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Amplified experience: What is it and does it occur in focus groups?
A common concern with focus groups is group think. In most cases what appears to be groupthink is actually poor moderation – the moderator fails to control dominating personalities and elicit comments from the quiet ones. Beyond being strong moderators to further combat the possibility of group think Isurus includes individual exercises in most focus groups. This ensures we collect feedback from everyone and provides the more timid participants with a stick in the ground they can stand by when aggressive participants try to sell their point of view.
Read MoreMeta surveys vs. detailed explorations: When to use each
An organizational chart of trust has made its way around LinkedIn and Twitter. It’s a great reminder that many elements contribute to feelings of trust. We can use it to ask ourselves how well we and our organizations perform in these areas. It also provides a framework for thinking about other measures such as quality. But should organizations use frameworks like this to formally measure attributes such as trust, quality, loyalty, etc?
Read MoreRevolutions in Data Analytics
The Independence Day holiday is a good time to talk about revolutions. We are all inundated with stories about big data and analytics revolutionizing how companies use data to run their businesses. As useful and powerful as these tools are turning out to be, the biggest data analysis revolution of all time arguably took place in 1786 when Scottish Engineer William Playfair invented the bar, line and pie chart That is not a typo: We have been using the same tools to visualize data for over 200 years.
Read MoreBias lives in the execution, not the approach
Sometimes in the buzz over new research tools the practitioners and media are overzealous in identifying insights that the new tool provides that old tools miss. In reality the problem typically isn’t with the old tools, it is with how they are used. But it’s always easier and more interesting to grab onto the next new thing than it is to address the misuse of existing tools and process.
Read MoreThe value of NPS in B2B enterprise markets
A client recently asked our opinion of the value of the Net Promoter Score. As with all flavor-of-the-month management technique we followed the pattern of curiosity, skepticism, and finally came to a set of beliefs regarding where NPS provides the most value – and where it does not. Our beliefs are based on our experience helping B2B enterprise clients implement and interpret NPS results.
Read MoreWhat do mayors and market research have in common?
Political theorist Benjamin Barber’s talk at TEDGlobal 2013,“Why Mayors Should Rule the World” holds a lesson about our political institutions but is also surprisingly relevant for the effective use of market research. Barber contends that mayors have an extremely influential role in shaping the world because they are much more effective at actually getting things done than other parts of government (e.g., Congress, Executive Office, etc.). Mayors can’t stay mired in ideological debate; if potholes don’t get filled the mayor loses her job.
Read MoreEvaluating data sources
As part of their informational literacy education, high school and college students are provided with an evaluation tool called the C.R.A.A.P test. The tool’s intention is to help students evaluate the validity and usefulness of the information sources they use in their research papers.
Read MoreThe other “focus” in focus groups
Much of the debate around the value of traditional focus groups centers on the discussion that happens around the table of participants. Left out of the conversation are the benefits traditional focus groups provide to the people sitting behind the one-way mirror – the team sponsoring the research.
Read MoreDo dominant personalities sway participants in focus groups?
It is almost inevitable that during the course of a set of focus groups one of the backroom observers will point to a participant with a strong personality and say, “I think that person is leading the other participants.” After almost twenty years of watching and conducting focus groups the idea that B2B decisions makers can be so easily swayed by an individual with a strong personality seems like the market research equivalent of the boogeyman.
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