SPSS is on the Web
SPSS Inc., Chicago, has launched a Web site, at http://www.spss.com. The site offers information on new product development and upcoming releases, free advice on creating and conducting surveys, access to user publications, answers to frequently asked questions about installing and running SPSS software, and contact information for each of its domestic and international offices. In addition, it includes general company and investor information as well as articles from the company's magazine, Keywords. The site also serves as a link between resources designed specifically to aid statisticians. Via "Stats on the Web," users can connect with university statistics departments, professional societies and research organizations, conferences and workshops, statistics archives, journals and Usenet newsgroups.
New video transmission service debuts, another lowers its prices
Markets-on-Demand, Inc., Teaneck, N.J., is now offering Market Window, a service that allows corporate analysts and managers to watch focus groups from their individual offices or conference rooms, using MPEG digital compression and transmission of audiovideo signals across fast (T-1) telephone lines. Market Window functions like commercial television, offering clients one-way audio and video access to focus groups. Clients have the service installed in their offices and are able to view focus groups in real time. Clients can contact the moderator, camera person or backroom during the group if necessary via phone. Demonstration sites are operating in Teaneck. N.J., at TAi-New Jersey, and in Chicago at TAi-Chicago.
In other news, VideoFocus Direct, a network of eight independent focus group facilities, has announced a 60 percent reduction in rates for videoconferencing focus groups. The price reduction is a result of advances in technology, lower manufacturer costs and other economies, says Norman Spector, president of VideoFocus Direct. Each of the eight facilities can transmit live to all popular brands of videoconferencing equipment owned by clients.
EMS releases new survey module
Electronic Marketing Systems. Santa Rosa, Calif., now offers the QS-1000 Electronic Survey Module, a lightweight, battery-operated unit designed for self-administered surveys. It features a user-defined question format (five- or 10-point rating scale, multiple choice, true/false, yes/no) and software that allows the user to create questions in Windows, transfer questions to the module, change questions as needed, and upload data for use in reports or statistical programs.
Portable scanner goes where the surveys are
National Computer Systems (NCS), Minneapolis, has introduced a portable scanner that users can take onsite to scan and tabulate survey forms. The NCS Self Score option converts an OpScan 4 scanner into a self-contained processing unit that doesn't have to be attached to a computer. The Self Score option consists of two cartridges and two print heads. One cartridge allows the scanner to be self-contained, the other connects it to a computer for scanning back at the office. The print heads make it possible for the stand-alone scanner to output tallies onto a Self Score results form.
Pulsar the talking tab program
Pulse Train Technology, North Palm Beach, Fla., has released Pulsar Executive, a Windows-based data analysis tool that enables the user to crosstabulate and chart survey data without having to be an expert in tab programs. The interface permits the user to rearrange tables, create filters and customized user variables at the click of a mouse. Charts or tables can be expoI1ed to other Windows-based programs through the clipboard or by dragging and dropping the Pulsar object to any word processor, spreadsheet or charting program. It also allows users to analyze open-end questions with sound capabilities. By double-clicking on an open-end cell that is linked to voice files in a .WAV format, the user can listen to what the respondents in that cell said if the CATl system that collected the data can record it. Pulsar runs on any desktop PC with 8MB of memory and Windows 3.1.
Raosoft simplifies form creation
Raosoft SURVEYWin Version 3.0 from Raosoft, Inc., Seattle, allows users to design data collection instruments with no database code needed for fOim creation. An object-oriented form design makes the development process simple with point-and-click selection. The program works in Windows 95, OS/2 and NT environments. Using the drag-and-drop option features, even novices can design customized electronic data entry screens. The database is automatically created.
TelePRIZM gives instant analysis of inbound, outbound calls
Claritas, Arlington, Va., has released TelePRIZM, a new product that lets companies to analyze inbound and outbound telephone numbers using Claritas' PRIZM lifestyle segmentation system. Users need the area code and the first three digits of the telephone number to obtain a PRIZM profile, including demographics (age, income, marital status), lifestyle characteristics (education, hobbies), spending habits (food, apparel, appliances), and media usage (cable, television, radio, newspaper). The product gives users instant analysis of inbound telephone inquiries or survey respondents and allows them to select phone numbers for outbound telemarketing based on target audiences rather than just sequential dialing.
Software maps, analyzes trade areas
Equifax National Decision Systems, San Diego. has introduced its latest PC-based data and mapping software package, Sparta-Trade Area, which enables retailers, banks and other businesses to display trade areas based on customer addresses and then analyze the demographic attributes, along with distance effects on patronage, and the business's market penetration. After customer data is brought into Sparta-Trade Area in dBASE format files, the system shows on a map where the business's customers live in relation to its location and can build up to three trade area zones around each site. By pointing to icons and pulldown menus and clicking with the mouse, the user selects the desired trade area parameters and method of analysis.
System interactively measures brand quality
Brand Quality Monitoring, a research tool from M/A/R/C, Dallas, helps users assess the viability of their brands against the competition. BQM measures four areas of brand quality: product quality, packaging, imagery and distribution. With the BQM approach, consumers receive coupons and other incentives through the mail to purchase products from their regular retail outlets. They use the products in their homes and then, any time of day, seven days a week, they can report their experiences via M/A/R/C's automated, toll-free interactive voice response system. The system takes consumers through a scripted menu of options and allows them to record their opinions about the products they purchased and sampled using their touch-tone telephone.