If a company is using DIY survey tools, I see it as an opportunity. It provides evidence that the company understands the value that market research can bring to an organization. Many market researchers, too quickly, frown upon the use of DIY Survey tools and I feel that they do so simply because it cuts them out of the loop. Survey’s have been around a lot longer than market research professionals. A simple show of hands, for example, has been around longer than the word research. No one has ever argued against a show of hands and it is likely the most frequently run survey on the planet. Personally, I’ve never walked into a company that is running their own, homegrown, survey(s). What I have run into are a number of companies that I wish had done some kind of rudimentary survey before making a decision. Nevertheless...

The question posed to the group of 5 Bloggers this month was: “Mobile surveys – For/Against, Pros/Cons, Right Situations/Wrong Situations?” Links to my fellow bloggers Annie Pettit1, Joel Rubinson2, Josh Mendelsohn3 and Bernie Malinoff

1 topic 5 blogs: On the 15th (or very near to it!) of every month 5 market researchers post a short opinion piece on a predefined topic that is relevant to the market research sphere. The researchers: Annie Pettit[1. Rich Media in Surveys], Bernie Malinoff[2. Impact of Rich Media Question Types in Market Research], Josh Mendelsohn[3.

In response to an article on ABC News: The Numbers[1. Study Finds Trouble for Opt-in Internet Surveys]

It's not a problem that is going away anytime soon. Panel companies have an incentive to continue using less than precise and less than accurate samples, defined by two-words: gross margin.

A  study of 17 panels and over 100,000 interviews by the Advertising Research Foundation's[1. The Advertising Research Foundation] Online Research Quality Council[2. Online Research Quality Council] conducted in June, 2009 provides, in some cases, counter-intuitive evidence to some of the classic pitfalls associated with panel based online research.

We asked a broad question and received some interesting yet correlated responses.

Q: Where is the value derived from social media in your business?

Response 1:

In response to a post on Research Rants: "Is the panel research business model creating a gold farming problem?"[1. Research Rants: "Is the panel research business model creating a gold farming problem?]

Granted, there is an incentive for people to game the system but there are numerous ways to capture and relegate this type of behaviour.

The MRIA just recently released a statement1 regarding the joint efforts of Research industry associations who are coordinating efforts to define industry terms relating to online research. Take the opportunity to have your say at their glossary2. Interesting as well, is the use of a wiki to simplify the process of industry feedback to the definitions.

Question

A client in government is being asked for reassurance that people with disabilities are being given equal opportunities to be heard and served. This includes ensuring that people with disabilities get appropriate accommodation if they want to participate.

How do we make provisions for this? TTY telephone surveys? “Read out loud” web surveys? Braille mail surveys? One-on-one interviews via ASL interpreter?

The Question

You must have heard of Green Cars etc etc, have you heard of Green Website? I am sure everyone would have heard about green cars, which is atmosphere friendly etc but have you heard or aware of website which is atmosphere friendly, just trying to find if there is something like that which exist and how is it atmosphere friendly?1

Our Answer