It's our job, and we thrive on it. We also know how to keep difficult respondents from ruining the group, or unanticipated issues from sabotaging the objectives. Experienced Experience gives the Pro breadth of understanding and a highly developed BS Detector. Professionals don't take opinions at face value. And Pros are not easily fooled by rationalizations.
Pros get beyond the rationalizations to the motivations.
There is no need to appear knowledgeable to respondents. The Pro knows that some of the best information comes from questioning the conventional wisdom of an industry, so pros will explore a whole gamut of issues, from the subtle to the obvious. Industries tend to be in-bred and wedded to particular ways of doing things. The Pro can challenge this. Pros Get to Real Meaning Pros can cut through industry terminology and jargon to get to the respondents' real meaning and understanding.