Editor’s note: Tim Macer is managing director, and Sheila Wilson is an associate, at meaning ltd., the U.K.-based research software consultancy which carried out the study on which this article is based on behalf of Globalpark.

Results from the seventh annual Globalpark Market Research Software Survey, designed and conducted by meaning ltd., show a research industry where there is considerable diversity of practice in relation to the technology used and the extent to which technology is leading innovation. Often, it is the larger firms that are more daring in the way they apply technology or embrace new technology. We reveal that social media research is still in its infancy, with more firms considering it or experimenting with it than are actually raising revenue from it. Yet, for an approach that has its roots in Web technology, the methods being applied by researchers in conducting and analyzing social media research are still pretty low-tech.

We also seem to be detecting peak, or close to peak, for the growth of online research, as, for the first time, growth predictions focus heavily on mobile research. And we reveal some surprises about the extent to which research companies are turning to non-traditional data sources, how rigorous research companies are about testing online and highly interactive surveys and the directions firms are taking with respect to the distribution of research data and findings to their clients.

The survey was carried out among senior executives or business owners of market research companies around the world, in the final quarter of 2010. It consisted of an online questionnaire which took, on average, 15 minutes to complete. (The full study report can be downloaded at www.meaning.uk.com.)

The survey drew its sample from a wide variety of sources to ensure good coverage, and also included some participants from previous years. Individual named invitations were se...