Posts Tagged ‘statistics’
Friday, December 17th, 2010
With the magic of the holidays upon us, we got to thinking about “magic” in market research, or the lack thereof. So our just- published quarterly newsletter focuses on magic numbers in market research, arguing that certain “magical” numbers seem to guide much of what we do, whether we realize it or not. The best researchers know the difference between the real magic of numbers and the not-so-real. We hope you find our commentary useful.
There is also, of course, the magic of story-telling, which market research can embrace, but rarely does. We were inspired by a recent New York Times interview with Aaron Levie, CEO of Box.net. What could be more boring than online file storage? But as Levie said: (more…)
Tags: confidence intervals, Market Research, mathematics, response scales, Sampling, statistics, stories
Posted in Market Research, Presenting Research, Public Polls, Sampling, Turning Data into Stories | No Comments »
Thursday, October 14th, 2010
Should you state a survey’s margin of error in your press release when pitching a story to the media? In our view, the answer is no. Why not? Because margins of error refer to sampling error only, not about the overall accuracy or error of the survey itself.
But how many readers of your news story understand what sampling error is? For that matter, how many researchers understand what sampling error is? It was only after four college semesters of advanced mathematical statistics that I finally “got it.” More importantly, how many readers understand that there are many other potential sources of survey error? Most undoubtedly assume that all error is somehow accounted for when you confidently proclaim the margin of error being ±4%. (Or, more absurdly, ±3.6% or even ±3.57% — examples of phony accuracy like this are all too easy to find.)
In short, margins of error are misleading because they deal with only one source of error. They convey a false sense of accuracy. And they should not be used. This idea is not always popular among colleagues and clients. But take comfort: One of the giants of public polling, Harris Interactive, refuses to report margins of error in its work, for precisely the reasons outlined above. Here we quote their methodological statement that accompanies every press release and report they issue: (more…)
Tags: ethics, media, Public Polls, Public Relations, Sampling, statistics
Posted in Presenting Research, Public Polls, Public Relations | No Comments »
Thursday, October 7th, 2010
A client had a surprising experience this week when a member of our multivariate analysis team showed up online to watch a live in-depth interview with a registered nurse about how prescribing decisions are made. “Who is that online with us?” the end-client inquired, not recognizing the name. The qualitative manager answered, “He’s on our multivariate team.”
It must have seemed strange to have a statistician taking a keen interest in the qualitative work. Strange, because too often the qualitative and quantitative sides of research do not inform each other in the rich ways they can and should.
On the very same day, we read this interview with Professor Jordan Louviere in the American Marketing Association’s Marketing News magazine: (more…)
Tags: conjoint, Focus Groups, research, statistics
Posted in Data Analysis & Analytics, Focus Groups, Market Research, Methods & Tools | No Comments »
Friday, August 13th, 2010
Does data displayed in charts and graphs, rather than tables, lead to better decisions? Not according to the latest research reported in this month’s Journal of Marketing Research.
The authors looked at various types of biases that creep into business managers’ decisions when based on data presented to them. They did this by conducting experiments with business school students and managers who are members of the American Marketing Association. Some were presented with numeric data in tables, while others were presented with data in charts or graphs. All tables, charts, and graphs were clear and well-designed. (more…)
Tags: bias, charts, communication, data, Market Research, statistics, stories, visualizing data
Posted in Charts and Data Visualization, Market Research, Presenting Research, Turning Data into Stories | No Comments »
Friday, August 6th, 2010
Doing “statistics” strikes fear in the hearts of many, so how about if we talk about “algorithms” instead? It’s a safer word because most people in the worlds of business and market research never have to take (or fail) a course in algorithms.
Algorithms are central to the work that we do in business and market research, and they are top of mind for us at Versta Research because we have been involved in several data-intensive projects that involve either (a) developing new algorithms for clients, or (b) tools that apply sophisticated algorithms to data in new and exciting ways. (more…)
Tags: analytics, cluster analysis, data analysis, mathematics, segmentation, statistics, survey technology
Posted in Data Analysis & Analytics, Future Trends, Market Research, Methods & Tools | No Comments »
Friday, July 23rd, 2010
Early this month, David Blackwell, a prominent statistician and mathematician died at the age of 91. For many he is well known because he was the first African American to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences. For others, he is well known because he wrote an important and early book about Bayesian statistics, a type of statistics that is becoming central to market research.
For those of us at Versta Research, he is well known for his focus on understanding versus research:
“Basically, I’m not interested in doing research and I never have been,” he said. “I’m interested in understanding, which is quite a different thing. And often to understand something you have to work it out yourself because no one else has done it.” (From an interview cited in the New York Times) (more…)
Tags: insight, Market Research, research, statistics
Posted in Market Research, Methods & Tools, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, July 9th, 2010
Telling a story with data is one part finding the right words, and one part finding a compelling visual way to present numbers. Good visualization of data conveys the “big picture” at a glance. At the same time, it includes details so that the audience understands and sees both the whole and the parts. Effective charts also invite visual comparisons so that the viewer sees (without having to think about) the trends and patterns we are highlighting in a story.
We highly recommend learning about theories of presentation, perception, and data visualization, and we are big fans of Edward Tufte’s approach to visual explanations. At the same time, we recommend learning the basics of using simple tools, like pie charts, bar charts, line graphs, and so on. One good source for developing a mastery of the basics is a book called Graphing Statistics & Data: Creating Better Charts, from which we have learned a few tips about using bar charts: (more…)
Tags: charts, communication, data, statistics, stories, visualizing data
Posted in Charts and Data Visualization, Methods & Tools, Presenting Research, Turning Data into Stories | No Comments »
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 | No Comments »
Friday, April 9th, 2010
If something works and it keeps on working but you don’t know exactly why it works, what would you do? Our view is that you should keep doing it. Not everyone agrees with us. The American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) convened a task force to study online survey panels, and released their report last month (we posted a summary of findings last week). To us, the most jarring statement in the report was this:
“There currently is no generally accepted theoretical basis from which to claim that survey results using samples from nonprobability online panels are projectable to the general population.”
Even with careful statistical weighting based on demographics, known biases, propensity to be online and partake in surveys, and so on, the report concludes that online panels should not be used to estimate population parameters. Why? Not because this method doesn’t work (in many cases it does) but because there is no statistical theory to explain why it works, in contrast to probability sampling, for which there is solid theory explaining why it works. (more…)
Tags: Online Surveys, panels, Public Polls, Sampling, statistics, survey respondents
Posted in Data Collection, Future Trends, Market Research, Methods & Tools, Online Surveys, Public Polls, Sampling | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
One of the devilish problems with statistics in market research is that we deal with probabilities rather than simple yes/no answers. But you, as a business person, need to make clear-cut decisions: Should you launch the product, yes or no? Which one name should you choose for your new service? Which three areas should you focus on to drive customer satisfaction? (more…)
Tags: Market Research, mathematics, satisfaction research, statistics
Posted in Market Research, Methods & Tools | 2 Comments »