Marketing research now involves the latest in technology, telecommunications equipment, and computers, but the key ingredient to a successful market research campaign is still excellent people. Management has to know how to plan for, design, and implement a research campaign. The people actually doing the research need to eliminate their individual biases to gather clean data, and statistical analysis needs to be performed by professional statisticians to develop an accurate and meaningful management report.


Thus, the three steps involved in a research campaign-the planning, data collection, and analysis-should be performed by specialists. Decades ago, it made economic, as well as common, sense for companies to keep research campaigns in-house, for the age of specialization had not developed to where market research firms existed. Today, the market research industry has evolved to the point where firms specialize in the different phases of the market research project itself. Costs for these services are such that even small to mid-size companies can afford them, and large companies can save an abundance of management's time, money, and energy, if they farm out their research assignments.

One area of rapid growth within the market research industry itself is firms specializing in Data Collection. With the number of telephone data collection companies growing, it is important to know how to properly choose one. Lou Roth, president of The Wats Room, a data collection firm, has put together a useful set of guidelines making the selection of a Data Collection company.

To begin with, management at any service should be able to assist its client with questions of incidence, sample needs, how to best reach a target audience, etc. They should understand how their handling of a client's project will impact the client's reaching its goals. As the project begins, a number of steps should take place at the service.

  • A Project Manager should be assigned to review the questionnaire, the sample audience, interviewing instructions, and other specifics of the project.
  • The scheduling department should be told when the project is to arrive in-house, and should confirm the starting and completion dates.
  • Supervisors, Editors, Monitors, Validators, and Interviewers should then (based upon their experience) be assigned to the project, and should be thoroughly briefed on it. Practice surveys and role playing should then be performed prior to the project going "live."
  • Each interviewer's first completed survey should be reviewed and edited promptly to ensure compliance with and understanding of the client's instructions.
  • All completed surveys should be edited on the same shift on which they were completed. The editing process should be implemented as soon after surveys have completed as possible. Editors and interviewers should confer frequently to clarify any points of misunderstanding.
  • The day after the survey has been completed and edited, it should be passed on to a Quality Control department for a second editing. The second round of editing should be performed by a different editor than those who performed the first round.
  • During the interviewing process the interviewers should be continually monitored to insure adherence to the company's and the client's instructions and standards. Equipment should be available for those interested in "observation listening."
  • Following a certain percentage of completed interviews, management should offer a validation standard for an interviewer's work. Firms offering this service are most interested in quality control and quality results.
  • Daily, or as needed, verbal reports should be given to the client on items such as: number of completed surveys by quota group, incidence, status of sample, etc.
  • Prior to returning the completed surveys to the client, management at the data collection house should review all of the specifications and paperwork to be certain that all information requested by the client is transmitted accurately and in a professional manner.

Data Collection companies should make sure they have these policies firmly established as part of normal operating procedures. These guidelines help the potential buyer of these services know what to look for in judging a quality organization, one having the expertise and experience that others don't.

In conclusion, as the market research industry continues to evolve into a highly specialized and sophisticated industry, both the buyer and supplier of these service need to be informed of each other's requirements. As in the research industry itself, communication between buyer and supplier is of utmost importance. By following the previously mentioned standards, many points of disagreement will be eliminated.