Whether you require limited research advice, or would like us to design and execute your entire research project, AuntMinnie’s market research consulting team is prepared to help you meet your objectives. Our five-step online research process that is designed to help ensure that you achieve your research goals with timely and accurate market insights.
- Clearly Define Your Research Objectives
An important first step in the online research process is to clearly define your research objectives so that the scope of the research is neither too broad nor too narrow, but appropriate for the problem or opportunity at hand. Some research is exploratory, with the goal of providing qualitative information to understand a market problem or opportunity. For example, exploratory research is often used early in the new product development process, when qualitative methodologies such as focus groups are used to test variations of product concepts with small samples of potential customers. On the other hand, for existing products and well-established markets, research projects are more likely to be either descriptive – seeking to measure certain magnitudes – or causal – seeking to test a cause and effect relationship. The online survey methodology is most likely to be effective when the research objectives are descriptive or causal, and relatively large sample sizes are needed to characterize market characteristics or opinions. - Identify Your Target Respondent Group(s)
To produce actionable research results, the importance of targeting the correct research respondents cannot be overstated. Identifying specific respondent qualifications is the first step to designing an appropriate sampling plan for your research project. Sampling criteria might include respondent profession, geographic location, primary facility type, product use, and/or areas of interest. Broader respondent qualifications tend to produce larger sample sizes, while more specific qualifications narrow the population of possible respondents and lead to smaller sample sizes. In order to obtain a representative survey sample, a probability sample of the population must be drawn. AuntMinnie’s market research service can assist you in weighing the tradeoffs between possible sampling plans. - Design an Effective Questionnaire with Built-In Validation Abilities
Before the first respondent is contacted, or the first question is asked, your survey questionnaire must be designed to deliver the information you need. Working with specifications provided by you, we can either design a new questionnaire or adapt an existing survey to the special requirements of the Internet. Our advanced survey design tools can address all of your requirements, including the use of response validation for mandatory responses and intelligent branching through the questionnaire based on prior responses. AuntMinnie.com builds controls into our online questionnaires to guard against skipped and incomplete responses, improving question-level response rates and data accuracy. Password protection and backup procedures are also used to ensure the highest levels of security and data integrity. Further, questionnaires are always tested prior to large-scale administration to ensure clarity and intended meaning. - Control and Monitor Survey Participation
Perhaps the most difficult part of conducting online surveys is controlling survey participation. Purchased email lists are often limited in size compared to the total survey population, and such lists tend to contain a relatively large percentage of outdated email addresses. These factors can result in poor response rates or uncertainty regarding the identities of some respondents. AuntMinnie.com’s online surveys can address these concerns, since we maintain an extensive database of potential survey respondents, including a profile of background information on each respondent. We invite survey participation by means of a “Response Invitation” which is sent only to individuals who meet your specifications. Invited respondents can then control the timing and pace of their participation. Survey security and respondent verification are critical elements that are reviewed and addressed based on the requirements of each project. Our surveys provide a mechanism to ensure that respondents can only participate once. In addition, the status of online survey results is monitored continuously during the data collection process. Interim updates can be provided to our research sponsors upon request. - Translate Research Data into Actionable Management Information
Even when the best questionnaire design and data collection techniques are used, effective research requires thoughtful and experienced interpretation of the data. Our research analysis and reporting process relies on experienced research professionals to translate the raw research data into actionable management information. Results are delivered in your choice of tabular or presentation formats. Regardless of the reporting format you choose, our goal is to provide results that are easy to understand and that clearly highlight the key research findings.
To learn more about how we can put the power of Internet market research to work for you, please click here.
