Market Research

Photo of employee David Kennedy

2/18/09

Seth’s five tips for better online surveys

How to improve online surveys?  Ask anyone that creates or takes surveys and you’ll probably get an opinion.  We’ve even chimed in on the topic in the past. (And on another Seth post.) Seth Godin recently posted Five tips for better online surveys, and, as usual, we have our own two cents to contribute. 1. Every […]

By David KennedyRead More

Photo of employee David Kennedy

2/10/09

Ski surveys

We’ve talked plenty about good survey methodology, sampling, and making sure you’re getting the right information, and here is another excellent example: I was up in the mountains this past week skiing and decided to demo (i.e. try out) some new skis.  So, I went to the shop at the resort and tried several different […]

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Photo of employee David Kennedy

1/29/09

Observation rooms … they’re not just for focus groups

My wife is a fourth year veterinary student at Colorado State University, and on a recent visit to the veterinary teaching hospital I noticed they had several focus group rooms – sort of. I recognized the rooms immediately – two-way glass, audio and video recording, etc.  Instead of group discussions though, they use the rooms […]

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Photo of employee Beth Mulligan

1/27/09

What are we weighting for?

Let’s say that you just conducted a public survey of your community for a community needs assessment.  In your community, 29% of residents are between age 18 and 34, and 29% are age 55 or older.  Yet among your survey respondents, 8% are  aged 18-34, while 52% are aged 55 or older (this is a […]

By Beth MulliganRead More

Photo of employee Beth Mulligan

1/19/09

Tradeoffs between survey length and cooperation

In a previous post we discussed how survey length can indirectly drive up participation recruitment costs.  Another often-ignored consequence of long surveys is poor quality data that may or may not be easy to identify.  Even conscientious participants lose the desire to be cooperative as a survey drags on.  By the sixth page, or the […]

By Beth MulliganRead More

Photo of employee David Kennedy

1/12/09

The not so ultimate question?

In a recent edition of Quirk’s Marketing Research Review, there was an article (Article ID: 20081004….requires registration, but it is free) on the Net Promoter Score (NPS).  The NPS has long been touted by many as the best way to measure customer satisfaction, and a key characteristic of the system is its simplicity. In case you […]

By David KennedyRead More

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1/8/09

Knowing your audience

One of the basic tenets of effective marketing is knowing your target market.  That principle is no less important, and may be even more so, when designing effective market research.  Whether your goal is to encourage people to use your product or service or to encourage them to participate in your study, knowing what motivates […]

By Matt HerndonRead More

Photo of employee David Kennedy

12/22/08

The many uses of surveys

We’ve blogged before about the many uses of research (it’s sort of like the many uses of duct tape), but this one is new to even us.  Apparently surveys can even be used to catch criminals.  No, not by complex analyses, but by tricking them into thinking they’ll receive $500 for participating in the research. […]

By David KennedyRead More

Photo of employee David Kennedy

12/11/08

Cutting through the clutter

As a fun experiment, I’ve kept track of all the chances I’ve recently had to complete a survey.  In the past two weeks I’m up to six (conservatively counting).  This includes a few invites from research panels, a student’s class project, a mail survey, and a customer feedback form.  This doesn’t count “fun surveys” such […]

By David KennedyRead More

Photo of employee David Kennedy

11/20/08

Long surveys

I heard the following conversation a few nights ago while on the bus ride home between the bus driver and a passenger regarding a survey that RTD was administering to a few riders on each bus. “That survey was like a book.” “It even had chapters.” “I think they get paid by the question.” Of […]

By David KennedyRead More