Posts Tagged ‘stories’
Thursday, March 24th, 2011
One of the most powerful pieces of advice our clients sometimes hear is to stop researching and start marketing. In fact, a client told us yesterday that our presentation of findings last year was good, useful, impressive . . . all that. But it was when we said, “Stop worrying about the next level of precision and rigor that you could get with this data if you had more money and time to invest. These data are strong. They’re based on sound methods. We have good answers to your questions. Go put it to use.” They did, and their business is blossoming.
It’s an oddly common situation we find ourselves in these days: advising our client against more research. For advocates of information and fact-based strategies (including us), the increasingly central role for market research is gratifying. But too many surveys and research-for-research’s-sake can’t sustain itself, nor should it. Market research only matters if it is acted upon and used in smart and strategic ways.
How do you know if, instead of research, you should focus on a full-force marketing effort or at least a better strategic plan before launching research? Here are three situations we typically see: (more…)
Tags: insight, Market Research, satisfaction research, stories
Posted in Market Research, Turning Data into Stories, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, February 10th, 2011
Last quarter we wrote about Magic Numbers in Market Research—those arbitrary rules of thumb and cut-off points we use when quoting things like minimum samples sizes or how many people to include in a focus group. Presto! Like magic, the issue appeared in the New York Times a few weeks ago, this time related to a dispute about the best way to statistically test for the existence of ESP.
The backstory: A respected academic journal in social psychology published an article showing data that suggests ESP exists. Horrified, some researchers argued that psychologists were using old-fashioned inferential statistics when they should be using modern-day Bayesian statistics. Here is a link to the article, if you’re interested. Unfortunately, it does a lousy job explaining what Bayesian statistics is.
But fortunately, in response, the editor in chief of The Annals of Applied Statistics submitted a letter to the New York Times clarifying that all statistics ends up relying on arbitrary magic numbers: (more…)
Tags: Focus Groups, Market Research, mathematics, statistics, stories
Posted in Data Analysis & Analytics, Focus Groups, Market Research, Methods & Tools, Turning Data into Stories | No Comments »
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, 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 | No Comments »
Friday, October 1st, 2010
An essential component to Versta Research’s strength in turning data into stories is communicating those stories to the audiences who need them most. Those audiences might be researchers, internal clients, brand management teams, PR specialists, or reporters. Or the audience might be the top level executives at the companies or organizations we are working with. It is always exciting when research gets presented to the very top levels of management because it is an opportunity to see how (and whether) research really matters.
Our Fall 2010 newsletter focuses on presenting to the top levels of executive management. How do you “wow” your CEO with research, instead of putting her to sleep? We focus on three components: (more…)
Tags: communication, Market Research, stories
Posted in Market Research, Presenting Research, Turning Data into Stories | 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 »
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 | 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 »
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
A truly effective research report is both parsimonious and richly nuanced. In other words, (1) it is short and to the point, and (2) it captures the complexity of reality. But how do you do both? (more…)
Tags: charts, communication, research, stories, visualizing data
Posted in Charts and Data Visualization, Presenting Research, Turning Data into Stories | No Comments »
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
Getting your research findings heard, understood, and used should always be your goal. That means more than putting findings into a report deck, presenting results to the marketing team, writing up press releases, or getting media placement for a PR story. It means having your audience engage with it by thinking, sharing, and taking action.
What do we know about the kinds of stories and research reports that can achieve this? A recent study reported in The New York Times provides some clues. (more…)
Tags: communication, Market Research, media, news, research, stories
Posted in Market Research, Presenting Research, Public Relations, Turning Data into Stories | No Comments »