Archive for the ‘Data Collection’ Category
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
Telephone surveys are still considered the gold standard for rigorous public opinion polling and market research. The reason is that virtually every household in the U.S. can be reached by telephone, and therefore we have careful methods of determining the probability that any individual person is included in a sample to be surveyed. Knowing this probability is at the core of statistical inference, which makes mathematical purists very happy.
Here are the steps involved in conducting a rigorous “gold standard” telephone survey of the U.S. population: (more…)
Tags: Data Collection, Internet, Market Research, population, public opinion, Public Polls, Sampling
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Friday, February 5th, 2010
A research article the Winter 2009 issue of Public Opinion Quarterly provided some useful comparisons of data quality between phone surveys and various types of online surveys. The findings are based on an experiment that fielded identical questionnaires via three survey modes, and, not surprisingly, there are strengths and weaknesses to each type of survey.
Phone vs. Online Surveys: Strengths & Weaknesses
As reflected in the table above, the article is rather technical. But there are two key summary points worth learning from the study: (more…)
Tags: bias, data quality, Internet, Online Surveys, phone surveys, population, Sampling, survey, survey respondents
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Monday, January 25th, 2010
Omnibus surveys evolved as a way to share costs by combining survey questions from multiple clients. Because the biggest cost in conducting a survey is getting it set up and then finding a statistically representative sample of respondents to answer the questions, for some surveys it makes sense to pool resources and conduct a larger, shared survey.
But new technologies have made data collection more efficient and less expensive, so omnibus surveys are not always the best option. For many clients, a fully customized survey might be less expensive than an omnibus survey. (more…)
Tags: omnibus
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Thursday, January 7th, 2010
In the previous post we noted that our industry is driven by data and information, which meant huge changes in the nature of our work over the last ten years. Looking ahead, here are what we predict will be the five biggest trends that will shape market research challenges in the decade to come: (more…)
Tags: charts, data, Data Collection, Focus Groups, Market Research, research, survey technology, visualizing data
Posted in Charts and Data Visualization, Data Collection, Focus Groups, Future Trends, Market Research, Methods & Tools | No Comments »
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
As an industry driven by data and information, market research and public opinion polling has seen dramatic changes in the last ten years and will no doubt change quickly and in big ways during the next ten.
Looking back, here are what we consider to be the five biggest changes that shaped current challenges faced by market research and opinion polling: (more…)
Tags: communication, data, Data Collection, data quality, Market Research, mathematics, media, online, Online Surveys, public opinion, Public Polls, Public Relations, research, Sampling, statistics, stories, survey, survey respondents, survey technology
Posted in Data Collection, Future Trends, Market Research, Methods & Tools, Online Surveys, Presenting Research, Public Polls, Public Relations, Sampling, Turning Data into Stories, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, December 24th, 2009
For some reason I’m always a little surprised that people tell the truth on surveys. I like to think of my “healthy skepticism” as a professional asset, because it forces us to check and double check, corroborate and triangulate. Before we commit to the findings of a research effort, we need to feel 100% sure we’re right and that our findings are based on solid data. (more…)
Tags: data, Data Collection, data quality, insight, Market Research, Online Surveys, research, Sampling, survey respondents, trust
Posted in Data Collection, Market Research, Methods & Tools, Online Surveys, Sampling | No Comments »
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
You might think that a research firm specializing in surveys would be glad to see a world in which customer feedback surveys are everywhere. Not so. I take part in a lot of webinars, and unfortunately I am asked to complete a survey (at least one) every time I attend. Some websites ask me to evaluate my experience every time I go there. Some companies ask me to evaluate my customer service call every time I call with a question or complaint. The companies asking me to complete these surveys are convinced by pitches like this: “The real power of [our survey tool] can only be unlocked through a commitment to continuous listening. Listening to your visitors is truly a process, not an event. Continuous surveying can help you to establish benchmarks and trend your performance on key metrics.” (more…)
Tags: data, insight, research, Sampling, satisfaction research, survey, survey respondents
Posted in Data Collection, Future Trends, Methods & Tools, Online Surveys, Sampling, Survey Tips, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
Versta Research fields omnibus surveys, and we often recommend such surveys for our clients. But omnibus surveys do no not always save money or offer the insights that are needed, and so we often recommend inexpensive alternatives as well. (more…)
Tags: Data Collection, Internet, Market Research, omnibus, Online Surveys, Public Polls, value
Posted in Data Collection, Online Surveys, Public Polls, Public Relations | No Comments »
Monday, September 14th, 2009
Market researchers complain a lot when they get data back from surveys and see that people have been “speeding” through their surveys or that people are not giving thoughtful responses.
But the problem is rarely “bad respondents” – instead the problem is lazy researchers. When people discover that the survey they just agreed to take is boring, tedious, repetitive, or too long, they either quit altogether or they stop providing good answers.
(more…)
Tags: Data Collection, data quality, Market Research, online, Online Surveys, Public Polls, research, survey, Survey Design, survey respondents
Posted in Data Collection, Market Research, Methods & Tools, Online Surveys, Public Polls, Survey Design, Survey Tips, Uncategorized | No Comments »