With all the strange business disruptions of the last 16 months, and the ways in which the coronavirus shifted the foundations of market research, July 1 feels a lot more like the beginning of a new year than January 1 did. Life is back to normal, we hope! This “new year” inspires us to take…
Last week we showed you a survey that might convince you to think twice about hiring a super high-end consulting firm for your survey research and insights. Fancy business consultants may know a lot about business, but they know little about gathering good data to answer their business questions. So this week, instead of focusing…
Ever wonder what you get if you hire a fancy schmancy consulting firm for your survey research and marketing insights, instead of Versta Research? Every once in a while we have a potential client who insists: “Give us IBM! Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.” I got a view into what those surveys look…
The COVID-19 pandemic decimated the research industry’s respondent panels, and here’s the impact it is having on our (and your) research today. All of a sudden, research came to a halt in early 2020. Clients wanted their fieldwork put on hold for six months or more. Panel companies stopped investing in and nurturing their panels.…
One luxury of doing primary research is that you can get data perfectly tailored to the problem you need to solve. Primary research allows you to design how data will be elicited, and how, exactly, attitudes and behaviors are measured. Hence, you get the insight you need. If you don’t have perfectly tailored data, you…
While it is tempting to use advanced programming to “force” good answers and good behavior out of survey respondents, don’t do it. Let respondents make mistakes. Let them mess up, and then review who messes up. This is one of the best ways to assess data quality in a survey, and trust me you will…
Putting together our winter newsletter, Five Free Data Sources Every Market Researcher Should Know, had me reviewing various sources of free data that we use nearly every day at Versta Research. The really big sources were top-of-mind and easy to come up with: data from The Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Institutes…
For those who feel far removed from the federal government shutdowns, I hope Versta Research’s winter newsletter will inspire an appreciation for what our government provides that is invaluable (and irreplaceable) in market research. Most researchers have no idea how much free data there is from the U.S. Federal Statistical System. They should, because unlike…
Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on all things that make our lives rich and rewarding, and my friend and colleague Henry (the farmer for whom I work on Saturdays) got me thinking about what I am thankful for in my work specifically, and in a new way. He asked us to think about who…
It’s the week after Independence Day. You’re doing your best to re-focus on work after the holiday break. If only it could have lasted a few days longer! I can’t bring you a few more days vacation, but I can offer this suggestion for making the holiday last just a wee bit longer: Bring some…