Common Market Research Job Titles / Glossary


Corporation Job Titles:
Associate Market Research, Manager Market Research, Senior Manager Market Research, Director Market Research, Vice President Market Research, Associate Consumer Insights Manager, Consumer Insights Manager, Senior Consumer Insights Manager, Director Consumer Insights, Vice President Consumer Insights, Business Analysis Manager, Senior Business Analysis Manager, Market Research Analyst, Senior Market Research Analyst, Strategic Planner, Competitive Intelligence Manager, Senior Competitive Intelligence Manager, Director Competitive Intelligence, Vice President Competitive Intelligence. Statistician, Senior Statistician, Modeling Manager, Director Modeling, Vice President Modeling.

Market Research Vendor and Supplier Job Titles:
Analyst, Senior Analyst, Assistant or Associate Project Director, Project Director, Senior Project Director, Assistant or Associate Study Director, Study Director, Senior Study Director, Assistant or Associate Project Manager, Project Manager, Senior Project Manager, Assistant or Associate Account Executive, Senior Associate Account, Group Head, Group Manager, Statistician, Director of Research, Vice President, President

Advertising Agencies Job Titles:
Analyst, Assistant or Associate Planner, Planner, Assistant or Associate Account Planner, Account Planner, Senior Account Planner, Director of Account Planning.

Glossary


Ad concept testing
Testing used to determine the target audience reaction to alternative advertising approaches or preliminary ad concepts.

Ad hoc surveys
Questionnaires administered to the target audience with no prior contact by the researcher.

Ad tracking research
Periodic measurements of the impact of advertisements over time.

At-home testing
A product sample is provided for participants to use at home. The reaction to the product is determined in a follow-up telephone survey, written survey or in a group session.

Awareness
The proportion of people who are familiar with a product, brand name or trademark.

Diary panel
A survey in which the same respondents keep a diary of what they watch, listen to, or buy, etc., over specified period of time.

Depth interviews
This phrase is used to describe a variety of data collection techniques, but mainly for qualitative research undertaken with individual respondents rather than groups.

Fieldwork
The live collection of primary data from external sources by means of surveys, observation and experiment.

In-house recruiting
The recruiting of focus group participants by people who are physically located within the facility.

Modeling/Simulation
The application of specific assumptions to a set of variable factors and the relationships which exist between them. Used to experiment with "what if" scenarios, models may be mathematical, graphical or purely verbal.

Multivariate analysis
A statistical method for examining and quantifying the relationships between variables within a dataset. Multivariate analysis is often used by researchers to examine the relationship between a set of factors/influences upon a particular topic under investigation.

Marketing research
The planning, collection, and analysis of data relevant to marketing decision making, and the communication of the results of this analysis to management.

Postal research
The collection of primary data using a self-completion questionnaire or diary distributed or returned by post.

Product positioning research
Research used to determine how competitive brands are perceived relative to each other on key dimensions.

Product pricing research
Research used to measure consumer sensitivity to different prices for a product.

Qualitative
Research data not subject to quantification or quantitative analysis; characterized by the absence of empirical measurements and an interest in subjective evaluation. Qualitative methodologies include focus groups, mini-groups, one on-ones and open ended-questions.

Regression analysis
A multivariate technique that relates a dependent variable to one or more independent variables.

Regression coefficients
Values that indicate the effect of the individual independent variables on the dependent variable.

Sample
A part or subset of a population taken to be representative of the population as a whole for the investigative purposes of research.

Survey
The systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of information about some aspect of study. In market research the term is applied particularly to the collection of information by means of sampling and interviews with the selected individuals.

Scale
A closed-ended question for measuring attitudes. A set of symbols or numbers so constructed that the symbols or numbers can be assigned by a rule to the individual (or their behavior or attitudes) to whom the scale is applied.

Selective research
Research to choose among several viable alternatives identified by programmatic research.

Simulated test market (STM)
Alternative to traditional test market; survey data and mathematical models are used to simulate test market results at a much lower cost.

Survey research
Research in which an interviewer interacts with respondents to obtain facts, opinions and attitudes.

Syndicated research
Studies in which the sponsoring research company defines the audience to be surveyed and the interval between studies and the questions to be asked. Clients share the same results and costs.

Syndicated service research firms
Companies that collect, package and sell the same general market research data to many firms.

Systematic sample
A procedure that selects every Nth unit (skip interval) of a population until the desired sample size is reached. The starting point should be a random position.

Tabulation
Putting data collected during research into tables. Cross-tabulation involves a two dimensional table, based on answers to two of the questions included in a survey.

Test market
Trial market for a new product or service offer.

Test statistic
A statistic, calculated from the sample data which is used to test the hypothesis.

Time series analysis
Any set of data recorded in time intervals. Also called exponential smoothing.

T-test
Hypothesis test about a single mean if the sample is too small to use the Z-test.

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