Market Research Glossary
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What is Margin of Error? | Market Research Firm in Central New York
Posted at: 11/4/2016 3:34 PM
Margin of error is a term commonly used in market research. It's the accepted standard for reliability of data with probability and random sampling. It tells us within a certain confidence, how accurate our data really is. But it is often a difficult concept to explain to those not well-versed in statistics or market research. Margin of error typically coincides with three different confidence levels in statistics - either 90%, 95% or 99%. For example, let's say the report you are reading say
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What is Sample Contamination? | Market Research Firm Syracuse, NY
Posted at: 10/30/2016 3:17 PM
Market research can experience its own zombie-like virus through sample contamination. What is sample contamination? Much like it sounds, it's sample of people who do not represent the traits of the intended population surveyed. Market research involves two groups of people - a sample and a population. Let's say a company wants to launch a new widget product. The company wants to find out how appealing the new widget is to people across the country and understand their likelihood to purchase.
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What is a Micro Survey? | Market Research Firm Syracuse, NY
Posted at: 10/20/2016 2:26 PM
A micro survey is an extremely abbreviated form of surveying where less than 5 questions are asked and it typically takes the respondent a minute or less to answer. Although the number of questions and the length of a micro survey varies, the common theme is the survey is extremely short. Short to construct for the survey writer and short to complete for the survey taker. Other benefits of a micro survey include quick turnaround times for fieldwork because it usually results in a higher particip
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What is the Halo Effect? | Market Research Firm Syracuse, NY
Posted at: 10/16/2016 2:13 PM
The Halo Effect is the result of a respondent in market research having a generally positive or negative feeling about a company, experience, or product impact other and more specific criteria asked elsewhere in the survey. Basically it means if a person is a Coca-Coca loyalist, and they are asked to take a survey on Coca-Cola, they will rate Coca-Cola strong on price, store location, design of can, etc. Their overall generalization of loving Coca-Cola trumps more specific criteria regardless
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Acquiescence Bias in Market Research | Aiming to Please
Posted at: 10/14/2016 2:10 PM
What is acquiescence bias in market research? Acquiescence bias is favoritism which occurs in both qualitative and quantitative research in which the respondent aims to please the moderator or interviewer by being overly-friendly, showing a tendency to agree with whatever concept is presented to them. This most commonly occurs in qualitative research because exploratory research using in-depth interviews (IDIs) or focus groups allow for more rapport to be built between interviewer and intervi
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What is Snowball Sampling? | Market Research Company Upstate NY
Posted at: 10/10/2016 1:55 PM
Market research involves many different types of probabilistic and non-probabilistic sampling methods. I previously covered how the industry as a whole is warming up to directional research using convenience and other non-probability samples because of the budgetary and timeline benefits. Another form of convenience sampling is called snowball sampling (often referred to as referral sampling). What is snowball sampling? Snowball sampling is a form of sampling which begins by randomly selec
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What is a Quota? | Market Research Company in Syracuse
Posted at: 10/7/2016 1:45 PM
Quota is a term that is commonly used in both qualitative and quantitative market research. What is a quota? A quota is a project management term which stipulates the targeted number of interviews or completes that must be obtained through recruitment or fieldwork. A quota could be as simple as the total number of completes for a massive quantitative study but quotas can also be specified for segments within the total sample. Here are some quick examples of quotas in market research and how
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What is a Nested Sample? | Marketing Research Company Syracuse, NY
Posted at: 10/4/2016 1:14 PM
With so many different samples to choose from in market research (from probabilistic to non-probabilistic) it's easy to lose track of your options. In some cases in market research you may have used a nested sample without even knowing it. What is a nested sample? A nested sample is a series of stages in which people from each new sample are selected from a prior segment of sample. For example, here is an application of a nested sample using clusters. Let's say Girardi's Grocery Store wants t
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What is Frugging? | Market Research 101
Posted at: 10/3/2016 8:55 PM
"I am on the Do Not Call List. Stop calling me." Working in market research, this response from a resident answering their phone is heard far too often. In essence, surveys are meant to help the general consumer by improving products and services, determining the appropriate price point for products and services, and provide an avenue for them to voice displeasure about an experience. So you may be asking, "where does the negativity when answering the phone stem from?" It's largely driven by a
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What is a Loaded Question in Market Research?
Posted at: 9/29/2016 8:45 PM
A loaded question is often referred to as a leading question. What is a loaded question in market research? A loaded question is a question written by a survey designer aimed to push the respondent to a specific answer. A loaded question creates bias and makes the results collected for the question unreliable. Loaded questions in surveys can come in many forms. Some are blatantly obvious while some are more difficult to notice. Some are written on purpose, while most are done unbeknownst to t
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What are Demographics? | Market Research Agency Syracuse NY
Posted at: 9/22/2016 8:16 PM
I've covered a lot of core market research terms and principles on the Drive website through our Market Research 101 category, and this post addresses another one. The term demographics in market research is one of the most well-known and widely utilized terms. Demographics are categorization titles used to describe different populations of people. Some common types of demographic data include: Gender Age Marital Status Household Income Ethnicity Even location categorizations such as ZIP Cod
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What is Ethnography? | Market Research Company Utica NY
Posted at: 9/15/2016 7:59 PM
Ethnography in market research is using observational techniques to study and understand a consumer or user in a given environment. In its simplest terms, ethnography plain old observational research. Watching and learning. It is very popular in the B2C realm and in retail in particular. Many believe ethnographic research incurs less bias than traditional market research methodologies such as surveys and focus groups. Observational research is more pure and can be conducted using eye-tracking