Research Guru by Alice Irvan, PRC, APR

The future of market research is now. . . and it’s changing

June 22, 2010 at 7:15 am | Posted in marketing research, online surveys, research methods | Leave a comment
Tags: online surveys, research techniuqes

Big decisions in a research project used to focus on how many total respondent were needed and how to set sub-quotas. Or maybe, it was a big decision to pick the three to six cities for the focus groups. The methods have changed, the sampling has changed, the speed has changed.

New trends include various ways of blending qualitative and quantitative. Large research companies have developed new products to do this. Technology allows variations of qualitative not possible before: bulletin boards, online journals, web journals, web cam interviews combined with other techniques.

With free and inexpensive online tools, staff in organizations ranging from Fortune 500 to small not-for-profits and neighborhood organizations are conducting “do-it-myself” online surveys.

With the increase in cell phones worldwide and the decrease in use of landlines by specific segments of the population, the traditional random sample telephone survey methodology faces challenges.

With all of this, I believe the research techniques that produce INSIGHT that proves it achieves goals such as selling a product, increasing membership, or moving public opinion will win out. We researchers are challenged to provide insight, not just data. We must work closely with those who make decisions based on our data and track the outcome of those decisions so that we can rapidly and constantly improve.