Introducing this Spark
This AI Spark will implement a qualitative analysis process in Marketing Research classes. Classes will go through all the stages of performing a thematic qualitative analysis on focus group discussions. For every step of the project, students will create Gemini Gems and Gemini Notebook projects to: create a Statement of Work (phase 1), create a Focus Group Moderator Guide (phase 2) and a Pre-qualification Survey (phase 3), clean and anonymize Focus Group Transcripts (phase 4), perform Thematic Analysis (phase 5), and generate a Qualitative Report presentation (phase 6). Students will be trained on how to think and implement these stages, running validation tests at each stage. Students are also encouraged – for 15 extra points – to compete in the Best Gemini Gem or Gemini Notebook in class competitions at each stage of the analysis (e.g., develop the best Gemini Gem for creating the Focus Group Moderator Guide).
Learning Outcome
After completing this activity, students will be able to perform a qualitative marketing research analysis. They will also learn how to use AI ethically as an assistant partner.
This Spark directly supports the following course learning objectives:
- Understand various stages of the marketing research process.
- Become familiar with research terminology and methodologies.
- Develop a knowledge foundation to critically interpret marketing research reports and statistical claims.
- Develop skills for designing and conducting marketing research to inform strategic marketing decisions.
Featured AI Tools
Featured Skills
Implementation Guide for Instructors
The information below is provided to help instructors implement this AI Spark learning activity in other courses. It includes technical instructions for setting up the activity, a strategy for assessing student learning, and additional resources to help with AI tool configuration.
In the MAR4613 Marketing Research course, students will use and create a series of Gemini Notebook projects and Gemini Gems to implement and perform all stages of qualitative marketing research (through focus groups): (1) Statement of Work Creator Notebook, (2) Focus Group Moderator Guide Notebook, (3) Pre-qualification Survey Notebook, (4) Transcript Preparation for Thematic Analysis Notebook, (5) Thematic Analysis Notebook, and (6) Qualitative Report Notebook Storybook.
- Step 1: Experiential Project Sourcing: Secure an experiential project from a client (inside/outside your college). Perform focus group discussions with your students in class—Zoom transcripts serve as the focus group discussion files to be analyzed. (If live client cases are unavailable, use AI to generate 5-7 focus group discussion transcripts on a topic of interest).
- Step 2: Canvas Module Organization: Create a module in Canvas containing all raw transcripts, survey tools, and guidelines for each qualitative analysis stage. Upload an overview presentation mapping the multiphase journey leading to the final client report.
- Step 3: Phased In-Class Modeling: In each class session, walk students through an example AI-assisted analysis for that specific phase. Provide Notebook prompting formulas, unpack the underlying qualitative theory, and model validation checks to verify extracted insights against source transcripts.
- Step 4: Skillshop Training Prerequisite: Require students to complete Google Skillshop short courses on Google Gemini, Gems, and Gemini Notebook to earn foundational badges prior to running project phases.
- Step 5: Gamified Submission & Peer Review: Have each student group submit their Gemini Notebook chat transcript logs and deliverables at the end of each phase. Display the best chat in class for collective learning and award 15-20 bonus points to the winning group. Conclude the term with group presentations of their Notebook Storybooks.
In this AI-assisted experiential project, students will perform all the phases required in a qualitative analysis. They will learn (through class lecture) the theory of every phase and then implement/apply in Gemini Notebook/Gem each step as they solve the project for our class client. Students’ successful progression through all phases shows their learning. After each phase, students submit the Notebook Chat logs and their output files for review. Students also compete in Best Notebook competitions among all groups in class. All phases of the experiential project require students to interpret outputs/outcomes. The last phase, Qualitative Report, also focuses on interpreting all findings and insights from the entire analysis and communicating the story to the client for marketing decisions. Students will submit the Notebook Storybook to show their work. Best Storybook competitors are awarded extra points in class.
- Training Badging: Direct students to complete Google Skillshop modules for Gemini and Gemini Notebook to secure foundational fluency and profile badges.
- Key Behavioral Constraints: Analyze this problem strictly from the perspective of a marketing researcher focused on preparing transcripts for thematic analysis, through anonymization and cleaning. Use only the resources provided in this Notebook. If you do not have data beyond this knowledge cutoff, clearly state that you do not know rather than guessing. Only discuss how to prepare transcripts, for example, through anonymization and cleaning. If the user asks an unrelated question, politely pivot back and remind them that your role is to assist with preparing transcripts. After providing your suggestions/answers, ask the user to explain if they agree with your recommendation or they want something else. Ask them to explain why they want something different than what you suggest. Make sure the user thinks with you and does not take your suggestions as they are.
Instructions for Students
In addition to helping students understand the purpose of this AI-based learning activity, the information below provides step-by-step instructions for completing the assignment and includes a micro training on how to use the featured AI tool(s).
Think of AI in marketing like having a tireless junior assistant and a brilliant strategic director sitting at the desk next to you. In this course, two major tools do the heavy lifting:
- Gemini Chat & Gems (The Daily Workhorse): Used for speed, execution, and adaptability, drafting content, brainstorming angles, and automating repetitive tasks with custom pre-programmed instructions (Gems) that hold brand guidelines and formatting rules.
- Gemini Notebook (The Intelligence Engine): Used for deep input, data synthesis, and grounded analysis. It acts as a private research hub where all answers cite uploaded documents directly, eliminating web hallucinations and converting messy focus group data into client-ready insights.
- Log in to FSU AI Portal: In Google Chrome, confirm you are logged in with your institutional FSU credentials. Navigate to ai.fsu.edu, open the Student tab, and launch both Google Gemini and Gemini Notebook in separate tabs.
- Create Project Workspace: In Gemini Notebook, create a new Notebook titled: Prepare Transcripts: Student Perspectives on the Wertheim CoB
- Upload Primary Sources: Upload the 11 focus group transcript files provided in Canvas alongside the Pre-Qualification Survey into the Notebook Sources panel.
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Ground with Methodological Guidelines: In the Sources panel, run a web search using the following query: "Please search the Web for a good description of the rules and guidelines on how to prepare Focus Group Discussion transcripts for thematic analysis. In particular, I am looking for guidelines that discuss anonymizing the collected data. Show me only confirmed sources/web pages not broken links."
Review each identified source, verify its academic/professional validity, and add approved guidelines to your Notebook Sources.
- Workspace Customization: In the middle Notebook Chat section, click Customize and upload a project tile graphic (generate a custom visual in Gemini Chat via AI at FSU if needed).
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Initiate Qualitative Audit Persona: Enter the following structured persona prompt into the Notebook Chat:
"Hello. Thank you for being my assistant researcher. In this Notebook project, you are an expert qualitative researcher and have extensive experience in focus group marketing research, performing the entire process from start, writing a clear Statement of Purpose, all the way to creating an excellent Qualitative Research presentation for the client. The goal at this point of the analysis is to review the focus group transcripts I provided and double check that they are anonymous and clean to be ready for a thematic analysis. Please make sure you use the guidelines for cleaning and anonymizing transcripts as I attached. Please ask me questions and make suggestions if you think there is something I need to consider or adjust in my analysis. Ask me to explain my decisions if needed. Please start by showing me a table of the file name, the moderator who did that discussion and the participants present in that discussion. In the last column list any names you still find in each transcript."
- Collaborate & Audit: Interrogate the AI’s table, confirm participant anonymity, and defend your transcript-cleaning decisions.
What to Submit:
- Prepare Transcript Log: A PDF file of your complete Prepare Transcript chat box from Gemini Notebook.
- Thematic Analysis Log: A PDF file of your Thematic Analysis chat log PLUS a visual Mind Map of the thematic analysis displaying clear first-order codes, categorized code families, overarching themes, and supporting verbatim quotes.
- Qualitative Report Log: A finalized Notebook Storybook presentation built for the client along with the complete Qualitative Report chat log PDF.
- End-of-Term Reflection: A personal reflection summary analyzing your workflow, what AI surfaced effectively, and where human interpretation was indispensable.
What is a Gem? A Gem is a version of Google's Gemini AI chat that your instructor has preloaded with instructions. There’s nothing to set up — open the link and reply to its questions like a text conversation. Read more about Google Gems.
- Sign in. Open the Gem link and sign in with your Google account. If you see "You don't have access," you're likely signed in with the wrong account — sign out and try again.
- Send a message. Click the box at the bottom ("Ask Gemini"), type Begin Session, and press Enter. Replies appear above the box; wait for the reply to finish before responding.
- Reply in the same chat. The Gem remembers the whole conversation. Don't click "New chat", which will start the session over.
- Lost the page? Go to gemini.google.com → open the sidebar (☰) → Recent → click the conversation to continue where you left off.
- Copy the output. Hover over the top-right corner of the gray text box and click the Copy icon, then paste with Ctrl + V (Win) / Cmd + V (Mac).
- Good to know. Type text, rather than use voice (Gems don't work with Gemini Live). Don't enter passwords or sensitive personal information. Keep in mind that the Gem may ask you to expand a short answer.
- Access via FSU. Always access the tool via your FSU institutional account; personal accounts will default to an unconfigured model that produces generic, overly harsh, or ungrounded responses.
What is Gemini Notebook? Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) is an AI study tool from Google that works only from the files you give it. Upload your course materials, then ask questions or generate study aids; every answer is drawn from your sources, with citations. Read more about Gemini Notebook.
- Sign in. Go to notebook.google.com and sign in with your FSU Google account.
- Create a notebook. Click “Create new notebook”, then upload your first source. Click the notebook title at the top to rename it.
- Add sources. In the left Sources panel, click + Add. You can upload PDFs, Google Docs/Slides, paste a website link, or add a YouTube video. Uploaded sources appear in the list with a checkbox – leave them checked so Notebook uses them.
- Know the three panels. Left = Sources (your files). Middle = Chat (ask questions; answers include numbered citations you can click to see the original passage). Right = Studio (one-click study aids).
- Generate a study aid. In Studio, click a tile such as Flashcards, Quiz, Mind Map, Infographic, Report, Slide Deck, or Audio Overview. Generation takes a few seconds to a few minutes; the finished item appears in the Studio list.
- How to play an Audio Overview:
- Locate the Notebook guide: Look at the top-right corner of your screen for the Notebook guide panel. If it isn't visible, click the Notebook guide button in the upper right to open it.
- Find the Audio Overview tile: Inside the Notebook guide panel, locate the section labeled Audio Overview. If one has already been generated, you will see an audio player card displaying a title and playback duration.
- Press Play: Click the circular Play button on the audio card.
- Use playback controls: Once playing, a player bar appears where you can pause, skip backward or forward 15 seconds, adjust volume, or change the playback speed (e.g., 1.25x or 1.5x). You can also click the three-dot menu on the card to download the audio file to your device.
- Customize or revise. Before generating, click the pencil icon on a tile to describe what you want (e.g., "focus on chapters 3-4, harder questions"). To revise something already made, type the change in Chat or regenerate with a new prompt.
- Good to know. Upload only course materials and reliable sources – Notebook is only as accurate as what you give it. Your notebooks save automatically and stay in your account. Take screenshots with Win + Shift + S (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + 4 (Mac).