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;…
I have had two recent experiences where I had seasoned researchers working with Research Rockstar clients, and they had assumed pre-tests were not required. Really? That’s the assumption? I wonder how many pilots assume pre-flight checklists don’t apply to them.
March and April market research training classes.
What’s the most promising aspect of mobility in market research? Mobile ethnography—not pushing surveys to mobile devices.
Mobile Ethnography: Innovation in Progress
While there are only a few tools available so far, this area is developing quickly.
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A recurring challenge I hear from Research Rockstar students is that of time management. Too often, deadlines converge, fires erupt, or clients “need it yesterday.” So based on my 25 years of market research reality, I have put together 17 time management tips. You can download the full eBook…
