As a citizen and voter, I am appalled to learn that our government routinely spies on the phone and digital communications of ordinary people and businesses and now harasses the journalists who are bringing it to our attention. And as a business owner in the market research industry, I am deeply concerned that government spying…
Every once in a while we opt for slider scales on surveys we have designed – usually when we want a numeric rating from 0 to 10. It seems easier for respondents than shifting over to the number pad, and it offers a more fun, interactive experience than simply clicking radio buttons. Sliders also allow…
Every year the Census Bureau comes under attack from elected officials who unfortunately know little about how immensely valuable its services are. The Census accounts for a miniscule slice of the total U.S. budget, and yet it provides some of the most essential services that bolster good government, political stability, and economic growth. These are…
Even if you don’t care about political polling, or the fact that Gallup consistently overestimates support for Republican candidates, it is worth paying attention to how Gallup is trying to fix its problems with surveys and polling. They are not happy with how poorly their polls have fared (who would be?), and they have teams…
Or maybe we should say: why vendors SHOULD do everything twice BEFORE their work hits your desk and you send it back because you found errors. When it comes to something as complex and exacting as market research or public opinion polling, there are almost certainly mistakes the first time around. If a company does…
If you have ever been called to participate in a phone survey, you probably know the routine where you hear a question and then jump in with an answer. A good interviewer will remind you that she needs to read the entire question and all the answer options just to be sure that you offered…
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…
Some business managers and marketing executives mistakenly believe that “big data” will deliver better insight because of the sheer volume of data now at our disposal. Now we just need the statisticians, the computing power, and the analytics software to sift through it all, right? Not so. The truth is, for most purposes you don’t…
We are in the midst of a couple projects that require in-depth telephone interviews (IDIs) with senior executives for B2B research. With every new project, we start wondering whether new technologies and tools can make the work better. For IDIs, however, I am always struck by how perfectly our old tools work. If you ever…
With all our excitement over the last few months about the accuracy of online polling during the election season—substantially outperforming “gold standard” telephone research—there was not time to share ESOMAR’s September 2012 updated guide to purchasing online sample. The guide consists of 28 questions all purveyors of online sample should answer, publish, and make available…