Evaluation is part of any growth process. We keep tabs on our health as we physically mature, take tests to assess our knowledge as we progress through school and seek ways to understand our feelings as we deal with our problems (at least theoretically!). Taking a step back and examining where we are, where we want to be and the steps we are..

Measuring the return on an investment (ROI) is part of good business practice. Both large and small companies must calculate the value of the items they buy, as well as the processes they create, in order to determine whether the time, effort and money they are spending to obtain and/or facilitate each of them is actually reaping any benefits...

Professional market researchers rarely perform the same way twice. That’s because they understand that the complexities of individual companies’ business objectives render a “one size fits all” data collection approach sloppy at best and completely inappropriate at worst. Indeed, the pros that really “get” market research are the ones that..

Picking a research partner is an important decision that shouldn’t be made simply for convenience. It’s easy to go with a local firm. Or a cheaper one. Or the one where your best friend’s brother works. But as with most things in life, performance depends on effort, with “easy” not always equaling “right.” Thus, when you’re contemplating a..

Spend any time in the working world, and you realize that the more you know, the better you perform. Indeed, you’ve probably learned this lesson via other areas of your life, whether it was during your 9th grade history class or your baby’s first year; Knowledge yields, and certainly wields, power. For companies, this often means figuring out ..

If you ask most people to think about survey research, the majority will probably conjure up a vision of the multiple choice assessments typically used to summarize and/or rank responses according to predetermined and generalized themes. However, a lot of good research, especially good market research, relies on researchers figuring out what..

Good research depends on good questions. And if you’re contemplating a market research project — a frequent necessity for businesses wanting to stay relevant in today’s ever-changing and increasingly global markets — you’ve probably thought about some of the questions you might want consumers to answer for you. But have you considered the..

Businesses conduct market research in order to learn more about customer preferences and market behavior. The validity of any conclusions drawn necessarily depends on how well these businesses (and/or the firms they hire) recognize their own assumptions, preferences and prejudices and how hard they work to mitigate them as they select samples,..

There are many ways to “do” market research, with nearly as many methods and tools to choose from as there are businesses to use them. It’s one of the reasons why we here at Communications for Research (CFR) truly love our profession. With each research project we undertake, we not only get to use our research skills, we get to be creative,..

Having a great product or idea is only part of a successful business model. In today’s world of mass consumerism, companies have to also stand out from competitors who offer similar goods and aggressive pricing. To do this, companies are focusing on making every interaction they have with customers a positive one. In this way, customer..