[New video] Market Research Surveys: What To Do About “Speeders”

Do your market research survey respondents speed through your questions? Does that impact data quality? In any given questionnaire, the amount of time participants spend completing it can vary. In… Continue reading [New video] Market Research Surveys: What To Do About “Speeders”

3 Tips to Avoid Bad Market Research Software Purchases

Market research software comes in many forms these days: survey programming, data analysis, text analytics, and social media analysis are among the most common.

The good news for buyers is that many firms offer monthly options—helping you, the buyer, mitigate risks. There is no need to get “married”; you can just live together and part ways amicably when the mood strikes…

Sample Size for Market Research Surveys: How Big Is Big Enough?

Sample Size for Survey ResearchHow many people need to take your survey, for you to have confidence in the results? I can answer that question two ways; a long, academic way, or a short, friendly way.
Today, let’s take the short and friendly approach.

Case Study in Controlling Unsanctioned Research: Are Your Customers Over-surveyed?

A Research Rockstar client shared a great story yesterday, one that I just have to pass on. I have sanitized it a bit, to “protect the innocent.”

Theresa is a market research manager at a consumer electronics company. Her team of 4 researchers used to be a team of 7, so workloads are pretty rough.

She recently had an executive from another department share his concern that customers were being over-surveyed. He knew some non-research employees were using SurveyMonkey and similar tools to conduct customer surveys. He asked Theresa to recommend a course of action.

Knowing that the issue is a lot more complex than just telling people to “stop,” she recruited six people from the different departments involved in the rogue activity. Once gathered in a conference room, she showed them the Research Rockstar class, “Embracing Rogue Research.” The 1-hour class acknowledges the pros and cons of decentralized research, suggests policy options, and even tools to make everyone’s life easier.

DIY or Hire a Market Research Company?

Are you thinking about a market research project? If so, you may be debating whether you should hire an outside market research agency or do it in-house.

Of course, working with a market research agency is a big investment. Depending on the scope of your project, you may be looking at a $50,000, $100,000 or greater budget. Then again, a DIY approach can also add up—perhaps far more than you expect…