Posts Tagged ‘qualitative research.’

Writing for Journalists and High-Level Executives

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…)

Bridging the Quantitative-Qualitative Gap

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…)

Listen to Your Customers

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

It hurts, but when your customers hate you, you should be listening all the more carefully:

Dilbert.com

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.

When to Use Survey Monkey

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Versta Research uses Survey Monkey for its own Versta client satisfaction work.  At the end of an engagement we send clients a link and ask them for an evaluation of our work.

Why would a market research firm use such a primitive tool for its own feedback?  Are we like the cobbler who can’t afford shoes for our own children? (more…)

Online Surveys Replacing Focus Groups

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

It’s fascinating that new survey technology and easy access to millions of consumers could be affecting the focus group industry more than the quantitative survey industry.  But a colleague who has been doing focus groups for over 20 years says that’s exactly what she is seeing.

(more…)