MRA IMRO SMR Guidelines #1 Advantages and Disadvantages: The Conversition Response

Monday, November 1st, 2010

MRA recently released version 1 of the MRA/IMRO Guide to the Top 16 Social Media Research Questions, a tool to help newcomers and vendors communicate with each other about this new datasource and method. Conversition was a key contributor to this document which is now available on the MRA website.
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This blog is the first of a series of 16, each one addressing Conversition’s viewpoint on one of the items in the guidelines. We welcome your questions and comments, and look forward to further discussions on this exciting new trend in the market research industry.
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jdurham from morguefile
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#1 Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media Research
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Without exception, every research method has unique advantages and disadvantages. Nonprobablity sampling is an issue affecting every form of market research, including social media research. Just as surveys normally can’t identify every member of a population and force a random sample to complete the survey, social media research cannot listen to people who do not contribute to social media nor those whose data is behind password protected walls. But we’ve developed methods for understanding and compensating for such weaknesses.
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One of the unique weaknesses of social media research is the lack of individualized demographic and and geographic data. This means we must find new and different ways to learn about the unique characteristics of people talking about brands. Inferred demographics and qualitative psychographics are just some of the solutions. The lack of demographics also means that we must find new ways of sampling and weighting our results, such as using website sources, to ensure that results are properly generalized to external populations.
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As researchers, we have a collective history that has taught us how to address and compensate for methodological issues. As business managers, these issues mean that assigning costs to business units can be more difficult – how does one invoice a local project to a global unit?
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On the the other hand, every method has unique advantages. Some of the most distinguishing advantages of social media research includes its amazing ability to discover how people talk about a brand in an uncontaminated environment – no questions, no probing, no elicitation, just pure, raw meaning. Is the chatter highbrow or lowbrow, quick and dirty or descriptive and well-thought out?
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In addition, the penetration of social networks, forums, video and photo sites, and other types of websites that allow users to interact with other people means that the quantity of usable data can be astounding. Well known consumer brands such as Microsoft, Nike, Starbucks, and Coca-cola have an enviable problem of working with millions of records. Other less popular brands, though, can still take advantage of social media research by evaluating competitor data and industry data.
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Because of the volume of data and the millions of people contributing knowledge about a brand, the breadth of available data in social media research can be astounding. Where surveys are limited to 20 or 30 minutes and perhaps 40 questions, social media research is like offering a ten hour survey with thousands of directly relevant questions. The variety of topics that people talk about online is far greater than can be incorporated in a traditional survey.
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There are far more advantages to social media research but don’t take our word for it. Try it for yourself.
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Related links

MRA IMRO Guide #1: Advantages and Disadvantages of SMR
MRA IMRO Guide #2: Datasources of SMR
MRA IMRO Guide #3: Data Fusion and SMR
MRA IMRO Guide #4: Reliability of SMR

I’d Like an Order of Research Please

Sunday, September 19th, 2010

Appearing on MRA website: Thoughts and Opinions of the MR Industry
September 15, 2010
By Annie Pettit, Ph.D.

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Having been recommended to try this restaurant several times, you step up to the counter, money in hand, and smile at the bright-eyed sales clerk. Are you ready to order, she inquires? You nod your head and instead of ordering a bacon cheeseburger hold the onions and sweet potato fries, and instead of ordering combo #2, you announce…. “I’d like an order of food please.”

In just the last year, a new tool crash landed in the market research toolbox, a tool which, for some reason, has caused people to step up to the market research order counter and announce “I’d like an order of research please.”

Curious? Read the rest here!

Alert! Conversition talks Social Media Research in MRA magazine

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

Members of the Marketing Research Association (MRA) can peruse the August issue of Alert! and learn more about social media research as practiced by Conversition. Annie Pettit’s article leads this month’s issue with some things you should consider when embarking on a social media research project.  If we may be so bold, some have called it a “Must Read.”
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On the cover is pictured Noam Raz, @raznoam on Twitter, who traveled all the way from Israel to attend the Boston MRA conference.

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Related links
Quirks: Thoughts on sampling and weighting in social media research
Social Media Research: Conversition’s Presentation at MRA Boston

Thanks to many kind faces at the MRA Annual Conference in Boston

Monday, June 14th, 2010

After a whirlwind three days of attending sessions, meeting new and longtime friends, as well as presenting a session on the pros, cons and watch-outs of social media research, MRA’s annual conference, held this year in Boston, is now over. The MRA did an amazing job choosing the location, the munchies, the activities, and most of all, hand-picking a great selection of speakers.

Our session was a big success, and at the request of many attendees, we will be making the presentation available online soon. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, enjoy a few photos of some MRA attendees and presenters showing off their new Conversition tshirts!

Conversition speaks! Wed, 2pm, Boston, MRA – Will you listen?

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

Research In The Cloud
From Buzz to Biz – Social Media Research for Results

Wednesday, June 9
2:00 – 3:15 p.m. Educational Sessions
PRC: 1.25 Contact Hours in Research

This session will discuss a new methodology for marketing research. Though the Internet has made data collection via online surveys and focus groups a practical marketing research tool for over a decade, it is only in recent months that this data source has become viable. Using real data, the presenter will demonstrate how gathering and analyzing existing data from the Internet, such as is available through Facebook, Twitter, or Blogger, can reach beyond simple ‘buzz’ features to become actionable marketing research data. Pros and cons of the method will be demonstrated including research fundamentals and data quality.