Versta Research Blog

Versta Research Blog

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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.

Versta Research Post

Online Surveys Have Same Accuracy as Phone

A new study presented by two professors from Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst was probably one of the liveliest and potentially disruptive presentations at least week’s annual meeting of the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) in Phoenix. Why?  Because their research challenges the beliefs of many AAPOR-ites who disregard…

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Versta Research Post

Lessons from Dilbert on the Perils of Research

We like this cartoon because it highlights the unrealized potential of really smart research, but also the potential perils of research gone bad. The cartoon brings to mind three lessons worth pondering: Customer satisfaction research is often “not fun”—but it can be Internal data can be a goldmine of insight and there is often a…

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Versta Research Post

How Data Can Highlight Mistakes

We are often surprised by the number of senior researchers in the market research industry who never touch raw data.  Often they don’t even have the tools, since “data processing” is outsourced to lower levels or other countries.  It is surprising because we almost always engage in work where getting into the data and puzzling…

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Versta Research Post

Advice for PR Surveys: Avoid Numeric Scales

As much as we love numbers, we find ourselves often advising clients against using numeric scales in their surveys.  A numeric scale is any response format that asks people to give a number within a certain range to indicate the strength of their feeling or opinion.  The insanely popular survey question used to calculate Net…

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Versta Research Post

The Myth of Too Many Choices

Ever since the well-publicized “jam” experiments published ten years ago, product managers have been cautious about assuming that more choices generate higher sales.  The investigators of the research found that more consumers purchased a jar of jam if the sampling table offered six varieties instead of 24.  And there has been a healthy literature and…

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Versta Research Post

Reasons to Avoid Grid-Format Questions

Among the many sources of potential error that can affect surveys are respondents themselves.  They sometimes misinterpret questions, respond in socially acceptable ways, or give “easy” answers in hopes that a more interesting question is just around the corner. This is not to say they are bad or fraudulent respondents.  Research shows that the vast…

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Versta Research Post

How to Find Gold in Your Data Mine

I’ve always been intrigued by the promises of data mining because it offers such a magical solution to much of what we do in market research.  If only we had a tool or technology that would discover hidden patterns and insights in our data.  We would not have to think so hard, or work so…

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Versta Research Post

What People Think of Surveys

One resource that we give far too little thought in market research are the people who offer their time and thoughts about the stuff we are researching.  They are truly the lifeblood of market research. An article in the spring 2011 issue of Public Opinion Quarterly looks at trends over the last thirty years in…

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