Posts Tagged ‘qualitative research’
Thursday, August 9th, 2012
The AMA featured Versta's president in an article about social media for market research
When all of the hype and uncertainty around social media settles down, market researchers will likely see it as “merely” another useful channel through which to gather data and opinions from the audiences they care about, just like surveys, focus groups, or ethnographies.
In the meantime it is good fun to read articles, like this one, in last week’s New York Times extolling the discovery that social media can be used for market research. And amusing to hear executives and CMOs saying things like “It’s amazing that we can get that kind of real feedback, as opposed to speculating.” As if there were no ways to ask customers for their opinions before the magic of social media.
(more…)
Tags: concept testing, Data Collection, Focus Groups, Market Research, MROCs, qualitative research, social media
Posted in Data Collection, Future Trends, Market Research, Methods & Tools | Comments Off
Friday, June 22nd, 2012
If you want to know the future of market research, forget about what the futurists and innovation gurus have to say. Instead, just ask the next generation of marketing and business professionals—the people who will be our future.
That’s what we did in a recent survey of business students about market research. We talked with MBA students and undergraduate business students who were enrolled market research classes. A few were planning market research careers, but most were launching other business careers for which they would likely use research to help them make smarter decisions.
A few of the findings: (more…)
Tags: innovation, Market Research, news, qualitative research
Posted in Future Trends, Market Research | Comments Off
Wednesday, April 4th, 2012
Summer provides an ideal opportunity to learn from our research colleagues in the academic worlds. Many of them offer short, intensive “summer camp” training that is relevant and practical for market researchers. You get training that is far more rigorous and comprehensive than courses offered by “training institutes” and other commercial providers.
Here are our top picks for brief summer courses that will keep you and your colleagues at the cutting edge of research methods:
Exploratory Data Mining, offered at the University of California in Davis by the American Psychological Association — a five-day course that will cover the conceptual bases and strategies of exploratory data mining, and will review leading current techniques and software.
Social Network Analysis, offered by the University of Buffalo’s Department of Sociology — a three-day class that will teach theoretical and methodological skills to conduct studies using social network analysis. The course will focus on different network theories, their corresponding measures, and how to get the data to conduct a study. (more…)
Tags: Market Research, methods, qualitative research, research, statistics
Posted in Data Analysis & Analytics, Future Trends, Market Research, Methods & Tools, Resources and Recommendations | Comments Off
Thursday, July 28th, 2011
An issue we continually struggle with at Versta Research is how to automate the research process and leverage new technologies without losing the essence of what good research does. Good research does not report data, build charts, or generate dashboards. It learns, answers new questions, interprets data, and helps users focus on information and findings that are relevant to their needs.
The last couple of weeks we have been working with a group that specializes in coding and tabulating text responses to open-ended questions on surveys. They have tools and technology that undoubtedly make the process easier and more efficient (we have used those tools, and they are impressive). They are also have a singular focus and expertise that is supposed to help streamline the process, cut costs, and improve speed and efficiency.
The results have been mediocre at best, even with human coders working the technology and making the critical decisions. (more…)
Tags: data, insight, Market Research, open-ends, qualitative research, survey technology
Posted in Data Analysis & Analytics, Future Trends, Market Research, Methods & Tools | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, February 16th, 2011
After spending $65 million and previewing the show over sixty times since the end of last year, the producers of the new Spider-Man musical in New York are turning to focus groups and surveys in hopes that market research can do something…anything…to save the amazing Spider-Man from destruction.
Last week, theater critics roundly panned the show, calling it among the worst Broadway shows ever. The New York Times described is as “so grievously broken in every respect that it is beyond repair.” But days after these negative reviews, a market research firm was brought in, soliciting volunteers to help fix the show: (more…)
Tags: concept testing, Focus Groups, insight, Market Research, media, qualitative research, survey
Posted in Focus Groups, Market Research, New Products and Innovation, Survey Design, Survey Tips | Comments Off
Thursday, November 11th, 2010
One way you can make a research report really pop is to carefully select and edit quotes from the people involved in the study. For qualitative research, that means pulling quotes from transcripts of in-depth interviews, focus groups, online bulletin boards, social media, etc. For survey research, it means pulling quotes from open-ended questions that were recorded verbatim.
Editing is key, however. Who wants to read something in the halting, choppy, in-eloquent speech that most of us use in talking? A killer quote is one that is short, direct, pithy, and on point. Achieving this requires a journalistic standard for presenting quotes. What does that mean? Here are some steps: (more…)
Tags: Focus Groups, journalism, Market Research, media, open-ends, qualitative research, stories
Posted in Focus Groups, Presenting Research, Turning Data into Stories | Comments Off
Thursday, November 4th, 2010
In July, I moderated a panel of thought leaders in market research to ponder the question: “How Will Social Media Change Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty (CS&L) Research?” The event was sponsored by the American Marketing Association, and included participants from GfK, Maritz, MARC, SAS, Market Tools, and Versta Research.
The Role of Social Media in Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research
A partial transcript of our panel’s deliberations was just published in the October 2010 issue of Marketing News, the AMA’s monthly magazine. Here is a quick summary of key points highlighted in the article: (more…)
Tags: innovation, qualitative research, satisfaction research, social media, tracking studies
Posted in Future Trends, Market Research, Methods & Tools, New Products and Innovation | Comments Off
Thursday, July 15th, 2010
Clients tell us that one of the biggest challenges they face is writing great research reports. There is the overwhelming difficulty of turning data into stories — making sense of volumes of data without losing the big picture or the details. And there is the difficulty of truly communicating research so that it is heard, understood, believed, and ultimately used.
We were reminded of the importance of communication and writing research for multiple audiences from Eric Zorn’s recent column in the Chicago Tribune, from which we quote: (more…)
Tags: communication, journalism, media, Public Relations, qualitative research, research reports, stories
Posted in Presenting Research, Public Relations, Turning Data into Stories | Comments Off
Friday, June 25th, 2010
The summer 2010 newsletter from Versta Research focuses on how to bridge the gap between quantitative research and qualitative research, whether it be market research or academic research. Both methods give rich insights, and both offer compelling ways to summarize and communicate data. But rarely does each method draw upon the strengths of the other.
How do you bring the two together? (more…)
Tags: Market Research, methods, qualitative research, quantitative research, research, statistics, survey technology
Posted in Future Trends, Market Research, Methods & Tools | Comments Off
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
It hurts, but when your customers hate you, you should be listening all the more carefully:
You need to find out the who, what, where, when, and why they hate you. Probe deeply with focus groups, in-depth interviews, social media monitoring, and survey research. Rigorous research done right (our specialty) will give you valuable insight. And if it is communicated expertly to management (our specialty) you can probably fix the problems. Then, the next time you listen to your customers, you won’t need to duck and cover.
-Joe Hopper, Ph.D.
Tags: communication, customer satisfaction, Focus Groups, insight, qualitative research, satisfaction research
Posted in Focus Groups, Funnies | Comments Off