This month, we will share a MarketResearchCareers article that was published within ESOMAR's May 2008 Edition of Research World. One of the three Feature Stories, it focuses upon market research quality.

Data Quality: The Impact of Declining Online Survey Cooperation and Completion Rates
by Mike Carroll of MarketResearchCareers

Despite the emergence of new research techniques in the market research industry, one item remains of critical importance to market research professionals: the quality of the underlying data. Collected data, the foundation for recommendations and changes in business strategy, must originate from reliable sources and be projectable to the population under investigation.

So critical is data quality to research professionals, a January 2008 survey of more than 700 U.S. market research professionals conducted by MarketResearchCareers reveals it is the most important attribute to market research buyers when selecting a research vendor.

When further examining the topic of data quality among market research organizations that purchase online sample, important dimensions include:

• Representivity of the delivered sample
• Honesty of answers provided by participants
• Source/recruitment method of the sample
• Aggregate size of the provider’s sample universe
• Frequency of historical survey participation by respondents

Reflecting a shift in society's online behaviors and "always on" lifestyles, nearly two thirds (63%) of all market research professionals believe online methods provide superior research data quality compared to mail. Yet research professionals are nearly equally divided between telephone and online methods when identifying the technique that provides the greatest research data quality.

With 93% of market research professionals employing online survey methods to gain insights into their businesses (compared to 66% for telephone, 49% for in person, and 35% for mail), a familiar topic is threatening the quality of Internet-based data collection: declining cooperation rates. The pervasive challenge of consumer time compression and parallel impacts of answering machines and high volume direct mail upon telephone and mail-based collections methods, respectively, are clearly showing signs that impact the quality of Internet-based survey data collection.

Currently 60% of research professionals (up from 57% in 2007) are concerned about the quality of online surveys due to declining cooperation rates. Perhaps coincidentally yet particularly insightful, fewer U.S. organizations in 2008 view online research as a valuable decision-making tool despite its speed, cost, and respondent-friendly experience advantages.

Market research professionals cite frequent contact, lengthy surveys, and the lack of online panel development as contributing factors to declining online survey cooperation and completion rates - impacting and eroding data quality.

Unfortunately, the implementation of any solution may be difficult given market research suppliers are significantly more likely to believe shorter surveys, larger incentives, and new sample management techniques are required. The challenge emerges given market research buyers are increasingly under budgetary restrictions and are typically exclusively responsible for a survey’s content, length, and target audience selection.

Reinforcing this apparent conflict, 42% of all market research professionals believe suppliers are exclusively responsible for rectifying the problem. Interestingly, only 3% of participants believe market research buyers should shoulder this responsibility, with nearly half (48%) believing a cooperative effort between market research buyers and suppliers is necessary to address this critical data quality topic.

For surveys to maintain their effectiveness and their data quality, efforts must be made to increase cooperation and completion rates. A true partnership approach between research buyers and suppliers is essential to reduce survey length and increase respondent engagement. With these efforts, research professionals can maintain and even improve the tools available to them to capture accurate data upon which insightful recommendations and decisions can be confidently made. ###

A .pdf version of the article published by ESOMAR is available by clicking here.

To learn more or to purchase the 51 page in-depth report, please click here.

 

Mike Carroll
800-872-5401
mcarroll@marketresearchcareers.com
www.marketresearchcareers.com