Posts Tagged ‘survey technology’
Friday, April 26th, 2013
It is hard to find an appropriate use for Google Surveys, because, as we outlined in a review article last fall, its capabilities are limited. But last week we needed a quick incidence test of how many U.S. adults own a certain type of investment product. Google Surveys seemed perfect. It was not fast, by the way. It took five days to collect data from 200 respondents. Google says this is because we asked a screening question before asking about product ownership. Even so, this survey took longer than a standard omnibus.
But what struck me most about my trial run with Google Surveys was the Creepy Factor. It made me realize in a most uncomfortable way that Google tracks everything I do. I knew this already, and I follow ongoing discussions about online privacy. I have a personal g-mail account, a G+ page, and I use Google as the starting point for almost everything I do on the Internet. I know that they track everything I do. But it was never so creepy and apparent until I fielded a Google survey. How was it creepy? (more…)
Tags: ethics, Market Research, omnibus, Online Surveys, privacy, public opinion, Public Polls, survey technology
Posted in Data Collection, Future Trends, Market Research, Methods & Tools, Omnibus Surveys, Online Surveys, Public Polls | Comments Off
Thursday, October 25th, 2012
Last week when we took Google Surveys for a test drive, we did not mention one disturbing aspect of their tool. It does not affect how you would use the tool, but it is worth talking about because Google unfortunately perpetuates the false notion that technology and tools can generate insights at the mere click of a button. “Push this button, and voilà, your story! Click this tab for actionable insights!”
(more…)
Tags: insight, research, stories, survey technology, tools
Posted in Market Research, Methods & Tools, Turning Data into Stories | Comments Off
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
How big of a sample size do you really need? A recent article in the New York Times cited the following statistics:
- A small Voice of the Customer (VoC) research company called Mindshare Technologies collects satisfaction data from 175,000 respondents every day. That’s 60 million in a year.
- ForeSee, a small customer experience analytics firm fielded 15 million surveys in 2011.
These numbers are believable. I get a pop-up survey from ForeSee at least two or three times a week.
And it is absurd. Granted, these companies (and hundreds of other similar firms) are collecting surveys for multiple clients. But almost certainly, nobody needs to collect that much survey data from that many survey respondents. Why not? (more…)
Tags: bias, data, Data Collection, data mining, insight, Market Research, response rates, Sampling, satisfaction research, survey respondents, survey technology
Posted in Data Analysis & Analytics, Data Collection, Market Research, Methods & Tools, Sampling | Comments Off
Wednesday, February 15th, 2012
Data quality will suffer if respondents are bored with long surveys
It is hard to resist the temptation of asking “just one more question” when you’ve got an engaged respondent answering your survey questions online or on the phone. But it is crucial to do so because plenty of research shows that longer surveys result in bad data. Survey respondents may be willing to answer just one more question, but at some point the quality of information you get from them declines. Survey respondents become inattentive and offer lazy answers, or worse, they offer quick random answers just to get the survey over with.
At Versta Research we have a few rules of thumb for survey length based on (1) academic and industry research measuring data quality, (2) conversations with colleagues and suppliers throughout the industry, and (3) our ongoing experience of what works and what does not work. The maximum survey lengths we typically recommend are: (more…)
Tags: data, Data Collection, data quality, Market Research, Online Surveys, phone surveys, social media, survey, Survey Design, survey respondents, survey technology
Posted in Data Collection, Survey Design, Survey Tips | Comments Off
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
Two researchers at the U.S. Census Bureau recently outlined an emerging innovation in survey research that could reverse the trend towards passive, boring, self-administered surveys that characterizes much online research. The idea is to use internet avatars in real-time interviewing with survey respondents.
Beyond just the heightened interest of having an animated survey, the avatars would be programmed to register and interpret respondents’ verbal answers, facial expressions, and body language through webcams.
(more…)
Tags: Data Collection, insight, Internet, Market Research, Online Surveys, stories, survey technology
Posted in Data Collection, Future Trends, Market Research, Methods & Tools, New Products and Innovation, Online Surveys | Comments Off
Friday, August 19th, 2011
The most recent government estimates of cell phone usage among U.S. households were released a few weeks back, and the pace at which landline usage is disappearing is astonishing. Here are just some of the numbers:
- Thirty percent of U.S. households do not have a landline telephone
- An additional 16% have a landline telephone, but never or rarely use it to receive calls
- The percentage of households without landlines is increasing by about five to six percentage points each year
- Half of young adults under age 30 have no landline in their homes
- Half of adult renters have no landline in their homes
- Nearly four out of ten Hispanic adults have no landline in their homes
(more…)
Tags: consumer behavior, Data Collection, Internet, Market Research, phone surveys, Public Polls, Sampling, social media, survey technology
Posted in Data Collection, Future Trends, Market Research, Public Polls, Sampling | 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 »
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011
One might think that with evolving technologies, the old-fashioned ways of doing research, like using paper and pencil, might disappear. But it turns out that paper surveys are not dead, and here is a nice example that dramatically illustrates their value.
As newly-appointed director of market research for the American Marketing Association in Chicago, I oversee efforts to develop and organize events related to market research. I also oversee efforts to measure, track, and analyze customer satisfaction for all other events and activities sponsored by the AMA. For the past few events, the AMA collected feedback via an online survey sent by e-mail immediately after the events. They were also using a less-than-stellar do-it-yourself survey tool that promises to deliver “actionable insights!” at the click of a button.
The results were abysmal. (more…)
Tags: Data Collection, Online Surveys, phone surveys, survey technology
Posted in Data Collection, Market Research, Methods & Tools, Online Surveys | Comments Off
Thursday, January 27th, 2011
The technology to field surveys via mobile devices has been around for a while, but has not yet gained much traction (and for good reasons). But with smartphones now proliferating at a remarkable pace, we may be in for a change. Deloitte released their 2011 IT and technology predictions last week, arguing that smartphones are likely to account for almost half of computer spending during the year. (more…)
Tags: Data Collection, Internet, Online Surveys, Survey Design, survey technology
Posted in Data Collection, Future Trends, Market Research, Methods & Tools, Online Surveys, Survey Design, Survey Tips | Comments Off
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
In a recent survey we fielded among B2B decision-makers, respondents told us how much they liked participating in the study compared to other research studies they have done. They said it was “real” and interesting because it was confronting them with questions that reflect the kinds of decisions and trade-offs they make every day in their work.
The technique we used for that study is called Adaptive Conjoint. If you want to know how people in your target audience make decisions—how they weigh the pros and cons of your product or service versus others— adaptive conjoint can be a powerful technique that provides robust and insightful data at the same time it really engages the participants. (more…)
Tags: conjoint, mathematics, survey respondents, survey technology
Posted in Data Analysis & Analytics, Data Collection, Methods & Tools, Online Surveys | Comments Off
