Returning by popular demand, this handy Mouse Mat supports your working day with easy access to this year’s calendar and a reminder of where to get International samples and other services, whenever you need them.

Please register on www.global-research.net/mousemat to reserve your matt and have an easier year!

Wishing you all the very best for 2012,

• Michael Lappler of Icon Added Value, who wins €1200 worth of International RDD.
• Jim Oliver of Proteus Research in the UK who wins £1000 worth of International RDD.
• Elizabeth Staples of Kadence International in the USA, who wins $1500 worth of International RDD.

We had 73 responses in total of which 62 people completed the survey and 46 of these are clients
You may be interested in some of the key findings from the survey

• • Our clients rated their experience of working with us based on three options; Completely Satisfied, Mostly Satisfied and Not Satisfied. 70% declared themselves to be completely satisfied and 30% mostly satisfied. We had nobody respond as NOT satisfied. Whilst very pleased to have achieved such warm feedback our challenge is ensure even more people are Completely Satisfied in a year’s time!
• • It was also comforting to note that the vast majority of our respondents were optimistic about prospects for the research business in 2012; with at least 80% believing business levels would remain at current levels or increase across all methodologies. Online and B2B research received the most positive expectations with 40-50% of respondents believing business levels in these areas would increase
• • Not surprising ‘meeting the right target group’ was by far and away the highest rated factor when choosing a sample provider. followed by sample quality (rated as half as important). We will ensure that we keep these as our main criteria when presenting sample options to you whilst continuing to improve our service levels and competitiveness.

Thanks again to all that responded, and we’d like to wish everyone a very successful 2012.

Neil´s appointment provides us with the capability to continue expanding our business and to forge new partnerships, while retaining that client focus which is so essential to successful marketing services.

If you require any further information then please do not hesitate to contact us.

The event is in aid of the BMRA and will be held on Thursday May 19th at Chobham Golf Club in Surrey.

So if you feel like teeing off once more next month for a good cause please visit:

www.sampleanswers.com/mrsgolf

for more information and an online booking form.

Please contact our MRS liaison for further information:

John Steinitz, MRS – Tel: 020 7566 1874, Email: john.steinitz@mrs.org.uk.

It would be great to see you all on the day

In our recent survey 106 Sample Answers Clients responded to the question “How Satisfied are you ….??”. The results using a simple 3 point scale were:

• 63% completely satisfied
• 33% fairly satisfied
• 4% NOT satisfied

Unfortunately we have failed to improve upon the 96% satisfaction rating as achieved on our last customer survey, conducted in 2007!

To: The Editor, Research Business report

Sir,

I read with interest your December issue of RBR but, as I had feared, a number of your correspondents were foreseeing the potential for ‘social networks’ and associated technology as significantly influencing the future for the research industry. In doing so, however, it seems to me that they have forgotten what the word ‘research’ means. For example, where is the role of hypothesis testing within the observational analytics heralded as the future of research by remarks such as those from Shane Skillen, as highlighted in your report “Google and Facebook will forever change the way we do research …etc.”?

However, my concern goes deeper than mere sophistry, because none of your correspondents seems to pay any attention to some of the most fundamental considerations underlying the issue of reliability in quantitative research. Admittedly a few people mention some of the potential problems, for example Mitch Eggers terse remark that “Buyers of online sample will realise that de-duped, authenticated speed scrubbed and straight-lined scrubbed remain skewed and biased” or Reg Baker’s equally terse warning that this year “will see MR’s use of social media enter a crisis around user privacy”. But no-one mentions the word ‘probability’ – although Steven Gittelman hints at it with his prediction that “The year of the sample frame is upon us. That dirty little ‘R’ word – representative – has clawed its way back into our consciousness”.

The late, great, George Gallup (who was he? I hear someone ask) had brought market research to the forefront of business practise in the 1930’s through the application of a simple principle which may be stated as ‘ensure that everyone in the population has an equal chance of selection in your sample’ . Provided one has a large enough sample size this principle will guarantee that sample bias in research results will be avoided. For many years we have accepted that our methods will not always ensure that everyone will be included but we have also assumed that everyone who is included in our sample has had an equal chance. Increasingly, however, we know that this latter assumption is no longer valid. Whenever an online survey is ‘topped up’ with a telephone sample there will be a different probability of inclusion in the results between the on-line questionnaires and those completed by phone. Those many enthusiasts for multi-modal research projects seem to ignore this fact.

“Does it really matter?” some may ask. In my experience yes, it does matter. It can be VERY important to understand the relative probabilities with which people have responded to your survey, particularly if the subject matter is concerned with media or travel. In my opinion it is critical that we recognise that the keen social networker is, probably, on all those sources researchers use for panel recruitment. They are, also, possibly already on one or more panels somewhere and they actively use their cell phone. He or she may be too busy to respond to your survey but you are giving them every chance! Of course, the higher the chance the more likely the response and we face a future where the voice of the Social Networkers will drown out the opinions of the silent majority.

This follows a previous contribution from Tony published in the December issue of RBR as follows:

Many researchers predict rapid growth in Social Network research for 2011, but I disagree. Despite many initiatives that have ensured quality improvement in online research since P&G’s Kim Dedeker challenging comments at the 2006 “Research Industry Summit on Respondent Cooperation”; the fundamental problem of uncertainty as to who, precisely, has completed your online questionnaire remains an unavoidable fact, in many cases.

Social Networks, with the increasing use (and acceptance) of pseudonyms, will only aggravate this fact. Thus my prediction is for a resurgence of telephone research, supported by better quality questionnaires and other industry initiatives to re-engage the consumer in that mode of data collection. This is essential for any work requiring true quality of data collection and proper sampling.

* Marketing environment
* Social media marketing
* Research methodology
* CRM in B2C and B2B markets
* Product development and brand management
* Pricing strategies
* Marketing communications
* Channel management and logistics
* Marketing metrics

* Marketing education
* Ethics and consumer protection
* Contemporary marketing practices
* Other relevant topics