BlogPanel (tm) / Blog Panel Market Research

BlogPanel, a market research and survey information blog.
Providing a daily dose of news and features from the world of market research, public opinion and attitudes for both the consumer and market research professional.

Venture Capital Firms Plan New Funds, Survey Shows

Although the venture capital industry is having a hard time convincing endowments, pension funds and other limited partners to invest new capital in the asset class, the majority of venture firms still plan to raise a new fund in the next 12 months - if a new survey from Pepperdeine University is to be believed.

» WSJ [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Will anyone pay for anything?

The idea for Revenue Bootcamp held on the Microsoft campus in Mountain View, Calif., developed earlier this year after some people realized that upcoming conferences focused only on "social media . . . basically gathering eyeballs, but nobody was talking about monetizing people . . .," Guy Kawasaki explained in his opening remarks.

» Revenue Bootcamp
» Building43 [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

26m Americans Now Cellphone Only Homes

Twenty-six million American adults now shun landlines in favour of cellphones, and the figure is rising faster than ever, a new survey says.

The percentage of American adults in cellphone-only homes shot up from 7.7% to 11.8% between 2005 and 2006, according to the National Health Interview Survey. The rise is a concern for researchers, who rely largely on landline numbers to conduct phone surveys.

Over the past four years, the percentage of households with no phone at all has held steady at around 2%, but the number of people using only cellphones has more than quadrupled, so that one in seven adults is now without a landline.

» Pew Research Center [ Contribute: submit link / submit article / submit company ]

Blogger's Code of Conduct - Tim O'Reilly's Draft

We celebrate the blogosphere because it embraces frank and open conversation. But frankness does not have to mean lack of civility. We present this Blogger Code of Conduct in hopes that it helps create a culture that encourages both personal expression and constructive conversation.

1. We take responsibility for our own words and for the comments we allow on our blog.
   We are committed to the "Civility Enforced" standard: we will not post unacceptable content, and we'll delete comments that contain it.
   
   We define unacceptable content as anything included or linked to that:
   - is being used to abuse, harass, stalk, or threaten others
   - is libelous, knowingly false, ad-hominem, or misrepresents another person,
   - infringes upon a copyright or trademark
   - violates an obligation of confidentiality
   - violates the privacy of others
   
   We define and determine what is "unacceptable content" on a case-by-case basis, and our definitions are not limited to this list. If we delete a comment or link, we will say so and explain why. [We reserve the right to change these standards at any time with no notice.]
   
2. We won't say anything online that we wouldn't say in person.
   
3. We connect privately before we respond publicly.
   When we encounter conflicts and misrepresentation in the blogosphere, we make every effort to talk privately and directly to the person(s) involved--or find an intermediary who can do so--before we publish any posts or comments about the issue.
   
4. When we believe someone is unfairly attacking another, we take action.
   When someone who is publishing comments or blog postings that are offensive, we'll tell them so (privately, if possible--see above) and ask them to publicly make amends.
   If those published comments could be construed as a threat, and the perpetrator doesn't withdraw them and apologize, we will cooperate with law enforcement to protect the target of the threat.
   
5. We do not allow anonymous comments.
   We require commenters to supply a valid email address before they can post, though we allow commenters to identify themselves with an alias, rather than their real name.
   
6. We ignore the trolls.
   We prefer not to respond to nasty comments about us or our blog, as long as they don't veer into abuse or libel. We believe that feeding the trolls only encourages them--"Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty, but the pig likes it." Ignoring public attacks is often the best way to contain them.

» Tim O'Reilly / radar.oreilly.com

über bloggers

It's no secret that bloggers are becoming increasingly influential. But Arrington is part of an emerging crowd of writers who use their narrowly focused blogs, such as hyperlocal real estate reports, green guides, or Web 2.0 startup reviews, to establish themselves as thought leaders. These new influencers are taking a page from the blog networks Gawker and Weblogs Inc. and turning rapid-fire, around-the-clock blog patter that makes and shapes the news into a hot new online media model.

Companies are directing more efforts toward buttering up these New Media players, often feeding them exclusives that play well with their targeted audiences. And for marketers who are increasingly comfortable with spending money on blogs, advertising with these opinion leaders provides instant cachet.

Think of these as the digital version of potent, passionate trade press writers. They swarm every novelty in areas like tech, creating problems and buzz for companies and innovations. They report news and publish it alongside analysis of newspaper stories and company releases. These posts are salted with strong doses of personality, sparking discussions across the Web. By melding their own insights and opinions with the aggregated views of others, they're starting to gain leverage. "In a time-starved world, people—especially decision-makers—have very little time, but do not want to miss being in the know," says Rishad Tobaccowala, chief innovation officer at advertising firm Publicis Groupe Media.

» Business Week

80 Percent of Active Internet Users Will Have A "Second Life" in the Virtual World by the End of 2011

By the end of 2011, 80 percent of active Internet users (and Fortune 500 enterprises) will have a "second life," but not necessarily in Second Life. "The collaborative and community-related aspects of these environments will dominate in the future, and significant transaction-based commercial opportunities will be limited to niche areas, which have yet to be clearly identified." "However, the majority of active Internet users and major enterprises will find value in participating in this area in the coming years."

» Gartner [ Contribute: submit link / submit article / submit company ]

Teens Actually Do Protect Their Online Profiles

"A study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project reveals that the majority of teens pay attention to what they are revealing about themselves in their online social profiles. Some 55% of online teens have profiles and most of them restrict access to their profile in some way. Of those with profiles, 66% say their profile is not visible to all internet users. Of those whose profile can be accessed by anyone online, nearly half (46%) say they give at least some false information. Teens post fake information to protect themselves and also to be playful or silly. From the article: 'According to Pew, 45 percent of online teens do not have profiles at all, a figure that contradicts widespread perceptions that the nation's youths are continually on MySpace.'"

[ PDF ] view document

A Cambridge company that pays doctors to post medical observations on its website, including reports of drug side effects, has quickly incurred the wrath of pharmaceutical makers.

Sermo Inc., founded by a surgical resident-turned-entrepreneur and backed by $3 million of venture capital, is promoting the website, sermo.com, as a novel Internet community. It's a password-protected private forum where raw postings by doctors can be viewed, for a fee, by Wall Street investment firms.

With its debut two weeks ago, the Sermo site generated debate by prominently featuring postings from several doctors saying that Pfizer Inc.'s cholesterol-fighter Lipitor induces vivid and repeated nightmares in some patients as well as a posting by one doctor that said the diabetes drug Byetta, marketed jointly by Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly and Co. , was associated with "sudden death" in 50 patients.
Via: Boston Globe
Via: Sermo

Structure and Standardization

The questions are usually structured and standardized. The structure is intended to reduce bias (see questionnaire construction). For example, questions should be ordered in such a way that a question does not influence the response to subsequent questions. Surveys are standardized to ensure reliability, generalizability, and validity (see quantitative marketing research). Every respondent should be presented with the same questions and in the same order as other respondents.

In organizational development, carefully constructed survey instruments are often used as the basis for data gathering, organizational diagnosis, and subsequent action planning. Some OD practitioners (e.g. Fred Nickols) even consider survey guided development as the sine qua non of OD.

Advantages of Surveys
The advantages include:

• It is an efficient way of collecting information from a large number of respondents. Very large samples are possible. Statistical techniques can be used to determine validity, reliability, and statistical significance.
• Surveys are flexible in the sense that a wide range of information can be collected. They can be used to study attitudes, values, beliefs, and past behaviours.
• Because they are standardized, they are relatively free from several types of errors.
• They are relatively easy to administer.
• There is an economy in data collection due to the focus provided by standardized questions. Only questions of interest to the researcher are asked, recorded, codified, and analyzed. Time and money is not spent on tangential questions.

Disadvantages of Surveys
The disadvantages include:

• They depend on subjects’ motivation, honesty, memory, and ability to respond. Subjects may not be aware of their reasons for any given action. They may have forgotten their reasons. They may not be motivated to give accurate answers, in fact, they may be motivated to give answers that present themselves in a favorable light.
• Surveys are not appropriate for studying complex social phenomena. The individual is not the best unit of analysis in these cases. Surveys do not give a full sense of social processes and the analysis seems superficial.
• Structured surveys, particularly those with closed ended questions, may have low validity when researching affective variables.
• Survey samples are usually self-selected, and therefore non-probability samples from which the characteristics of the population sampled cannot be inferred.

Advantages of Self-administered Questionnaires
The advantages include:

• They are less expensive than interviews.
• They do not require a large staff of skilled interviewers.
• They can be administered in large numbers all at one place and time.
• Anonymity and privacy encourage more candid and honest responses.
• Lack of interviewer bias.
• Speed of administration and analysis.
• Suitable for computer based research methods.
• Less pressure on respondents

Advantages of Researcher Administered Interviews
The advantages include:

• Fewer misunderstood questions and inappropriate responses.
• Fewer incomplete responses.
• Higher response rates.
• Greater control over the environment that the survey is administered in.

via [ Blog Panel ]

Blog Panel Survey Methods

There are several ways of administering a survey, including:

Telephone

• response rate typically 25% - 50%, depending on audience and topic
• fairly cost efficient, depending on local call charge structure
• good for large national (or international) sampling frames
• cannot be used for non-audio information (graphics, demonstrations, taste/smell samples)
• three types:
• - traditional telephone interviews
• - computer assisted telephone dialing
• - computer assisted telephone interviewing

Mail

• response rate 5% - 30%
• the questionnaire may be handed to the respondents or mailed to them, but in all cases they are returned to the researcher via mail.
• cost is very low, since bulk postage is cheap in most countries
• ong time delays, often several months, before the surveys are returned and statistical analysis can begin
• not suitable for very complex issues
• no interviewer bias introduced
• large amount of information can be obtained: some mail surveys are as long as 50 pages
• response rates can be improved by using mail panels
• - members of the panel have agreed to participate
• - panels can be used in longitudinal designs where the same respondents are surveyed several times

Online Surveys

• can use web or e-mail
• - web is preferred over e-mail because interactive HTML forms can be used
• response rates sometimes 90% before 2000, but have been dropping fast since then (now 2% - 30%)
• often inexpensive to administer
• very fast results
• easy to modify
• response rates can be improved by using panels - members of the panel have agreed to participate
• if not password-protected, easy to manipulate by completing multiple times to skew results

Personal In-home Survey

• respondents are interviewed in person, in their homes (or at the front door)
• very high cost
• response rate 40% - 50%
• suitable when graphic representations, smells, or demonstrations are involved
• suitable for long surveys
• suitable for (Third World) locations where telephone or mail are not developed

Personal Mall Intercept Survey

• shoppers at malls are intercepted - they are either interviewed on the spot, taken to a room and interviewed, or taken to a room and given a self-administered questionnaire
• response rate about 50%
• socially acceptable - people feel that a mall is a more appropriate place to do research than their home
• potential for interviewer bias
• fast
• easy to manipulate by completing multiple times to skew results

Tactics used to increase response rates

• brevity - single page if possible
• financial incentives
• - prepaid in advance
• - paid at completion
• non-monetary incentives
• - commodity giveaways (pens, notepads)
• - entry into a lottery, draw or contest
• - discount coupons
• - promise of contribution to charity

• preliminary notification
• foot-in-the-door techniques - start with a small inconsequential request
• personalization of the request - address specific individuals
• follow-up requests - multiple requests
• claimed affiliation with universities, research institutions, or charities
• emotional appeals
• bids for sympathy

via [ Blog Panel ]

Welcome To BlogPanel (tm) dot net

A weblog about the interests, the curiosity, the passions, of consumers. BlogPanel reveals the smart edge of the culture: style, places, things, and trends that intelligent, successful, and independent consumers want, need, and ought to know about.

Blog Panel Statistical surveys are used to collect quantitative information in the fields of marketing, political polling, and social science research. A survey may focus on opinions or factual information depending on its purpose, but all surveys involve administering questions to individuals. When the questions are administered by a researcher, the survey is called an interview or a researcher administered survey. When the questions are administered by the respondent, the survey is referred to as a questionnaire or a self-administered survey.

via [ Blog Panel ]

Keyword Tags

BlogPanel (tm) dot com / Blog Panel Satisfaction Survey

• CRM
• Market Intelligence
• Shared Opinions
• Committee
• Data Analysis
• Statistics
• Observations