Versta Research Blog

Versta Research Blog

About Versta

Versta Research is a marketing research and public opinion polling firm that helps you answer critical questions with customized research and analytical expertise.

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Versta Research Blog

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.

First time reader? Check out the Best of the Blog for the most popular posts from almost 10 years of blogging. We’re glad you’re here.

New Resource for Tons of Great Data

New Resource for Tons of Great Data

Every professional in market research should know about and use the amazing, public, free data resources provided by the U.S. government—data that includes essential information about our demographics, communities, businesses, commerce, roads, health, education…the list goes on. Now, a small group of consultants, data scientists, and programmers are trying to make that easier with a…

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Convincing People to Take Your Survey

Convincing People to Take Your Survey

One of the weirdest things about research is how the everyday nature of our work keeps changing as a result of the problems we solve. A colleague on the corporate side recently shared an observation that I found unsettling: With her customer experience research now fully automated, even down to the “analyses” via quick dashboard…

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Why I Love Political Polls

Why I Love Political Polls

Actually, Joe Citizen does not love them, but Joe Researcher does. The horse-race polls for media release offer little value to the first Joe because the only poll that really matters is the election itself. But for Joe Researcher, political polls offer unparalleled, ongoing opportunities to understand, validate, and improve our methods of survey research.…

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Are You Sick of Drag-and-Drop Surveys?

Are You Sick of Drag-and-Drop Surveys?

Now that survey tools are easy to build and cheap to buy, the companies that sell these tools try to differentiate their offerings with various types of design enhancements. Sometimes they succeed by offering truly elegant respondent experiences with simple, intuitive, easy-to-use, and adaptable formats. Sometimes, though, it feels like all the razzle dazzle starts…

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Strong Brands Have Weak Drivers

Strong Brands Have Weak Drivers

Is it true that a survey respondent can race through a survey, giving identical high or low ratings on all questions, and still provide valid data? Absolutely, which is why we argue against coaching respondents to give “more thoughtful” and varied answers when filling out surveys. In fact, our post last week (Don’t Stop Your…

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Don’t Stop Your Straight-Liners

Don’t Stop Your Straight-Liners

Some respondents answer survey questions with the same answer over and over again. They agree to everything, or they give identical numeric ratings to all items. It’s called “straight-lining,” and we often consider this a sign of poor data quality. I was intrigued by an approach to mitigating the problem I learned last week, shared…

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9 Is Not Fine with NPS Scores

9 Is Not Fine with NPS Scores

Maybe you got one of these printed notes from a cashier at Walmart, like I did: $1000 You can win a $1000 Gift Card and we can improve your shopping experience! Please follow the instructions on your receipt. “9” is NOT fine… We’re focused on an excellent experience. Please give us a “10” when we’ve…

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Video Introduction

Research Reveals When Videos Work

As we put the finishing touches on our recently produced video introduction to Versta Research (see the video below!), I kept wondering whether videos really matter. I don’t jump on bandwagons without strong reasons to believe the wagons are going where I want. So it was a happy coincidence to come across research just published…

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