Let’s get a few facts on the table, shall we? We all have non-researcher friends, colleagues and acquaintances who are writing their own online surveys using one of the many… Continue reading Survey Design 2011: NEW REALITY, NEW RULES
Let’s get a few facts on the table, shall we? We all have non-researcher friends, colleagues and acquaintances who are writing their own online surveys using one of the many… Continue reading Survey Design 2011: NEW REALITY, NEW RULES
Once you have taken the time to craft a fantastic questionnaire, the challenge becomes: how do you get people to actually take it? Of course, having a great list (or… Continue reading Please Take My Survey: Getting People to Accept Your Invitation
We get a lot of questions from people evaluating online survey platforms. And given that there are now more than 50 options available (see partial list at the end of this article), it is a bit confusing. Before you start evaluating options, consider these checklist items:
Even if a market research project produces a pile of perfect data, we still face the fundamental challenge of analysis — making sure that we’re analyzing the results comprehensively and objectively. In other words, without bias.
Let’s say you’ve done an online survey. You identified your objectives, thought carefully about sampling, and designed a great questionnaire. You monitored data collection and carefully cleaned your dataset. Even after all this painstaking work, risk still exists. You still have to analyze the data, and it’s here that unexpected errors often creep in.
When bad surveys are circulated, the company that sent them out becomes less trusted. The “consumer” becomes an unhappy customer, and may even tell others about their bad experience—with surveys in general or with the specific company.
Typically when we think about market research surveys, we think of questionnaires that have 20, 30, or even more questions. Getting qualified people to complete these questionnaires has become a serious challenge. One alternative is the single-question poll. After all, you’re much more likely to get high response and low dropout rates if you can simply say, “Hi, we have a single question we’d like your opinion on”, rather than requesting a novel’s worth of responses.
Facebook is making polling insanely easy these days…
Do you cringe when you hear the word “policies”? Most people do. After all, policies often mean bureaucracy. But in the case of market research, clear policies will minimize the risk of data quality headaches, customer over-surveying, ethical breaches and more.
I’ve come up with a few scenarios that could result if online surveys with non-customer populations became impossible tomorrow. Imagine: you can still reach your customers for research, but what about the rest of the world? What if you could no longer reach qualified, non-customer groups in a quantitative way? If the lists and panels were no longer available or the response rates dropped to .0005 percent, what would the impact be on your market research needs and investments?
In a crowded marketplace, how can market research help your company stand out? By doing things your competitors aren’t daring enough to try. So let’s have some fun.
If you are considering using an online panel for an upcoming project, and want some tips on how to manage this important resource, please check out the new white paper on online panels.
