If change is a constant, market researchers can attest to it. They work in an industry that accounts for the new, different, or previously unknown daily. This could be product innovation, market trends, business challenges, or consumer preferences. Resultantly, market researchers are comfortable getting down to the work of tapping into what’s really going on.
But in this era in which data gets a jump on the answers first, researchers must stretch beyond the fundamentals and methodologies they were trained in. They must embrace the enormous volume of information that already exists, instead of relying on new studies to uncover insights.
Big data continues to permeate the business world. In doing so, it brings down the boundaries between research, marketing, and analytics. This means the market research industry must carve out a new niche for itself — and possibly a new skill set.
In a recent GutCheck webinar, three market research experts discussed how the role of researchers needs to evolve.
Be More Scientific
Larry Friedman, Senior Advisor at Larry Friedman Market Research Advisory Services, says:
“Researchers need a better skill around developing hypotheses”
Friedman notes that a challenge with huge data sets is how to get your arms around them. He points out that too many people think it’s a matter of throwing all data into a hopper and the answers magically come out. But the problem, he says, is when there is a 1,000 x 1,000 correlation matrix: it generates a million correlations and 10,000 will be significant by chance alone.
Such is the challenge with the nearly unfathomable amount of data collected these days, and the job of those who derive meaning from it. But developing a more scientific, hypothesis-based way of looking at the world can help researchers make better use of data.
To avoid confusion, Friedman believes researchers need to have a good sense of how they think the world works. In his opinion, this means taking survey-design skills and transforming them into a scientific approach and mindset.
Learn from Art
Renee Smith, Chief Research Officer at GutCheck, looks elsewhere for inspiration as she thinks about how to solve client problems. Smith says the best art curators think of themselves as junction makers. This has inspired her to think about researchers as data curators. She encourages researchers to think about what kinds of junctions they can make between different types of data, between new technologies, and between two hypotheses.
Keith Johnson, Chief Product Officer at GutCheck, agrees. But for Johnson, being more about data curation and less about asking questions, goes even further than junction-making. He suggests actually helping to integrate what’s traditionally been separate research and analytics departments within companies — all with an eye toward accelerating product innovation.
Recently, few very large clients have combined market research with insights and analytics, which used to be siloed. This provides an opportunity for research partners to help reduce friction in these organizations so everyone can move faster.
Beyond Surveys
Data is encroaching upon the once hallowed ground of the survey. But today’s mobile, on-demand lifestyles are disrupting how surveys are typically delivered. This presents a new opportunity for researchers to evolve this tried-and-true tool as well.
A frustration with surveys is how slow the transition to mobile surveying has been. Some researchers are so used to overloading surveys with content that it makes typical desktop surveys 20+ minutes in length. Such lengthy surveys can’t be done well on a mobile device. Friedman stresses that combining some premises from a survey with others from a data set can enable researchers to cut that survey down to where mobile becomes much more valuable than it’s been so far.
He adds:
“Market researchers still prioritize surveys or focus groups. However, analysis of existing data sources is primary now. Going forward, surveys should be used primarily to answer specific questions that come out of big data analyses.”
To learn more about this topic from the experts, check out this webinar.
