Five of Chicago’s PR leaders gathered at a PRSA forum this week to discuss current trends and the future of public relations. The discussion was striking in how fully it echoed the trends and challenges facing the polling and research industry, and what we need to do to keep our eye on the ball. Here are a few take-away ideas from that forum that apply to both PR professionals and their research partners: (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘research’
There Are Too Many Surveys
Thursday, November 12th, 2009You 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…)
Better Data through Better Survey Design
Monday, September 14th, 2009Market 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.
Online Surveys Replacing Focus Groups
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009It’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.
Three Ways to Improve Online Verbatim Data
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009Good open-ended questions and thoughtful responses to these questions can yield amazingly rich and insightful data. But given the generally poor quality of responses to open-ended question in mail surveys, some have speculated that open-ended questions in online surveys would suffer a similar fate.
Research seems to show this is not the case. Further, a study just published in the Summer 2009 issue of Public Opinion Quarterly outlines three ways that we can improve the quality of responses in on-line surveys:
The Market Research Middlemen
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009How to Add Value: Provide Insight and Understanding
In a provocative new book entitled What Would Google Do? author Jeff Jarvis claims that “Middlemen Are Doomed” because the Internet has made information so easy, accessible, and cheap. He argues that the Internet links buyers and sellers directly, and it allows buyers to get information and access to sellers instantaneously, rendering middlemen obsolete. Market researchers are middlemen who operate between businesses who need information about their customers, and the people (their customers and prospects) being interviewed about needs, attitudes, and behaviors. If Jarvis is right, what is the future for market research and public opinion polling?