Qks MR Glossary_Q-Z Flashcards
Q-sorting
A sophisticated form of rank ordering using card sorts.
Q-spread
The distance between the first and third sample quartiles.
Qualified refusal
Eligible respondents who will not participate in a research project.
Qualitative Assistant
The individual responsible for greeting the focus group participants as they arrive at the facility and for preparing the room. The responsibilities of a hostess include providing food for the participants and the client observers, rescreening respondents when they arrive, preparing name tags, etc. Generally called a Host/Hostess.
Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA)
A US based not-for-profit association of consultants involved in the design and implementation of qualitative research — focus groups, in-depth interviews, in-context and observational research.
Qualitative consultant
The person hired by the client to lead the focus group or in-depth interview. Also called the focus group moderator or facilitator.
Qualitative research
Research data not subject to quantification or quantitative analysis; characterized by the absence of empirical measurements and an interest in subjective evaluation. Qualitative methodologies include focus groups, mini-groups, one on-ones and open ended-questions.
(Vs notes:
Qualitative research is a methodology designed to collect non-numerical data to gain insights. It is non-statistical and unstructured or semi-structured. It relies on data collected based on a research design that answers the question “why.”
Qualitative research typically involves in-depth interviews, focus groups, or observations in order to collect data that is rich in detail and context.
Qualitative research is a type of research that explores and provides deeper insights into real-world problems. Instead of collecting numerical data points or intervene or introduce treatments just like in quantitative research, qualitative research helps generate hypotheses as well as further investigate and understand quantitative data. Qualitative research gathers participants’ experiences, perceptions, and behavior. It answers the hows and whys instead of how many or how much. It could be structured as a stand-alone study, purely relying on qualitative data or it could be part of mixed-methods research that combines qualitative and quantitative data.
Qualitative software
Computer software designed to help code and analyze text - such as transcripts of focus group discussions, field notes or of open-ended interviews.
Qualitative variable
A variable whose values are classifications or categories and are not subject to quantitative interpretation. Examples include gender, occupation, marital status, etc. Also called a categorical variable.
Qualitatively Speaking
A column in Quirk’s Marketing Research Review magazine that acts as a forum for focus group moderators and other qualitative researchers to sound off on issues related to qualitative research.
Quality control
The set of procedures for insuring that interviewers comply with relevant standards and for identifying ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance.
Quantitative research
Research conducted for the purpose of obtaining empirical evaluations of attitudes, behavior or performance. Designed to generate projectable numerical data about a topic.
Quantitative variable
A variable whose values are numerical in nature. Examples include weight, age, income, etc. Quantitative variables are further classified as being either discrete or continuous.
Quartiles
The division of the observation distribution into quarters (in the same way the median divides the distribution in half).
Quasi-experiments
Studies in which the researcher lacks complete control over the scheduling of treatment or must assign respondents to treatment in a non-random manner.
Questionnaire
A set of questions designed to generate data necessary for accomplishing the objectives of the research project.
Questionnaire administration
The process by which the questions will be delivered and the answers recorded (e.g. mail, Web, telephone). Questionnaires can be self-administered or administered by an interviewer.
Questionnaire analysis
The analysis of a questionnaire to determine if it will yield the desired information without confusion or ambiguous data.
Questionnaire design
The process of creating a document that contains questions to be asked respondents and in what order, and sometimes lists the alternative acceptable responses..
Quintiles
The 20, 40, 60, and 80th percentiles. In other word, the 20, 40, 60, and 80th percentiles.
Quixotic reliability
An error in which a single method of observation or study yields unvarying but inaccurate measurement. This may be due to the fact that the response is rehearsed.
Quota
The total number of interviews to be completed.
Quota sample
A sampling procedure that includes specified numbers of respondents having characteristics known or believed to affect the subject being researched. Selection is by nonprobability means. A moderator might set a quota of having half the group be users of Brand X, or one-fourth be aware of Product Y.
Race
As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau: Aleut, American Indian, Asian, Black (or Negro), Chinese, Eskimo, Filipino, Guamanian, Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean, Samoan, Vietnamese, White, or “other.”
Vs add:
each of the major groupings into which humankind is considered (in various theories or contexts) to be divided on the basis of physical characteristics or shared ancestry.
Random
Being or relating to a set or element in which each set or element has an equal (non-zero) probability of occurring.
Random error
Error that affects measurement in a transient, inconsistent manner.
Random sample
A sample in which each unit has an equal and independent chance of selection. Also known as probability sample.
Random sampling error
An error caused when the given sample is not representative of the population being studied.
Random variable
A variable whose value is determined by the outcome of an experiment in which the outcome is subject to chance. For example “heads” or “tails” is a random variable for a coin toss.
Random-digit dialing
A telephone sampling procedure that generates random combinations of telephone numbers in order to include unlisted numbers in a survey sample.
Randomization
The random assignment of subjects or treatment conditions to ensure equal representation of subject characteristics in all groups.
Randomized block design
In this design subjects are assigned to blocks on the basis of their characteristics and then randomly allocated to a treatment group within their block. In this way like is matched with like, and not only will the mean value of each confounding factor be similar in each group but the distribution will be identical in each treatment group. This means that the situation cannot arise in which two groups have the same average age, for example, but one comprises middle aged people and the other comprises half younger people and half older people.
Range
The highest value for a variable minus the lowest value for that variable.
Rank-order scales (ranking)
Scales in which the respondent compares one item with another or a group of items against each other and ranks them.
Rate
A fixed ratio between two things.
Ratio
A measure that expresses the relative size of two numbers.
Ratio scale
Identifies categories of the variable in which observations can be ranked from smallest to largest and the distance between variables is meaningful and the ratios of the observations are meaningful. The ratio scale is for variables that have a uniquely defined zero. Examples include weight, height, age, etc.
Raw data
Information that has not been organized, formatted, or analyzed.
Reach (advertising)
The percentage of the target audience exposed to an ad at least once during a defined period of time.
Readership
The number of people reading a particular publication. This includes both the individual subscriber and others who have read the publication.
Readership studies
A quantitative print media test of advertising effectiveness in which actual advertisements are shown to a sample of readers, who are then asked whether they “saw the ad,” “read the ad” and/or “found the ad useful” etc. Also known as a recognition test.
Recall
In marketing or audience research refers to the concept of a respondent being able to remember a particular event or experience. It can be aided with stimulus material or unaided.
Recognition test
A quantitative print media test of advertising effectiveness in which actual advertisements are shown to a sample of readers, who are then asked whether they “saw the ad,” “read the ad” and/or “found the ad useful” etc. Also called a readership study.
Recommendations
The section of the final report that suggests the next action steps a client could take, based on the conclusions of the research.
Recruitment
The process of securing participants for focus groups who meet specific demographic or other project requirements.
Referral sample
Samples in which selection of additional respondents is based on referrals from the initial respondents. Also called snowball sample.
Refusal
Respondents who will not participate in a research project – either initially or after being qualified.
Refusal rate
The proportion of eligible respondents who refused to give an interview.
Regression analysis
A multivariate statistical technique applied to data to determine, for predictive purposes, the degree of correlation of a dependent variable with one or more independent variables. In other words, a technique to see if there is a strong or weak cause and effect relationship between two or more things.
Regression coefficients
Values that indicate the effect of the individual independent variables on the dependent variable.
Regression to the mean
Tendency for behavior of subjects to move toward the average for that behavior during the course of an experiment.
Rejection region
Those values of the test statistic that would lead to the rejection of the null hypothesis.
Related samples
Samples in which the measurement of a variable in one population may influence the measurement of the variable in the other.
Reliability
Measures that are consistent from one administration to the next.
Repeat rate
The proportion of first-time users of a product who purchase the product at least a second time.
Repeat-pairs technique
A product testing procedure in which respondents express a preference between two products, then repeat the task with an identical pair of products.
Replicate
Geographically representative subsample which is systematically selected from the entire sample.
Replication
Multiple test trials under repeatablity conditions used as an independent verification of a research study.
Report writing services
Research service which involves writing a comprehensive document at the conclusion of the research project. Generally contains methodology overview, a review of all findings, detailed analysis, executive summary, and a clear set of action items as well as suggested next steps.
Repositioning studies
Research designed to give an existing business, product, service or brand a new position in customers’ minds and so expanding or otherwise altering its potential market.
Representative sample
A sample in which each unit has an equal and independent chance of selection. Also known as probability sample or random sampling.
Rescreening
A brief interview conducted with potential participants when they arrive at a facility to ensure that they really qualify for the session. Rescreening normally uses some of the questions that were originally asked when the participants were originally recruited.
Research Assistant
Responsible for assisting project directors with the project fulfillment process, including survey design and fielding, data collection and review, report preparation and client communications.
Research Director/Manager (Client Side)
The person responsible for working as a partner with internal clients on marketing research projects. These individuals help take data to conclusions and recommendations. May be responsible for conducting all aspects of research internally or may work with internal clients to outsource parts of a project.
Research Director/Project Director (At A Research Company)
The person at a research company responsible for managing individual studies from inception to completion. They acts as the primary lead contact for assigned projects. Responsibilities generally include survey design and fielding, data collection and review, report preparation and client communications. Related titles: Research Manager, Project Analyst, Research Associate, Senior Project Director
Research Industry News
A regular feature in Quirk’s Marketing Research Review magazine, this section includes company earnings, address changes, strategic alliances, new accounts and information on new start-ups.
Research agency
The company acting as a supplier of research services.
Research client
The consumers of marketing research, who hire the research firm and pay for the research that is conducted.
Research communities
A group of consumers that that can be accessed for feedback (similar to a panel) but that also can talk with one another, exchange ideas and discuss issues. Also known as online communities.
Research company
The company acting as a supplier of research services.
Research design
The structure or framework to solve a specific problem or answer the research objectives; the plan of what data to gather, from whom, how and when to collect the data, and how to analyze the data obtained.
Research question
The main question a research project aims to answer; a clear statement in the form of a question of the specific issue that a researcher wishes to analyze.
Research report
The document that the researcher develops at the conclusion of the research project. Generally contains methodology overview, a review of all findings, detailed analysis, executive summary, and a clear set of action items as well as suggested next steps. Also known as final report.
Researcher SourceBook™
The most complete worldwide directory of marketing research product and service suppliers. Lists more than 7,000 firms in more than 100 countries.
Residual
The difference between the measured and predicted value.
Residual error
What still cannot be explained, after estimating the coefficients of the independent variables. Usually blamed on measurement or omissions.
Respondent
The individual from which data are collected. Also called participant, unit, unit of analysis, subject or experimental unit.
Respondent Fee
The payment to participants for coming to a focus group. The amount varies dramatically, based on the difficulty of recruiting the participants. Also called honorarium or co-op payment. More commonly known as incentive.
Respondent level data
The data from one respondent.
Response bias
Error that results from the tendency of people to answer a question falsely, through deliberate misrepresentation or unconscious falsification.
Response latency
The time that elapses between a question and a response (answer).
Response rate
The percentage of persons in a sample who completed an interview out of the total number of eligible respondents.
Response style
The tendency of a respondent to answer in a specific way regardless of how a question is asked and/or what the question was asking.
River Sample
An online sampling method that is wholly and solely sourced from online promotions (e.g., banners, pop-ups, hyperlinks). This method of random recruitment drives potential respondents to an online portal where they are screened for studies in real time. Qualified respondents are then randomly assigned to a survey.
Role playing
A projective technique in which participants adopt characters, or parts, that have personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from their own.
Rotation procedure
The process of asking questions in a different order for each respondent in order to minimize a the tendency to of respondents to favor choices or objects because of the order in which they are presented.
Rule
A guide or a command that tells a researcher what to do.
Rustbelt
States in the Great Lakes region.
SAQ (self-administered questionnaire)
A questionnaire completed with no interviewer involvement.
SIC (standard industrial classification)
Classification (in a four-digit code) of business as defined by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Pseudo SICs are SIC modifications which add a fifth or sixth character to allow for greater specificity.
Salience
The degree of prominence of a brand in the user’s thoughts.
Sample
A subset of the population of interest selected for a research study. It is a finite portion that is used to study the characteristics of concern in the population.
Sample control
The effectiveness of the sampling approach at reaching the target units.
Sample definition
The description of the ideal sample for the project
Sample distribution
A frequency distribution of all the elements of an individual sample.
Sample population
The population from which the sample is obtained.
Sample size
The number of participants in the trial or study.
Sample space
The collection of all possible outcomes of an experiment.
Sample specific results
Research results that are not necessarily representative of the population but are specific to the research sample used.
Sample unit
An individual member of the sample.
Sampling
The method of selecting a specified portion, called a sample, from a population, from which information concerning the whole can be inferred.
Sampling company
The firm that provides a specified portion from a population from which data is collected and information concerning the whole can be inferred.
Sampling distribution of the proportion
A frequency distribution of the proportions of many samples drawn from a particular population. It is normally distributed.
Sampling distribution of the sample means
A frequency distribution of the means of many samples drawn from a particular population. It is normally distributed.
Sampling distribution of the sample statistic
The probability distribution associated with the various values that the statistic could assume in repeated sampling.
Sampling error
The estimated inaccuracy of the results of a study when a population sample is used to explain behavior of the total population.
Sampling fraction
The proportion of the number of sample elements to the number of population elements.
Sampling frame
A listing of all elements in the sampled population.
Sampling interval
Taking a given number of units equally selected over the full population of study. The nth number interval is derived by dividing the total number of units by the sample number desired. Also known as nth selection or interval.
Sampling software
Software designed to obtain information about a large group by examining a smaller, randomly chosen selection (the sample) of group members. If the sampling is conducted correctly, the results will be representative of the group as a whole.
Satisficers
The less-than-dedicated survey respondents who are dishonest or simply benign and inattentive in providing their answers.
Scale
A closed-ended question for measuring attitudes. A set of symbols or numbers so constructed that the symbols or numbers can be assigned by a rule to the individual (or their behavior or attitudes) to whom the scale is applied.
Scaled-response questions
Multiple choice questions in which the choices are designed to capture the intensity of the respondent’s answer.
Scanner panel
A consumer panel where participants use a bar-code scanner to record purchases.
Scanning
A service in which information originally in hard copy (print) format is converted to a digital file.
Scatter diagram
A graphic display of data plotted along two dimensions. Scatter diagrams are used to rapidly screen for a relationship between two variables.
Scientific method
A systematic method of hypothesis formation, hypothesis testing and hypothesis evaluation based on the assumption that all true knowledge is verifiable using empirical evidence.
Screener
Questions used to check for appropriate respondents.
Screening
The process of choosing research participants who meet the established criteria of the research project.
Second lifetime value (SLTV)
The value of a lost customer once the customer is regained.
Secondary analysis
The use and analysis of information from previously conducted research projects.
Secondary data
Data that has been previously gathered.
Secondary research
Analyzing information from previously conducted research projects. See also primary research.
Sectional center facility (SCF)
Geographic areas represented by the first three digits of a ZIP code.
Segment
Portion selected on the basis of a special set of characteristics.
Segmentation studies
A study to determine similarities and differences among target groups in order to divide a market into segments. These segments are comprised of purchasers who are as similar as possible to each other, but also as different as possible from those in other segments. Segments are then selected and profiled to target your marketing. Often called market segmentation studies.
Selection
Process of choosing records using specific criteria from a population.
Selection bias
Systematic differences between the test group and control group which produces a different profile for each group.
Selection error
Error that results from following incomplete or improper sampling procedures.
Selective perception
The ability of a listener or reader to filter out some information for conscious or subconscious reasons.
Selective research
Research to choose among several viable alternatives identified by programmatic research.
Self-administered survey
a questionnaire that is completed without the aid of an interviewer.
Self-selection bias
Potential error introduced into a study when the types of people who choose to participate in a study are systematically different then those who are more reluctant (less eager) to participate.
Semantic differential
A method of examining the strengths and weaknesses of a product or company versus the competition by having respondents rank it between dichotomous pairs of words or phrases that could be used to describe it; the mean of the responses is then plotted in a profile or image. See also Likert scale.
Semiotics
The study of signs and symbols, what they mean and how they are used.
Sensory research
Product testing using any or all of the five senses.
Sentence and story completion
Tests in which the respondent completes sentences or stories in their own words. The purpose of this technique is to enable participants to delve into certain areas that they may otherwise find difficult to discuss.
Sequential testing
A testing procedure in which a respondent tries one product, evaluates it, then tries and evaluates a second product.
Serial effect
A situation in which survey questions establish a certain tone or pattern of response in the participant, biasing the results.
Serious games
A category of games in which the primary purpose is something other than pure entertainment. In marketing research serious games are designed to investigate and elicit feedback in a manner that is more engaging than a traditional survey.
Service quality measurement (SQM)
A study identifying the aspects of a customer’s experience that most influence that customer’s future purchase intentions and then tracking whether intentions translate into actual buying behavior.
Services
Products that cannot be stored and are consumed at the place and time of their purchase.
Sex ratio
The number of males per 100 females in a population.
Shopper insights
Marketing research focused on the retail experiences of consumers. Research looks at the retail environment and how it influences the consumers behaviors and brand perceptions.
Shopper patterns
Drawings that record footsteps of a shopper through a store.
Short census form
U.S. Census Bureau questionnaire that all Americans answer every 10 years.
Sigmoid curve
The S-shaped relationship that allows the dependent variable to tend to 100 percent or 0 percent rather than actually get there. More lifelike than a straight line in regression but harder mathematics.
Sign-out sheets
A control document used by a facility to keep track of co-op payments to participants.
Significance level
is the pre-selected probability of (incorrectly) rejecting the null hypothesis when it is in fact true. Usually a small value such as 0.05 is chosen.
Significance test
The probability of obtaining the value of a test statistic (e.g. t, r, F, Chi-square) given that the null hypothesis is true.
Significant difference
In mathematical terms, difference between tests of two or more variables. The significance difference varies with the confidence level desired.
Simple random sample (SRS)
A sample selected in such a way that every element of the population has a known and equal chance of being chosen for the sample. Also called random sample.
Simulated sales test
A procedure designed to estimate a product’s sales potential by simulating trial and use conditions of the marketplace.
Simulated test market (STM)
Alternative to traditional test market; survey data and mathematical models are used to simulate test market results at a much lower cost.
Simulation studies
The formulation of mathematically-expressed variables to simulate a business decision environment. For example, a model could be formulated using demographics and a company’s financial data to select new markets that have the same combination of factors that are present in currently successful markets.
Single-number research
Placing too much emphasis on a single statistic.
Site selection analysis
Determining, through an analysis of a given area’s demographic and economic characteristics, whether it offers a good market for a product or service.
