11 May 2000
AQRP has new name
At an Extraordinary General Meeting held on 11 May, at London's Grafton Hotel, AQRP members voted to change the name of the Association to AQR (Association for Qualitative Research). Out of 217 votes cast, 202 were for the motion, 11 against, and there were four spoilt papers. Since this took the numbers for over the 75% majority demanded by the Articles of the Association, the vote was carried.
The reason for the proposed change is simple. "Since its humble beginnings in the early '80s, the AQRP's membership has grown to include academics, clients, field personnel, planners, client-side researchers, recruiters, studio managers - the list goes on," says AQRP chair Rachel Ormrod. "This broad range means that a focus on practitioners, the 'P' of AQRP, no longer reflects our rank and file." There are other, more lightweight, reasons, too. A three-syllable acronym will, hopefully, encourage people to enunciate each one or use its full name, the Association for Qualitative Research. AQRP was embarrassingly close to 'burp' and 'twerp' when pronounced in a hurry. We need a name which reflects our aim of becoming the definitive role for everyone interested in the professionalism of qualitative research, and AQR seems to fit the bill.