What Can Market Research Learn from Political Polling and Laboratory Mice?

Since we’ve just completed an election cycle, with its flood of political polling data, let’s take a look at what market researchers can learn from our not-too-distant cousins: political pollsters….

Unilever Accreditation Program for Qualitative Research Suppliers

…Since the industry isn’t there yet, a client-side organization has stepped in to protect its own investments. Unilever uses qualitative research heavily, and its leaders need to be confident in the quality of market research used to make informed decisions. They are apparently willing to incur what must be significant costs to operate this program. I don’t think anybody can argue with the intent.

The Best Market Research Articles of 3Q 2012

No time to keep up with the various market research publications to find the gems?  We’ve done the work for you. Here are our picks for the best market research… Continue reading The Best Market Research Articles of 3Q 2012

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.

Is It Helpful or Just Mean to Point Out Flaws in Market Research Conference Speeches?

Is it mean for me to critique ESOMAR keynote speakers? Or as someone who is passionate about prompting market research best practices, is it just good, healthy “tough love”?

Surfing Lessons for Market Research Survey Designers

In any market research survey, some participants will drop out, which is just the nature of the beast. The goal is to minimize this drop out rate so that we can meet our overall sample size goals, completely…

When Breaking Up (Market Research Interviews) is Hard to Do

Wasting time on a bad interview just frustrates the interviewer and wastes time that could be better used elsewhere, so why bother? Unfortunately, in the quest to meet sample size goals and “not waste” sunk costs, too many researchers end up completing bad interviews.

Steroids, Social Media, Barry Bonds, and Market Research: How do they all connect?

If leveraged properly, this evolution of social media can be a gold mine for market researchers. Mike Moran, in his article titled Will social media listening replace market research?, delves into the impact social media is having on market research. In the end, he answers his title’s question…

Will This Sloppy, Boring, Error-ridden Market Research Report Do?

When consumers purchase a product, they expect to get what they paid for. This is also true when companies purchase market research; unfortunately some no longer receive the high-quality tangible product they paid for, at least according to Gill Wales (as stated in her article published on Research-Live.com titled Will This Do.)

Why you must train your market researchers

Imagine how your life would be if you could rely on your staff to:

Anticipate common project challenges
Specify effective project parameters….