When clients ask us to design a research program in the small/medium business (SMB) space, we begin with the end result – i.e., what the information gathered in the research will be used for. With an understanding of the research objectives, target audience, budget and timing requirements, we may recommend one research format or a sequence (such as online quantitative research followed by focus groups) to provide the most cost-effective insight into the question at hand.
The chart below gives you a sense of the research formats available, along with their pros and cons. Contact us to discuss how we can design and conduct original research to support your SMB product, marketing, sales or PR initiatives.
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Research Format
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Process
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Pros
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Cons
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Qualitative
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Collect and analyze subjective data
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Good for understanding the reasons behind a behavior
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Results may be vague or contradictory
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Live interview
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Meet 1:1 to explore opinions
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Can probe in-depth; no group pressure; good way to obtain personal information
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Can be difficult to recruit respondents; costly; time-consuming
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Phone interview
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Speak 1:1 by phone
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Less costly than live interviews; can reach more people; no geographic limitations
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Can be difficult to recruit respondents; cannot see facial expressions and body language
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Online interview
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Connect 1:1 via e-mail or chat
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Can conduct many interviews at low cost; no geographic limitations; can easily generate a transcript
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Responses may be limited; cannot see facial expressions and body language
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Online video interview
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Connect 1:1 via video conference or video chat
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Can conduct many interviews; can see facial expressions
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Video conferencing can be costly; cannot see body language in video chats
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Focus group
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Meet with a live group to explore their opinions
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Group dynamics can help obtain multiple points of view
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Costly; time-consuming; a few participants can dominate if not well moderated
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Online conference
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Engage with a group via a web tool, such as an online forum
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Less expensive than a live focus group; quiet people more likely to participate; can generate a transcript
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Cannot see body language; responses may be limited
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Video conference
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Engage with a group via a video system
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Often less expensive than a live group; can see facial expressions and body language
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Can be more expensive than an online conference without video
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Live observation
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Physically observe a person’s behavior
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Can watch interactions with a product or service in a real environment
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Costly; time-consuming
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Online observation
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Use a webcam to observe a person’s behavior
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Less costly than live observation; can study more people
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Cannot view behavior outside the webcam’s range
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Quantitative
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Collect and analyze hard facts
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Good for understanding hard facts
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Subjective motivations may not be clear
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Live survey
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Personally collect data from multiple people in one place
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Likely to receive spontaneous, honest responses
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Costly; limited number of responses
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Written survey
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Distribute print questionnaires to multiple people
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Can reach more people than with a live survey; no geographic limitations
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Costly; may have a poor response rate; no personal interaction or ability to probe for more information
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Phone survey
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Collect data from multiple people over the phone
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Can produce more responses than with written surveys; no geographic limitations
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Costly; difficult to get people to agree to participate
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Online survey
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Ask multiple people to answer an online questionnaire
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Can produce a large number of responses at low cost; no geographic limitations
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No personal interaction; responses may be cursory
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Online analytics
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Use online tools to collect data about a person’s behavior
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Results are based on actual behavior; can reflect a very large number of data points
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No personal interaction; motivation behind results not always clear
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