How to Keep Innovating Your Research Methods
If you ever have trouble separating all the hype of new methods and technology from the reality of whether those methods work, turn to the sober and decidedly non-hyped world of academic research. Some of the smartest people in the world build their careers by pursuing scientific research about research methods. They publish their results for all to see. Those of us who work in applied market research are the lucky benefactors of their painstaking work.
One of the newest publishing outlets for this type of work is the Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology. Next month it will celebrate its two-year anniversary, and it has proven its worth here at Versta Research. For example, it has helped us:
- Establish the credibility of online panels for extremely rigorous research
- Understand the trade-offs between scrolling and paging with mobile surveys
- Implement better layout designs to maximize open-end responses
These are just three examples. The topics in the journal cover a huge range of issues including sampling, statistical inference, data imputation, new methods of analysis, new modes of data collection, survey technologies, and so on. It is one of the few academic journals focused solely on survey methods.
We want smart innovation in research. That means avoiding the hyped-up-next-big-things we hear so much about in industry media, adopting scientifically tested, truly useful methods and technologies instead. JSSM is one great resource that helps us innovate our research methods in smarter ways.
