Editor’s note: Sylvia Nieto-Vidal is managing partner, operations, at Multicultural Insights, a Coral Gables, Fla., research firm.

As the U.S.  marketplace continues to realize the value and importance of the ethnic markets, we are seeing an increasing number of research firms offering multicultural research services. Buyer beware! Before you select a research partner to conduct research for you in the multicultural marketplace you need to make sure they know the nuances of fielding these projects.

Several market research firms are opening up ethnic divisions by hiring one or two multicultural employees to head up their efforts. Keep in mind that while a research agency may be top-notch in conducting your general-market research projects this does not qualify them for superior performance in handling multicultural research. There are many important operational details that are important and that come with years of experience in intercepting, telephoning and speaking with these multicultural consumers.

  • Designing the questionnaire

While many of the same components go into designing a questionnaire for a multicultural project as well as for a general-market study, it is important that the research firm be aware of how to define your multicultural target and be aware of the nuances that apply to these segments. Not all consumers process and understand information in the same way. For example, some multicultural consumers tend to be more literal in their interpretation of copy and advertising. If a concept test or copy test is being conducted, this needs to be taken into account when designing the battery of questions and appropriate probes.

  • Sampling plan

Let’s assume the methodology and questionnaire have been designed and finalized for a telephone study and it is now time to field your multicultural research project. What is the sampling plan for this project? How is your research partner insuring that your sample is random and representative of this multicultural segment? A surname telephone sample is not always appropriate. Density-based samples may not always be the best method to reach this target and truly meet your objectives. Random-digit dialing can be expensive when researching the multicultural segments.

  • Questionnaire translation

Many researchers conducting multicultural research for the first time may not give much thought to the translation of the survey instrument. This is a mistake! Questionnaire translation is a crucial step in making sure that the data you are receiving at the end of the study truly is what you had intended to receive. Numerous times the meaning of questions is altered during this process and when results are presented, the data might be misleading. The implications of such an error can have a tremendous impact on advertising and marketing decisions for your product or service. If the consumer does not understand what you are asking or misinterprets the questions being posed, then in the final analysis your data is skewed and your marketing efforts may be misguided.

Another important point to keep in mind when administering bilingual questionnaires is that both languages should appear on one survey instrument. This will prevent interviewers from making impromptu translations of questions which the respondent may not understand in one language. Clarification can be provided by simply reading the same question in the second language.

  • Interviewing

Once the field briefings begin clients do not truly get re-involved until the field is completed. It is important during this phase of the research that your research firm uses interviewers that are trained and experienced in researching the multicultural segment you are trying to reach. Using interviewers of the same ethnicity or from the same country of origin may not suffice. During field briefings it is crucial that the cultural idiosyncrasies of the questionnaire be communicated to your data collection team. In some cases, multiple translations or various pronunciations of the same words can be provided to interviewers as a separate help sheet to assist them in the interviewing process.

  • Coding

Open-ends are common in most questionnaires. Regardless of the segment being interviewed the response must be recorded verbatim. In multicultural research this would mean in the language used by the respondent. Many research firms leave the translation of open-ended responses to their interviewers. While this may be a timesaving step, since interviewers are not trained translators, you run the risk of respondent feedback being altered and skewed. Code lists should either be developed in the language stated by the respondents or developed once all open-end responses have been properly translated. This is yet another safeguard in insuring that the meaning of responses is not altered during the process.

Insure success

These are just a few things that you should keep in mind when conducting multicultural research. Using a research firm that knows these and the many additional design and execution details will insure that your multicultural research is a success.

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