The Great Data Privacy Debate: A Summary

August 30, 2011 By 2 Comments

[Editor's Note: The  following post by Tamara Barber was originally published by and is syndicated with permission by The GreenBook Blog.]

Recently, Andrew Jeavons, EVP at Survey Analytics, moderated a fascinating live debate on data privacy in market research. The virtual debate has been brewing in blogs, LinkedIn, and Twitter for some time, but a discussion paper on the topic from the MRS and new draft guidelines from CASRO brought this issue back to the forefront in recent weeks.

This webinar featured leaders from each of the three major market research associations, as well as industry opinion leaders on the topic. Here is what the six participants had to say in their opening statements (Note that I’ve remained as true to the dialogue as I could given how fast I can type. I’ve included quote marks where I’m sure of their accuracy):
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Resources from Market Research University

August 12, 2011 By 3 Comments

A few weeks ago, we told you about Market Research University – an all-day, online market research training session run by Kathryn Korostoff of Research Rockstar. The event took place entirely on Twitter; you may have followed along with the hashtag #MRXU.

In case you weren’t able to attend, though, Kathryn and the participating “professors” were gracious enough to have posted some additional resources from the training session:

  • Diane Hagglund, of Dimensional Research, has shared fantastic B2B project management insights here: LINK.
  • Michaela Mora, of Relevant Insights, has shared a generous post on her market research project management tips: LINK
  • Greg Timpany has provided a script of his tweets, here: LINK.
Be sure to avail yourselves of their expertise! This is terrific material, and could be of use to any market research professional.
While you’re at it, you may also want to take a look at another recent post from MRXU contributor Michaela Mora, entitled, “Survey Tools Race to Improve User Experience.” It offers a great look at how online research tools are making major enhancements to leverage developments in new technology (including text selection, heat maps, etc.). Definitely worth a look.
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Upcoming Webinar: Taking on the Great Privacy Debate

August 11, 2011 By 1 Comment

Privacy exists at the center of the next great debate as the information age continues to evolve. More and more information, especially information of a personal nature, is being shared in public forums (from Facebook and Twitter to shopping profiles to market research studies and more.) But as more information is shared, even though it’s most often done so voluntarily, concerns arise about how that information will be used, stored, protected, and potentially shared with others.

Ray Poynter discussed this in a recent post in advance of the NewMR Festival, and our friend Leonard Murphy has discussed this issue at length on the GreenBook Blog as well. Fortunately, they’re coming together, along with other industry luminaries, to host a public debate on the topic, and hopefully help to answer some of the key questions involved in handling issues of privacy in the era of social media.

Here’s how you can participate:
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Clarity of Purpose

July 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I was struck by a recent conversation I had with a senior executive at a large publicly-trade e-commerce company.  This person, a friend, is an intelligent and rightly-skeptical sort whose professional success came not from the endless recitation of homilies or from spouting corporate orthodoxies; instead, he is who he is- he works hard, is intelligent, and treats people well.  His differentiator is a rare commodity: clarity of purpose.

That was the thread that tied together all of his exuberant comments about his company- that the organization has clarity of purpose and at every moment, at every juncture knows what it wants to accomplish for its customers and itself.  Every artifact build inside the company has to accrue to one or more of the immutable principles that form the foundation of the company and to which the employees have an abiding commitment.
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