data, different statistical methods and models can give different readings. Gray states, “Causation requires correlation of some kind but correlation and causation are not the same.”
When looking at probabilities and categories, Gray cautions the researcher to, “Avoid confusing the possible with the plausible and the plausible with fact. It’s also not difficult, though, to miss something of genuine practical significance that lies hidden beneath…
The MRA’s Corporate Researcher’s Conference (CRC) was full of great sessions and first-class attendees. And I came home with a pile of business cards that are covered with scribbled down notes for follow-up. If you didn’t make it to CRC this year, here is a sampling of my notes from this 2.5 day event.
1. Sally Hogshead: High performers tend to specialize & tend to over-deliver in one area. I find this to be true, though she said it more articulately than I ever have.
2. Sally Hogshead: Successful brands know how they are different and what they do best. They avoid the “all things to all people” trap…
Here are the five core attributes of an awesome researcher. Make sure you have these nailed, and your clients will quickly begin to appreciate your awesomeness.
1. You use multiple research methodologies. You are familiar with multiple research methods, and can match a project’s goals to the best available method. You don’t assume every project is either a survey or a focus group.
2. You think carefully about sample source. You know when to use panels, …
Using a philosophy of test and learn, Heinz looks to multiple information sources for research, including electronic-point-of-sale, Nielsen data, panel data, and social media and brand monitoring. One such panel, Heinz 57, is an online community of 300 consumers that the company uses as a source of customer feedback.
Ever feel overwhelmed by how many solicitations you get to attend market research conferences? You are not alone!
Kathryn recorded a video rant on this topic while driving to work. It includes her decision on how she is going to handle the inundation of conference advertising.
Andrew Reid, son of Market Research luminary Angus Reid, says Market Research has “lost its mojo.” In a new article published in Entrepreneur Magazine, Reid states, “In the early 2000s, with the increased use of email, the internet, mobile phones and social media, many companies transformed their way of doing business, but market research companies did not.”
I’ll be blunt: market research takes real work. Sometimes hard work. And sometimes tedious work.
We used to live in a simpler world. Everything was surveys and focus groups. Not that those are easy, but at least their risk factors and best practices are known.
Now we have over a dozen methodologies, constant new software options, and the uncertain threat that substitutes from outside of our realm may be about to storm the castle.
So on top of our normal work, excellence requires that we are constantly expanding our knowledge set, …
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…
[5/15/14 event] As this year’s NEMRA Chapter president, I am particularly thrilled about this event. Our NEMRA Board of Directors has worked very hard to get the best session topics, speakers, venue and even entertainment.
Our last NEMRA event sold out. We actually had to turn people away because of the venue’s fire code limits. So we have moved our May event to a bigger venue: The Waltham Woods Conference Center in Waltham, Massachusetts (convenient to Route 128).
So why should YOU attend? Consider these benefits:…
The trial and error sketches can be considered a form of exploratory data analysis, and can help the researcher see the story in a more impactful way than staring at crosstabs all day.
When I tell our students that this trial and error approach is one of the techniques useful in data analysis, they are always happy to hear it. Why? Because it shows that insights are hard, and that great insights are rarely obvious from crosstabs alone. All researchers—even those of us with 25 years’ experience—have to work hard to find rich insights. The students are relieved because now they know it’s not just them;…
