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3 critical elements of a research survey or DIY (do-it-yourself) vs. hiring a research vendor

Guest post by: Alex Khaikin

Article Overview: Do-it-yourself (DIY) research option is very helpful for student or companies that want to run quick and imprecise (statistically) surveys among their customers (provided they have built a customer contact list) or employees. To achieve reliable research results, any survey must have 3 important elements...

3 critical elements of a research survey or DIY (do-it-yourself) vs. hiring a research vendor

Do-it-yourself (DIY) research, specifically market research surveys, has become very popular during the last several years. No surprise- it provides very cheap and quick turn around research options that practically everyone can use.

The DIY research option is very helpful for student or companies that want to run quick and imprecise (statistically) surveys among their customers (provided they have built a customer contact list) or employees.

DIY survey tools offer, however, limited expertise- as far as actual research quality is concerned. I don't know about you, but a bunch of data, to me, means nothing unless it provides reliable, practical insights and actionable recommendations.

To achieve reliable research results, any survey must have 3 important elements:



1. It must ask the "right" questions (this will be the topic of our first discussion)

2. It must target a statistically significant sample of the targeted customer or employee group

3. It has to provide practical insights and actionable recommendations

Next time you decided to run a DIY survey, ask yourself if you have those 3 critical elements in place.

Part 1 - Ask the "right" questions...



Here are several real life examples of survey questions.

In the first example, a researcher wanted to better understand consumer awareness of Prebiotics:

Q1. Do you know the main usage of Prebiotics?

- Yes

- No

- No sure

Q2. To the best of your knowledge, which of the following statements about Prebiotics usage is correct (please don't guess)?

- Prebiotics are used to treat high cholesterol

- Prebiotics are used to restore healthy bacteria

- Prebiotics are used to feed healthy bacteria

- Prebiotics are used to kill harmful bacteria

- Don't know

While over 50% of the respondents in the general adult population responded "Yes" to Question 1, only 13% were able to answer correctly for Question 2 ("Prebiotics are used to feed healthy bacteria").

Take a look at another example. Subscribers of an internet magazine were asked to respond to this question:

Q. Why do you like our magazine?

- Because it's informative

- Because it's available on line

- Because it's free

- Because it has great ads

- Other (please specify)

Well, if one conducts this survey to better understand his or her customer, wouldn't it be more meaningful to ask what is missing in the magazine and what can be improved?

Finally, take a look at this question. The question was asked following the presentation of a new consumer product:

Q. How much would you pay for the product?

- $10.99

- $11.99

- $12.99

I bet you know the answers received by the researcher.

It's very tempting to do your own research- for free. The question is what value you are going to get from this research.

Next time will talk about sampling and its statistical significance.

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Article Tags: DIY research, market research, research survey, right question



Related Forum Posts
Re: Due Diligence, Market Research.. Ahead of the curve. - Congrats! A few months ago I wrote extensively on market research. Check in the Inventors corner for the posts. Let me know if I can help further! Dont spend a dime on a protype or advertising until you do some research! Jude
Re: Due Diligence, Market Research.. Ahead of the curve. - You can use SurveyMonkey or other surveys programs to research your market. It is easy to use and I do it all the time. If you have a list you can send that survey to your list. If you don't have a list, find an ezine owner and send the survey to his list paying him money in exchange. About advertising, I would advise to use social media advertising, because people are responsive to these things there and it is free, but effective form of advertising. Also... People love FREE. yes, it is magic word. Customer doesn't like when he sees you are trying to sell him something. Give as much free info as possible and when you offer them paid subsciption after this, they will trust you and your sincerety and will join probably. Orxan
Re: Incentives for Gathering Data - Many companies take it for granted that our time is precious. You would be wise to limit the scope of your research and reward all the participants with something you can afford. Or at the very least, be honest about how long the survey takes, how much time you are expected to put in etc. That is one thing that really gets to me. 5 minute surveys that are really 45 minutes, for some cheesy item. J
Re: Best Internet Marketing Strategies - I'd disagree with the first point. Keyword research is important, but it should not be the complete focus when doing niche research. A niche is typically made up of thousands of keywords, and researching them all is very difficult, because the keyword tools won't tell you what most of them are. Plus a niche is not a bunch of keywords, it is a demographic interested in a particular topic. You need to learn about the people in this demographic. Keyword research tells you their search habits and gives clues to competitiveness and potential profit, but you are looking at through a very narrow window of a much bigger picture.
Re: Search Engine Business Ideas - The research on Internet marketing, development and content of the development site is also an engine of business ideas for research. People are very involved in SEO benefit as a forum.


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