I am the Internet user that advertisers dread. I block as much advertising, video, flash content, and java script as I possibly can so that I stay focused on work without all that annoying, flashing, moving stuff trying to grab my attention. This always makes me wonder: Am I the Internet user that market researchers…
OK, using the word stalker instead of remarketing lists is harsh, but it perfectly conveys the idea behind Google Consumer Surveys’ (GCS) latest innovation for market research. You can use cookie lists from web pages to target people based on specific content they are viewing. Want to survey people who were on your website last…
If you are not testing all of your surveys for how they function on mobile, you absolutely should be. Almost half of respondents in our most recent U.S. census-rep survey completed the survey on mobile devices. This included 30% who completed it on phones, and 17% who completed it on tablets. Here is a quick…
Sometimes technology moves so fast it solves a problem before we solve it in other ways. Such is the case with grid-type questions and mobile surveys. People are doing surveys on mobile devices all the time now, so researchers are finally re-thinking how to design surveys. Getting rid of grids has been one mantra of…
If you ever have trouble separating all the hype of new methods and technology from the reality of whether those methods work, turn to the sober and decidedly non-hyped world of academic research. Some of the smartest people in the world build their careers by pursuing scientific research about research methods. They publish their results…
It’s the data. We want it all. And to be fair, this article is less about Qualtrics, and more about what makes for truly good and rigorous research. It just turns out that Qualtrics is the one tool that makes it more difficult and more expensive to do that kind of research than any others…
Last week we wrote about social media and market research, and suggested that industry experts agree it is not yet shaking the foundations of how we do research. So what about the other gigantic Internet development of the last decade—mobile technology? It should be shaking the foundations of how we do research. Current estimates are…
Progress bars that show respondents how far along they are in a survey have become standard in our industry. But are progress bars a documented “best practice” for survey research, or just another convention? A recent article in the Social Science Computer Review offers a meta-analysis of 32 field experiments designed to see whether progress…
It is hard to find an appropriate use for Google Surveys, because, as we outlined in a review article last fall, its capabilities are limited. But last week we needed a quick incidence test of how many U.S. adults own a certain type of investment product. Google Surveys seemed perfect. It was not fast, by…
Last week when we took Google Surveys for a test drive, we did not mention one disturbing aspect of their tool. It does not affect how you would use the tool, but it is worth talking about because Google unfortunately perpetuates the false notion that technology and tools can generate insights at the mere click…