One of the open-ended questions in our 2017 survey of corporate researchers (the findings of which were compiled in our Q Report) asked Quirk’s readers to sound off on what was frustrating them these days as insights pros. Respondents cranked out 12,000 words in answer to this question alone and I wanted to share some of the responses we didn’t have room for in the Q Report. 

Though many topics were mentioned, themes emerged around DIY research and other specific tools and techniques. Any of these observations resonate with you?

DIY research 

“Survey platforms have allowed untrained people inside a company to take over the market research function. They have been encouraged to do so by the survey platform companies, who say, ‘With our tool you can do this all yourself’ and thus do not need research consulting or trained internal staff. I’m a lone market researcher (25+ years) in a large corporation but see so many bad practices and poorly-done surveys around me. It sounds self-serving when I try to get others to listen to my advice and respect my experience. The platform vendor has convinced them that market research is simple and easy.”

“Increasing lack of layman understanding of the research process, methods, cost, analysis and implications, leading to increasing DIY and/or low-cost solutions, often leading to poor data and, accordingly, low confidence in market research in general.”

“Most frustrating is that good, solid, fundamental research has become a thing of the past and cheapened by anybody with access to a survey platform. Although I use Qualtrics and appreciate the benefits of DIY research, there are too many people out there conducting research with no understanding or appreciation of what they’re doing.”

Other tools/techniques

“Social media listening is a big area of frustration. Marketers feel it can be a substitute for custom quant research and it’s not. We can’t provide a full picture of social media chatter in a fast, effective and affordable way. There’s also a lot of junk of social media and it takes too long to filter it all out.”

“Google Analytics. You’re looking at how people are forced to act, not how they want to act.”

“Neuromarketing – extremely expensive; aggressive sales tactics; shiny new object that CMOs want without knowing pros and cons, yet no substantiation to claims that data are more predictive of consumer behavior than more traditional and cheaper methods.”

“Text analytics – why oh why can’t we have a simple solution that is designed for corporate researchers? And why is every platform subscription-based? Our budget does not allow for these types of investments.”

“Qualitative research is highly misunderstood and undervalued. Qual is directional information, in my opinion; it is not data. There are no numbers. You cannot quantify it. However, if you understand those facts, qualitative research is RICH.”

Adapt to the changing world 

So, what do you do in the face of your own methodological questions or difficulties? Many of the comments expressed a willingness to fight the good fight and adapt to the changing world around them and combine the methods at hand in order to deliver insights to their internal clients.

“Well, nothing in particular [frustrates me] but as a passionate market researcher I find it very hard when skeptics say, ‘People don’t do what they say they do.’ Which is why I have started using research and analytics as a combined tool.” 

“Over time I’m less willing to believe survey results from online panels, which is a terrible conclusion for a research leader to make. I’ve tried agile approaches and iterative qualitative and they are just not predictable substitutes for decision-making. The key is simply to do a lot of research on your industry/client/product so that you can tease out when something comes back that’s abnormal.”