Family Research seeks youthful niche in market research. (Family Research Group, marketing research firm specializing in children and families) (Company Profile)

Imagine a room full of 7-year-olds trying on adhesive bandages. Or a group of mothers and babies testing disposable bibs. Barbara Gassaway makes her living observing such behavior, an activity she calls "stimulating."

Owner of the Family Research Group, Gassaway operates a marketing research facility that does qualitative research, exploring in-depth attitudes and opinions about consumer products through focus groups and observational studies.

In English, "We provide consumer feedback," Gassaway said.

Though she just opened Family Research in Federal Hill last month, Gassaway spent nine years as marketing director of the research division of Child Growth and Development Corp., a company founded 20 years ago by Richard Chase, a Johns Hopkins University associate professor of psychology and behavioral science. The company, headquartered in …