I was in a meeting recently and a client asked me how a particular piece of research was acquired from those surveyed. I am always ready to quote my sources, but this question gave me pause, because I wasn’t prepared to address this particular piece of methodology. Turns out the answer was mixed — 1/3 by landline, 1/3 by cell phone and 1/3 online.
However, I didn’t like not having that top of mind, so I began researching research. Many trends right now are going to continue to evolve the industry. Research can be collected in person, on the phone (cell and landline), by mail and, now, online.
How a survey is distributed can affect many aspects of the results, including response rates and demographics of respondents.
Mobile research is not new and is now becoming very common. It allows real-time feedback from consumers, which was nearly impossible before. Social tools are now becoming more integrated, as well, where opinions show themselves organically among communities.
These new techniques not only help deliver results faster but give researchers access to a much bigger sample size — always a hot topic of conversation in advertising.
There will always be flaws in research, and we view every nugget of data as one piece of the very large pie. But we hope these emerging trends help research become more stable and insightful than ever.
