Versta Research Post

Using Avatars & Robots for Survey Research

Two researchers at the U.S. Census Bureau recently outlined an emerging innovation in survey research that could reverse the trend towards passive, boring, self-administered surveys that characterizes much online research.  The idea is to use internet avatars in real-time interviewing with survey respondents. Beyond just the heightened interest of having an animated survey, the avatars…

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…

Versta Research Post

When to Use Paper Surveys

One might think that with evolving technologies, the old-fashioned ways of doing research, like using paper and pencil, might disappear.  But it turns out that paper surveys are not dead, and here is a nice example that dramatically illustrates their value. As newly-appointed director of market research for the American Marketing Association in Chicago, I…