Introduction to easy research
When I started out in the market research profession, instant access information and easily accessible online survey tools were a thing of the future. Traditional approaches of face-to-face, telephone and postal interviews were the research tools of the day.
Moving forwards, it can be argued that research has never been easier. The vast resource of the internet, semantic search and automation has opened up a literal world of insight, information and intelligence that would have been hard to imagine even two decades ago.
- The internet provides us with vast amounts of information which is easily accessible and immediate, making it easy to find relevant data and quick answers to factual questions.
- Semantic search tools go further, and allow us to ask complex questions, adding understanding to the meaning and intent behind searches.
- Automation and systems ease the manual effort and speed up processes.
If your question can’t be answered via this extensive source, then undertaking primary research may seem less resource intensive than 20 years ago. The ability to engage with a wide range of audiences globally would then have been out of the reach of many.
Online panels and software programmes now mean the world is our oyster in engaging and interacting with a breadth and depth of respondent profile of our choosing.
The availability and access of research is far more extensive, accessible and immediate than ever before, but does this make for better research?
Does easy research meet your objective or is it information overload?
The first discussion I have with any company looking to undertake research is to clearly establish their objective for needing the research. What does the business need to know, why does it need to know it, and most importantly – what will the business do differently as a result of the information it gathers?
Research is a fantastic business tool, but it needs to be of value to the business – what impact will the research have on the company, what value will it bring, how will it help inform decisions and direct business.
The ease of access to information may make it easy to overlook this stage and base the focus of the research on what information is available or easily accessible – the data driving the research rather than the research generating the relevant data.
Before starting any data access exercise, ensure your objective is clear – what decision do you want to make based on the data. This will help to keep data searches focused and relevant.
The ease of accessing information can make it tempting to generate volumes of data. Even if the data is relevant to your objective, resource is required in collating, analysing, interpreting and applying the information – the task of gathering the data is the start not the end of the process.
Does easy research ask the right questions to the right people at the right time?
A key benefit of primary research is that it can be designed to ensure you are asking the right people, the right questions at the right time. Application of any secondary research to your business decisions needs to ensure you are confident in all of these areas.
Questions that you can ask to help decide if secondary research meets your needs:
- What is the source of the research – Has it been AI generated, is it from a reputable academic source, has it been undertaken by an organisation with its own distinct objective?
- When was the research conducted – What is the date of the research, what has since happened in the global environment which may influence the research outcomes, are there different factors now affecting your industry, sector and marketplace?
- What forms the basis for the research – Is it based on views of academics or influencers, is it a survey with the target audience or a random sample, is it based on qualitative or quantitative research, how many views is the research based on, what is the level of analysis?
- Does the data tell you what you need to know – Tying the secondary research back to the objective of your own research is key to ensuring you haven’t faltered from the direction and scope of the information which your business needs. Does it directly address the questions you need answering?
A final consideration is that, by the nature of secondary research, it is information that is not unique to your own business. The insight gathered can be accessed by others in your industry and competitors, you’re not benefitting from having unique insight – what you know, so can everyone else.
We all have the answers at our finger tips but we need to make sure we ask the right questions.
Does easy research jump through all the hoops?
If secondary research hasn’t met your objectives, you may then look to consider conducting primary research. This has the advantage of providing a bespoke solution to your research objective. You can ask the questions you want to ask of the people you want to hear from in the current time. The insight you collate is unique to you.
The online option can provide a quick, cost effective, efficient, low resource solution. It has opened up the research market way beyond the need to conduct interviews by telephone, face-to-face or by post. It has made the research market much more accessible to everyone in business. You no longer need to commission out a full survey; it could be that you have the ability to conduct it all inhouse.
As with any solution that looks easy, there are however considerations to ensure that the research is robust, relevant reliable.
The design of the questionnaire is crucial in meeting the research objectives. Questions need to be clear, relevant, balanced and easy to answer. Pre-coding response options makes it easier for the respondent, however; have you covered all options, are you sure there is no overlap or ambiguity, have you made sure you are not leading respondents, is it a single or multiple response option?
The sample itself needs to be considered. Are you conducting a qualitative or quantitative survey to meet your objectives? Who is the target market; where are they, what is their profile, how can you best reach them, is an online survey the best way to engage with them? How many responses do you need from the research? This can depend on a number of factors such as size of the sample population, its complexity and level of homogeneity, acceptable standard error, and depth of subsample analysis required.
The collation of the data is the starting point where research starts to add value. Does your business have the appropriate tools and expertise to analyse and interpret the data. Advances in digital tools which generate analysis and visualisations; along with big data and advanced analytics techniques with the ability to extract deeper insights and identify complex patterns are great contributors to this process.
At the end however, it is the business itself which needs to make the decision on how to use and apply this intelligence – that crucial stage is still down to the personnel working within your company.
Conclusion
To conclude, research today isn’t necessarily easier, but modern tools such as the internet, semantic search and automation can make both accessing and processing information faster and more efficient.
Whilst information retrieval and generation can be easy, the depth and quality of research remain reliant on using our skills in objective setting, design, interpretation and analysis, along with our business acumen.
Easy research is not necessarily worse research, and in many cases, it provides a robust and reliable source of information, making insight accessible to many more than if reliant on traditional research approaches.
It does however require the same level of consideration, application and processes as traditional research methods, with the objective clearly in focus at all times – what is the value of the research to the business.
A good question is to ask if you are confident to make key business decisions based on the research – do you trust the approach, scope, method and analysis to use the information to direct your business.
The value of research is always in its application and not in the information per se.
