n a perfect world, all market research would be free from the personal biases of the researcher. However, research is always influenced by the researcher’s personal biases. The only question is the degree of influence.
If you pay very close attention, you’ll notice that most conversations contain misinterpretations, and presumptions that pass for understanding. For example, someone might say that they find a breath mint’s flavor to be “interesting”
But unless one knows that person well, or is extremely perceptive, or ideally, probes deeper to see what they really meant, their use of “interesting”
A marketing research and advertising veteran of over 20 years tells of how he has observed over 100 focus groups in his career, and in virtually every case, he felt that some or much of the true meaning of the participants’
Every research firm will sell you on their superior listening abilities, their superb analytical knowhow, their people skills. But the only truly effective market researchers are those who are able to discern, moment by moment, whether the data they’re receiving is open to interpretation, and therefore requires more analysis.
Which really comes down to getting your ego out of the way.
