. We seek to understand people and to help them fulfill their potential. INFPs are adaptable, flexible, and accepting (unless a value is threatened, then Katie bar the door!). INFJs, in contrast, seek meaning and connection in ideas, relationships, and material possessions. We want to understand what motivates people and are insightful about others. We are conscientious and committed to our values. We develop a clear vision about how best to serve the common good. We are organized and decisive in implementing our vision. Now that I’m reading this, I think I’m feeling more like an INFJ by the minute.

Now the enneagram. I’m mostly a 5 on the enneagram scale. A friend encouraged me to find out what enneagram sign I am (is that the right way to say it? Like, hi, I’m Carol, I’m a Libra?) And apparently I have a 4 on my wing. The 5 represents the Investigator/Observer. The 4 is the Romantic Individualist. Most of me thinks the world is invasive and confusing, which makes sense because I am an introvert. My driving force is to understand the world. That may explain my fascination with social research. My biggest fear (according to one enneagram source) is that I will be overwhelmed by the world. Well, whatever. I don’t think the enneagram is widely used in the corporate world, but it is becoming wildly popular among a certain swath of small business owners.

DiSC Assessment. According to the DiSC assessment tool, I score a moderately high C. (Wasn’t there a drink called High C once?) Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness, or sometimes you’ll see it as Dominance, Inducement, Submission, and Compliance. I found out my score at a teacher-training event led by an excited trainer, who exhorted the 60 people in the room to segregate themselves based on the DiSC personality descriptions that he read to us. The exuberant extroverted Ds gathered in one corner, laughing and talking loudly. The Cs assembled stoically in the opposite corner, observing the proceedings with critical eyes. I don’t remember what the I’s and S’s were doing, because I was too busy being critical. Of the possible personality types, I believe I am a mix of Investigator, Objective Thinker, and Perfectionist.

Optimist or Pessimist? I took the Authentic Happiness test to find out. I predicted I would be a Pessimist; I was shocked to discover I am an Optimist. That means I tend to see negative events as temporary and fleeting and positive events as permanent and enduring. This assessment took place at a faculty in-service two months before we found out our campus would be closing in one month, which leads me to wonder if the results would have been different had I taken the test two months later.

Big Five. Another workplace model for categorizing people is the Big Five Personality Trait assessment. I went online and found a free one to take. I don’t know how good it is, though. The test site offered me the chance to take another short assessment for their own nefarious research purposes (my kind of people!). Being a research junkie may backfire on me; of course, I filled in their survey. They asked me some vocabulary questions, a few questions about the economy, asked me what country I live in, and then delivered my results, which were rife with spelling errors. It’s possible my anti-virus software will soon be getting a workout. Still, the test results confirmed one thing I have known for years: I am definitely not an Extrovert. I scored a 2.4 (of 5) on the Extraversion scale. None of this really matters all that much, though, does it? There isn’t a lot of evidence to support the claim that the Big Five Personality Traits can predict workplace performance.

Is there anything else you would like to know about me? This should cover anything that is left.

  • I am a native of Portland, Oregon.
  • I dislike rain.
  • I spent 20 years in Los Angeles.
  • I have been an artist, a costume designer, a gardener, a secretary, a college instructor, a school bus driver, and briefly, an editor. I also worked at three market research companies in Los Angeles.
  • English is my first language.
  • I studied French in high school and Spanish in college, but art was my favorite subject.
  • I’m a baby boomer.
  • Four of my top five strengths are strategic.
  • I wrote my first book (500 pages of notebook paper) when I was 12 years old.
  • I love research, both academic and commercial.
  • I like trying to understand people, because people are interesting to me.
  • I like to jog, but I’m very slow, and I’m not competitive.
  • I once ran the L.A. marathon (very slowly). I finished.
  • I live with an indoor cat in a shack on the shoulder of an extinct volcano.
  • I enjoy reading science fiction and fantasy, especially in the bath.
  • I love to write. I love to read. I love to learn.
  • I have a half-finished screenplay (who doesn’t?)
  • I like to take photographs, although I’m not very good at it.
  • I like helping people succeed.

Research interests

My research interests are varied. They include:

  • Academic quality in higher education
  • Service quality
  • Marketing strategy
  • Marketing research for small business
  • For-profit higher education
  • Adult vocational education
  • Qualitative methods
  • Systems thinking
  • Art and art marketing
  • Work-integrated learning
  • Organizational development research
  • Small business
  • Coaching and training

Education

Northcentral University, Ph.D. Business Administration (Marketing/Management), 2013

Portland State University, B.S. Fine Art, 2000

California State University, B.S. Business Administration, 1992

Relevant work history

Service Quality Marketing Research & Communications (SQMRC), owner and principle researcher, launched 2013

Pioneer Pacific College, Business and General Education instructor, 2003-2013