James Murray is principal of Seattle IT Edge, a strategic consultancy that melds the technology of IT with the business issues that drive IT solutions. When James gave me a list of things that are central for IT professionals, I thought it might be fun (and hopefully useful) to connect these terms with online surveys for market research. [Warning: if you are a technical type interested in [...]

Why survey creators need to pay more attention to the details of wording, question types and other matters that not only affect results but also how customers view the company. A recent survey from Sage Software had quite a few issues, and gives me the opportunity to share some pointers. The survey was for follow up satisfaction after some time with a new version of ACT! Call me a dinosaur, but after experiments with various online services, I still prefer a standalone CRM. Still, [...]

Whether you are a political junkie or not, recent articles and analysis about mobile phones as part of data collection should be of interest to those who design or commission survey research. Cost, bias, and predictability are key issues. In years gone by, cell phone users were rarely included in surveys. There was uncertainty about likely reaction of potential respondents (“why are you calling me on my mobile when I have to pay for incoming calls?”, “is this [...]

A recent article in the Seattle Times covering a poll by Elway Research gives me an opportunity to discuss statistical testing. The description of the methodology indicates, as I’d expect, that the poll was conducted properly to achieve a representative sample: About the poll: Telephone interviews were conducted by live, professional interviewers with 405 voters selected at random from registered [...]

I saw the oddest question in a survey the other day. The question itself wasn’t that odd, but the options for responses were very strange to me. 1 - Not at all Satisfied 2 - Not at all Satisfied 3 - Not at all Satisfied 4 - Not at all Satisfied 5 - Not at all Satisfied 6 - Not at all Satisfied 7 - Somewhat Satisfied 8 - Somewhat Satisfied 9 - Highly [...]

A tale of three types of cheating. If you are going to fudge the numbers, you’d better be very clever. Last December’s Annual Year in Ideas issue of the New York Times magazine included an idea titled “Forensic Polling Analysis” describing how Nate Silver analyzed results published by a polling firm called Strategic Vision. Silver decided to take a look at the results because Strategic Vision had been censured by the American Association for Public Opinion [...]

I came across a published report recently that made me wonder why people persist in reporting that there is a causal relationship when the data doesn’t justify the assertion. Actually, the reasons aren’t all that hard to figure out. Usually, it’s because the relationship seems obvious, and sometimes it is when the person writing the report has a bias they wish to share.But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let’s start with a couple of definitions: A [...]

Proctor and Gamble UK has been forced to pull a TV ad due to misleading claims based on a poorly designed survey.

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority felt that the survey results were too likely to biased by the invitation process, which included providing free samples of Clairol Nice 'n' Easy (the advertised product) prior to the survey and a entry in a drawing for a photo shoot in New York. The ASA also felt that surveys might have been completed by [...]

A survey should aim to be like a conversation.  Online surveys don’t have humans involved to listen to how someone feels about the survey, to reword for clarity or to encourage, so you have to work harder to generate comfort.  Although you don’t want to take too long (the number one complaint of survey takers is time), it is still better to work up to the key questions gradually if possible.  Even though it might be the burning issue for you, you risk turning someone off if [...]

This is a follow up to classes I taught that included a short section on pricing research methodologies. I promised some more details on the Van Westendorp approach, in part because information available online may be confusing, or worse. This article is intended to be a practitioner’s guide for those conducting their own research. First, a refresher. Van Westendorp’s Price Sensitivity Meter is one of a number of direct techniques to research pricing. Direct techniques [...]