If I ever get a magic wand there are lots of things I’d wish for, but in terms of the market research industry, I think I’d like to see the following three changes –
1.Quality of panel responses
Finding people to take part in your research project has always been difficult. In the olden days, you’d often see people on the street with a clipboard stopping passers-by, or there would be call centres full of people who were random digit dialling (as an aside, it does seem inconceivable that this happened – you’d be given a starting number and then you called each number on from that until you found someone who was willing to speak to you eg 01234 123456, then 01234 123457, then 01234 123458 etc anyway I digress…). Today we make use of panel providers – a company who have panels of people who are happy to take part in research, the panel provider sends the introduction email and directs people to an online survey and then charges per completed survey. Simple…
However, there are problems lurking
- Bots can pose as survey respondents, leading to answers which are garbage
- Panel members may be motivated by rewards rather than giving their opinions
- Some panel members might be deliberately lying or cheating
- The data might be out of date
- The vetting process might not be robust
This has become a massive problem over the last few years, although there are some interesting AI technologies which I hope will start to make a difference.
2.Quality of questions
This is such a large topic, but it is as simple as “ask a rubbish question, get a rubbish answer”. I often see questions which are biased, or poorly thought-out, or just non-sensical. I’ve written 3 blogs which look at questionnaire design in detail (start here if you want to find out more HOW TO … write a brilliant questionnaire but the key themes are
- Be transparent about what you are asking and why
- Ask your questions in a sensible, logical order
- Use appropriate language
- Don’t force people to answer questions
- Only collect personal data that is necessary
- Ensure you cover all possible answer options
- Elimate bias from both questions and answer options
- Be specific about what you are asking
I’m not sure this will ever stop being an issue – I think it’s a combination of people not taking the time to think through what they want to discover and also people not understanding the nuances.
3. Perception of the industry
This would be the most difficult one to change – I think for a number of reasons..
- People tend to think we are the same as sales. This isn’t helped by sales companies using “research” to help sell – we’ve all had those calls “I’m calling with a survey about windows, how many windows do you have in your house, and how many would you like to replace. Fantastic, I’ll book you in an appointment for fitter to come and take measurements”.
- People quote research statistics without providing the source, so no-one knows whether that stat is true or made up or in most cases bent to fit the chosen narrative. So if anyone can say whatever stat they want, why bother with conducting the research in the first place?
- People don’t “get what we do”, it’s seen as a dark art. I’m a maths nerd, I love the fact a small number of answers can be representative of a larger population – meaning that if you repeat the process time and time again you’ll get the same answers.
This issue is an uphill struggle, market research as a profession needs to shout more about the good work we do and also to call out those who aren’t working to the same standards.
There you go – the three things I’d change about market research industry … what would you change about your industry?
I’m always happy to talk research, so if you have any questions then please get in touch.
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