Qualitative Research Job Trends

Qualitative Research
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Qualitative Research skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 1 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 622 690 671
Rank change year-on-year +68 -19 +181
Permanent jobs citing Qualitative Research 29 21 42
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.049% 0.038% 0.082%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.060% 0.042% 0.089%
Number of salaries quoted 16 7 33
10th Percentile £44,016 £44,300 £37,750
25th Percentile £53,125 £50,000 £41,498
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £63,076 £65,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -2.96% +8.33% +9.09%
75th Percentile £68,750 £76,750 £82,500
90th Percentile £72,500 £96,100 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £63,076 £36,500 £43,235
% change year-on-year +72.81% -15.58% -13.53%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Qualitative Research falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 48,455 49,716 46,950
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 81.91% 90.02% 91.47%
Number of salaries quoted 28,359 24,660 35,854
10th Percentile £28,500 £35,000 £31,552
25th Percentile £36,500 £45,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £80,000 £80,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £49,000 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -10.91% +4.76% -4.50%

Qualitative Research
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Qualitative Research relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Qualitative Research job vacancy trend in the UK

Qualitative Research
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Qualitative Research.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Qualitative Research over the 6 months to 1 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Qualitative Research in the UK

Qualitative Research
Top 12 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Qualitative Research within the UK over the 6 months to 1 January 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England +82 27 £63,076 -2.96% 29
Work from Home +89 19 £63,076 +26.15% 15
London +32 12 £50,000 -25.93% 23
UK excluding London +63 11 £63,076 +72.81% 16
Midlands - 6 £64,038 -
North of England +26 5 £63,076 +72.81% 2
East Midlands - 4 - -
West Midlands - 2 £64,038 -
Yorkshire - 2 £63,076 -
North East - 2 £64,038 -
North West +23 1 £63,076 +72.81% 2
South East +21 1 - - 10

Qualitative Research
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 1 (3.45%) ArcGIS
Applications
1 1 (3.45%) Adobe XD
1 1 (3.45%) Microsoft Excel
1 1 (3.45%) Sketch
1 1 (3.45%) UserZoom
Cloud Services
1 2 (6.90%) Figma
1 2 (6.90%) Google Analytics
1 2 (6.90%) Microsoft Copilot
1 2 (6.90%) Power Platform
2 1 (3.45%) Adobe Analytics
2 1 (3.45%) Contentsquare
2 1 (3.45%) Miro
Communications & Networking
1 1 (3.45%) Broadband
1 1 (3.45%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (6.90%) Power BI
2 1 (3.45%) MS Access
General
1 10 (34.48%) Social Skills
2 9 (31.03%) Finance
3 7 (24.14%) Banking
3 7 (24.14%) Organisational Skills
3 7 (24.14%) Public Sector
4 4 (13.79%) Analytical Skills
5 3 (10.34%) Influencing Skills
6 1 (3.45%) Electronics
6 1 (3.45%) Games
6 1 (3.45%) Law
6 1 (3.45%) Manufacturing
6 1 (3.45%) Marketing
6 1 (3.45%) Presentation Skills
6 1 (3.45%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 17 (58.62%) User Researcher
2 14 (48.28%) Senior
3 7 (24.14%) Senior User Experience Researcher
3 7 (24.14%) User Experience Researcher
4 6 (20.69%) Senior User Researcher
5 3 (10.34%) Analyst
6 2 (6.90%) Artificial Intelligence Analyst
6 2 (6.90%) Designer
6 2 (6.90%) Product Analyst
7 1 (3.45%) Digital User Researcher
7 1 (3.45%) Lead
7 1 (3.45%) Product Designer
7 1 (3.45%) Research Analyst
7 1 (3.45%) Senior Designer
7 1 (3.45%) Senior Product Designer
7 1 (3.45%) Statistical Analyst
7 1 (3.45%) Statistical Data Analyst
7 1 (3.45%) Statistical Researcher
7 1 (3.45%) User Experience Manager
7 1 (3.45%) UX Designer
Miscellaneous
1 3 (10.34%) Product Ownership
2 2 (6.90%) Self-Motivation
3 1 (3.45%) Social Media
Processes & Methodologies
1 29 (100.00%) Quantitative Research
2 28 (96.55%) User Research
3 25 (86.21%) Actionable Insight
4 21 (72.41%) User Experience
5 20 (68.97%) Agile
6 17 (58.62%) Usability Testing
7 15 (51.72%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
8 11 (37.93%) Stakeholder Management
9 10 (34.48%) Decision-Making
10 9 (31.03%) Service Design
11 8 (27.59%) Business Strategy
11 8 (27.59%) Diary Studies
11 8 (27.59%) Mentoring
11 8 (27.59%) Roadmaps
11 8 (27.59%) UX Research
12 7 (24.14%) Conjoint Analysis
12 7 (24.14%) Customer-Centricity
12 7 (24.14%) Product Management
13 6 (20.69%) Customer Experience
13 6 (20.69%) Interaction Design
Programming Languages
1 3 (10.34%) R
2 2 (6.90%) Python
Qualifications
1 7 (24.14%) SC Cleared
1 7 (24.14%) Security Cleared
2 4 (13.79%) Degree
3 2 (6.90%) BPSS Clearance
4 1 (3.45%) DV Cleared
4 1 (3.45%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (51.72%) Accessibility
2 7 (24.14%) Actionable Recommendations
3 2 (6.90%) PMO
Vendors
1 3 (10.34%) Microsoft
2 2 (6.90%) Adobe
2 2 (6.90%) Google
2 2 (6.90%) Mercator
3 1 (3.45%) Mapinfo
3 1 (3.45%) SAP