If you want your project’s final deliverable to include sharp visualizations of your results, the best place to start is at the beginning. Top-level reports and visuals require top-level data. Accurate data comes from clean tables, where the raw data is properly organized and can be easily identified. But before this information can even make it into a well-organized table, the attention should be directed at the quality of the fieldwork and the attention to detail during the research planning phase.
Four touch points of quality include aligning the desired research outcomes with the right methodology, recruiting the right respondents, critical review of the survey before it goes in field and quality control of the data as it is collected. We’re going to break it down and share further thoughts on each important aspect of quality research:
Quality of the Methodology
Being able to select the perfect methodology for a project is being able to read the context of the research. Nothing is ever off the table, but periodically a requested methodology isn’t the best fit. Our experience helps us pair the desired end results with a methodology in alignment with that goal.
Quality of the Respondent
Regardless of sample size, some respondents are difficult to locate, or may represent an extreme niche of the population, which can create a wide variance in price.
Regardless of the size or "low incidence" of the respondent, the most important part is truly understanding the specifications required for the most ideal respondent. For example, if you're wanting to learn about the decision-making process of the IT professional who handles networking and cloud computing services, you want to ensure that the survey screener weeds out “IT professionals” whose jobs consist largely of changing toner in the office.
At Gazelle Global, our team offers a set of fresh eyes from the beginning of the project to make sure that those writing the screeners and surveys considered the best methodology for the desired outcome. If the wrong respondent somehow gets through, the survey could also provide additional filters to eliminate a completed survey from the results using questions that verify the legitimacy of the respondent fitting the initial requested specifications.
Quality of the Survey
Keeping respondents engaged throughout the entire survey is super important for driving quality insights. With as much experience as we've had reviewing questionnaires and managing fieldwork, we incorporate what we've learned about human behavior and what will happen in real life when the survey is released into the wild, so to speak.
Quality of the Data Collection
One of the best ways to ensure quality in data collection is by allowing a slow start to fieldwork. During this slow start, many details can be inspected for quality control. This level of patience allows our team to watch numerous aspects that can greatly affect data quality:
All four of these things together ensure the right people - and indeed actual human people - are taking the survey. From simple logic questions, like asking for a year of birth to validate original screener veracity, to the use of captcha-like questions to catch bots, our team knows how to actively monitor a study-in-progress in an iterative and proactive manner.
Companies rely on their analysts to understand the story as it emerges from the data. This data moves from tables and charts and eventually becomes visuals and compelling insight presentations. Behind the scenes, those expert analysts rely on Gazelle Global to provide the absolute best data from which to begin their work to explain what the data actually means.
You know the old adage, "Garbage In, Garbage Out". The opposite is also true. When you match the right data collection tools with the right in-field research operations team, you can be sure your data is destined for your next great presentation.
Your projects are unique. From qualitative to quantitative, we can match an expert to your project to get it in the field and get insights quickly. Download the Global Market Research Bidding Prep Worksheet and complete the task at hand on time and on budget with full confidence.