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Explore industry trends, research methods, and tips for your own research projects in the Versta Research Blog. All opinions are our own, and some may change over time.
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The goal of great market research is to provide answers substantiated with data. To make that research really shine, the ultimate goal should be to Turn Data Into Stories. That is why, in the video we released earlier this year, we highlighted “turning data into stories” as the definitive last step to getting your research…
We read the most irritating claim about focus groups several weeks back, which inspired us to begin writing about why it was so wrong. But we realized somebody else could do it better than we could—a true expert on focus groups who built a thriving research business by conducting focus groups (among other qualitative methods)…
Most companies test new product or service ideas with concept tests to evaluate market interest and to refine their ideas. Most of these (like most surveys, nowadays) are conducted online, which offers speed and cost efficiency. But there is a downside. While people are quite adept at reviewing ideas and answering questions in online formats,…
One thing that impressed me about my recent trip to Disney World (for Versta Research’s presentation on infographics at LIMRA’s annual market research conference) was this: It felt nice not to be badgered at every “touch point” for survey feedback about how they were doing. Indeed, Disney World is known for taking customer experience to…
The hottest new job title invading the world of market research is “data scientist.” It has many of us starting to wonder, aren’t we all data scientists? Whether quantitative or qualitative, we spend most of our time collecting, manipulating, interpreting, and presenting data. Our methods are grounded in social science. Put the two together and…
Tip #3 of our presentation tomorrow at the LIMRA marketing research conference is this: Make your infographic something to explore. It stands in stark contrast to our advice for research reports, which is to make everything utterly transparent. Here I explain the reasoning behind this advice, what it means to “explore,” and most importantly, how…
Here we are on Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which makes it a perfect time to answer the question: “What in the world do we mean by accessible surveys?” Our last newsletter (How to Make a Survey ADA Accessible) outlined the important steps needed to begin developing such surveys. But it’s worth stepping back from the…
Nine out of ten Americans (89%) regularly use the Internet. So the old argument that online surveys will miss big chunks of the U.S. population is no longer valid. But an important question remains: Are the remaining one in ten (11%) who are beyond reach with online surveys substantially different from the others? And if…
How far should you go when reporting your findings, into the territory of interpreting your findings? An excellent researcher never stops struggling with that question, and the better you are, the more intense the discomfort every time you stretch away from the data to advise on what it all means. The importance of stretching beyond…
If you are a consumer-facing company deploying online surveys of your customers, accessible surveys will likely be on your agenda in the next couple of years. Accessible surveys incorporate unique design features so that people with disabilities who use assistive technologies can participate as fully as others. With the need for survey accessibility growing and…