Surveys don’t get much simpler than this. It is from the New York Times, which I typically admire for its rigorous reporting, thoughtful analysis, and forward-thinking experimentation with data visualization. But even with such simplicity, this survey (published on April 22, 2018) manages to be terrible in at least three big ways: It asks a…
It seems that every time we write or speak about market research infographics, people pay attention. Leading up the Fall 2017 Corporate Researchers Conference, the Insights Association asked for a preview article of our presentation on infographics for its weekly newsletter. It ended up being at the top of the Association’s list of most-read articles…
Yesterday I was delighted to share the stage with Kate Morris at the Corporate Researchers Conference in Chicago, talking about the power, the potential, and the “how-to” of spectacular infographics for market research. Kate spent many years in the research group at Fidelity Investments, and it was for Kate that Versta Research first tried its…
One memorable lesson from reading Edward Tufte’s books about visual displays of quantitative information is that charts are not the only way to display data. Indeed, they are sometimes a worse way. We should always at least consider a table as a superior alternative: Tables are clearly the best way to show exact numerical values,…
Data wonks have more fun than you may think. If you have not yet begun working with the R statistical program (which is mesmerizing, extremely powerful, hard to learn, but weirdly intuitive, and FREE) then here is a fun and relatively easy way to give it a test drive. It is becoming a tradition that,…
The R statistical package is an amazingly powerful and versatile tool for data analysis and data visualization. When it comes to graphics and charts, here is one reason: It has foundational plotting tools that can be adapted in infinitely many ways to create (and invent) many more types of charts than you will find in…
Sometimes data visualization is too compelling for it’s own good. People are impressed by the beautiful design, and they look right past the utter nonsense being presented. This is “beautifully” illustrated by Google’s rollout of the first of many new features of their survey tool. Here’s the email they sent: We’re excited to announce that…
Here’s a sobering question for professionals who work in the “insights” industry: How much of your market research really offers insight? Not just validating data, or routine measurements, or pro forma tracking. Not just percentages of “how many said what” in a customized study. By true insight we mean: a direct answer to a deeply…
Tip #3 of our presentation tomorrow at the LIMRA marketing research conference is this: Make your infographic something to explore. It stands in stark contrast to our advice for research reports, which is to make everything utterly transparent. Here I explain the reasoning behind this advice, what it means to “explore,” and most importantly, how…
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…