Researchers often have a rigid set of profiles or personas in mind that they would like to meet with that don’t allow space for some of the more interesting things that come up in the recruiting process.
I worked with a client one time on an end of life project, exploring everything from financial planning to where they would be laid to rest. They were interested in meeting with 12 people ultimately and decided to be very specific about 10 of the profiles and leave the other two open for discovery, i.e. anything interesting that came up during the course of the recruit.
Many times there are extreme profiles that surface and if the profiles are too structured it doesn’t allow consideration for some people that can yield interesting perspectives and insights. In this case the team ended up meeting with Care Consultant (who knew this existed?) that took on a full range of services for her clients on this subject matter, working with them to design their end of life and a retired project manager that has entitled this their “death project”.