Comments on: Sometimes I Hate Market Research

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 May 2011 13:34:00 +0000

To continue with the “Survey/Market
Research” theme: (Nice blog spot here by the way)

Honestly, every post that you see on the web
describes the next BIG methodology when it comes to B2B Market Research/B2B/B2C
Surveys. At my company Partner Source, which is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
we approach the B2B Market Research/B2B/B2C Surveys subject with science, as it
is our business. We have taken over 20 years of B2B Market Research/B2B/B2C
Surveys historical data and the proof is in the pudding, you can’t argue the
results.

Here is what we offer, what do you think about
this position?

Telephone surveys from Partner Source can help
your organization:
• Obtain valuable feedback from hard-to-reach
groups
• Make intelligent business decisions
• Acquire complete and reliable data

Who has Partner Source provided this service for?

We have successfully created and delivered survey
campaigns for government agencies and businesses from around the world. If you
are looking to better understand your customer or simply need to gather
information from the population, we are your go-to provider. We have the
ability to serve any customer, no matter the size, as we have delivered
campaigns ranging from very complex to basic and simplistic.

Telephone Research Surveys – An Important
Methodology

Savvy researchers understand telephone surveys
still play an important role in market research, despite the growing popularity
of online surveys.
Telephone research surveys can be the ideal
methodology for organizations that need to gather detailed data from
hard-to-reach B2B, B2C, or customer groups. Through telephone surveys, your
organization can:

Sample at a local market level
Reach specialized B2B contacts
Connect with hard-to-reach customers
Control the sequence in which survey questions are
asked.
Use probing techniques to obtain in-depth answers
to open-ended questions.
Ensure that all questions are answered.
Gather data on more sensitive topics by
alleviating some of the discomfort and reluctance respondents might present
during a face-to-face interview.
Clarify and substantiate unclear responses.
Ask follow-up questions.

Design, Administration and Analysis of Telephone
Surveys

At Partner Source, our goal is to equip your
organization with bias-free telephone research that generates valid data and
high response rates. All of our telephone surveys include the following steps:

Design – Partner Source’s experienced researchers
will work with you to design customized telephone surveys based on your
specific objectives. We can work within our proven telephone survey templates,
or can create entirely new telephone surveys “from scratch.”

Administration – Using our proprietary methods,
Partner Source takes your telephone surveys and administers them to your
desired recipients. The interviewers adhere to best practices, ensuring data
collection that’s free from bias while heeding to our clients’ unique
requirements for security level, deadlines, incentives, etc. Throughout the
administration phase, your data is made available online through Partner
Source’s Real-Time Report Menu.

Analysis – The raw data garnered from your
telephone surveys is thoroughly analyzed and converted into actionable
conclusions. We offer a variety of analysis packages for every budget.

Our Team: The entire call team for these projects
is located right here in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, USA.
We do have many additional resources if other languages are required besides
English.

Glenn Wright
Partner Source (B2B Surveys & B2C Surveys
(Phone Surveys/Market Research))
Minneapolis, Minnesota
http://www.thepartnersource.co…

By: Dee

Dee — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 02:56:08 +0000

As a Project Manager in a Market Research firm these numbers are appalling. There is no way a consumer study for a Media based project would interview anyone less than 18 years old. The majority of media projects use what’s called the ‘birthday method’ and look to speak with the person in the household with the most recent birthday’.\n\nTo combine qualitative and quantitative interviews together like that just seems unreal to me. The tabulations for this study must have been an absolute mess. \n\nMost projects done on a consumer level break the male/female ratio to 60 (female) 40 (male). Also, we usually cap the 65+ age group at 35% of the sample size.\n\nThis Market Research company should be assumed of themselves providing this client with such poor data.

By: Tom Webster

Tom Webster — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:42:23 +0000

I suspect this particular “dataset” was cobbled together from multiple projects for multiple clients. I am sure that those clients got some insight from those individual qualitative projects.

But mashing them together into one multi-modal, long time-frame, mixed-sample mess? Worse than doing no research at all.

By: Damian Vanderwolf

Damian Vanderwolf — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 08:10:50 +0000

It is pretty clear there were a few flaws in the research design. I do though have a pragmatic question:
Do you believe that something can be salvaged from this? Apart from lessons about research design, do you think this data could be of any value to the client at the end of the day?

By: Tom Webster

Tom Webster — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:57:10 +0000

Sadly, it was not a typo. There were “results” reported for 6-12 year-olds.

I never thought to call a bulletin board a “social media focus group.” BRILLIANT!

By: Alison

Alison — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:45:28 +0000

That is just horrible. Was the age really 6-54 or is that a typo (I hope it’s a typo!)

I bet you a social media focus group is otherwise known as a bulletin board.

By: Dennis McDonald

Dennis McDonald — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 00:05:55 +0000

Yes. But it’s also true that some clients are more willing to pay for bad research than no research.

By: Tom Webster

Tom Webster — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:23:38 +0000

You are exactly right, Dennis. One of the most conceptually difficult things for some clients to understand is that bad research is potentially worse than no research.

By: Dennis McDonald

Dennis McDonald — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:09:51 +0000

One thing to watch for in a report like this is the slide that really tells what went on. You may see such a slide in the initial report from the research groups to the project’s research manager.

It gets edited because explaining things always results in too much detail.

Then it gets some more editing when the client’s project manager gets hold of it. That slide keeps getting shorter. Now it’s an appendix. “Management just wants the findings.”

Finally the client’s management gets to see a dry run of the presentation along with suggestions for a press release. What was once a moderately informative dry reporting of how the study was actually conducted has now become a polished, smooth, delicately phrase piece of, um, uncommunicative gibberish that is designed to hide inconvenient facts that boil down to, “Hey, bad information is better than no information at all!”

Especially when it confirms someone’s preconceived notions.