Joseph Curry is a vice president of Sawtooth Software, a company that writes and markets microcomputer software for marketing research. Previously, he was research director at Future Computing, a marketing research company specializing in the personal computer industry. Since 1978, Curry has been involved in the development of microcomputer software systems for interactive interviewing and data analysis.

These days, you can't read a marketing trade publication without encountering ads for research software - cross-tabs, statistical packages, focus group databases and interviewing software packages. The software publishers are telling you that "everyone's doing it" and urging you to take the plunge.Don't panic and rush to buy. The right software can do the things the advertisers tout: increase productivity, accuracy and cut costs. The wrong software, however, will not.

Marketing research software is expensive and to a far greater extent than word processing and database packages, it is your business. Its purchase should be carefully considered. Here are my suggestions for taking the risk out of buying software:

Learn what's available: In the past this wasn't easy. The main source of software information was the major PC publications that, except for an occasional statistical package review, didn't cover marketing research software. Today there are a number of publications that list software of interest to marketing researchers. Here are some of them:

- Directory of Software for Marketing and Marketing Research (AMA Marketing News)- PC Software for Marketing and Sales (Gordon Publications)- PC Week's Buyers Guide to Statistical Software- Quirk's Marketing Research Review- The Directory of Statistical Software (Marcel/Dekker)- The Marketing Services Guide (AMA) Other sources include: conferences (and exhibits) sponsored by the American Marketing Assn., the Marketing Research Assn., the American S...