Research Methodologies « Previous Entries Next Entries »

ProTip: Keep the Flow of Your Questions Smooth

Wednesday, March 12th, 2008

I have a project that I’m working on at the moment where we’ve hit a bit of a snag in our research methodology. It’s a good lesson that I want to share with you all. Picture this, you’re taking a survey that’s asking you some pretty detailed questions about your business. Then, in the middle [...]

Say “No” To Kinky Data

Wednesday, March 5th, 2008

(Note: sorry about the late night posting. My wife and kids both have the flu and I’ve been playing nurse tonight. I look terrible in the outfit, FYI)
I was in a meeting with a client today and had an excellent opportunity to show off my research methodologies expertise. The client was talking about a focus [...]

What is a Research Professional?

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008

Last night I was at an alumni event for Communications Co-op students from yesteryear and I had a conversation with a lovely young woman named Janna who was interested in moving out of more traditional marketing-communications activities into the specialized world of Market Intelligence and Research. I was at a bit of a loss because [...]

Protip: How to Recover From a Low Response Rate

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008

There are few things as demoralizing to a professional researcher than spending your time getting a survey together, cleaning up your distribution list and offering a prize in a random draw only to have a response rate in the single digit range.
The number one reason for this happening is a survey that targets the wrong [...]

ProTip: When Life Gives You Clownshoes, Start Making Apologies

Wednesday, February 13th, 2008

On the odd occasion that I make a mistake while running a research project (cough cough), I find that the best policy is to admit your mistake, apologize and try to make ammends. Early this morning, I sent out a survey via a campaign management tool to about 900 some-odd senior executives at large multinational [...]

ProTip: Grooming Your Contacts Database Before a Research Project

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

Quite often when myself and my colleauges send out a market intelligence survey to a base of potential users or customers, we start from a list of contacts of individuals that we want to take our survey. For consumer products, that doesn’t matter - we can do a random survey and get what we need. [...]

Protip: Executive Interviews - Cutting Through The Noise

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

From a qualitative research perspective, executive interviews are an invaluable source of information. What I mean by an “executive interview” is that you interview a subject matter expert or key decision maker that has some stake in the topic that you are researching. For example, if you were researching a proposed special interest rate for [...]

People Who Abuse Surveys and Why You Shouldn’t Fear Them

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

I can happily report that for the most part, respondents to surveys don’t cheat and/or lie. If it’s an anonymous survey, why would they lie? They have to know that they’re only one respondent amongst hundreds and their chances of influencing the outcome of the survey is very small. Those who attempt to abuse the [...]

ProTip: Put Respondents in the Driver’s Seat

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008

Yesterday, I had coffee with Andrew Robulack (my new friend from Bad Robot in Whitehorse) and we were discussing his company and what they’re planning on doing. Besides single-handedly turning Whitehorse into the jewel-encrusted high tech hub for the North, Andrew has plans to develop a new media platform for mobile phones that will allow [...]

The Evil Art of Election Polling

Wednesday, January 9th, 2008

I am a man that believes in the utility of statistics. I know enough about them to both fear and respect them. Statistics are like guns - used in the right hands, they’re can be as precise as a surgical tool. In the wrong hands, they can twist and bend the truth to the interest [...]

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