Define Market Research

When trying to define market research, it's easy to use a wide definition that encompasses all aspects of the subject.

Market research is the systematic collection and analysis of data about a target market, competition or environment.

It's a logical process that must be robust and unbiased to produce perfect results.

Often, market research is done on an adhoc basis with low sample sizes. This reduces the effectiveness of the research and can discredit the overall results.

Those that are new to the subject are best to find a market research company to help them. These companies are used to the process of market research and will help you to avoid the pitfalls.

If the market research results are being used to make strategic business decisions, it is essential that the research has been undertaken to the highest standard and with a statistically valid sample size.

Market research can be broken down into two areas:

Qualitative Market Research

This is the process of researching using open ended questions, one to one discussions, focus groups or telephone interviews.

There are no fixed answers and the direction of the research generally follows the path of the answers with some steering from the interviewer.

For example, a question might be:

What are your views on public transport?

This could lead on to discussions about trains, buses, taxis etc.

This type of research can produce good results and undercover issues not originally thought of.

Quantitative Market Research

This type of research is numerically orientated and requires careful analysis.

It uses a fixed set of criteria for the reseach so that the resulting answers are in a common format.

For example, a question might be:

How did you travel to work today?

With the answers:

Car
Bus
Bike
Train
Cycle
Other

By knowing how many people answered, percentages can be applied and further statistically analysis undertaken including year on year comparisons and pivot tables.

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define market research