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Every body of knowledge, every discipline, includes its method of discovery, which in marketing is marketing research. The foundation of marketing research, as every formally-trained marketing researcher knows, is the scientific method. Marketing executives should understand that whenever managers use research, they are applying the methods of science to the art of marketing. |
The scientific method is a systematic method of investigation designed to minimize error in the research process. Graduates with research doctoral degrees are thoroughly indoctrinated in the scientific method. The scientific method is near-ancient, yet it is responsible for most of the technological progress exploding at this very day. That is because the scientific method is designed to discover accurate knowledge, and accurate knowledge builds upon accurate knowledge.
| The scientific method is characterized by the two traits of accuracy: validity and reliability. Although the two terms are used by laymen interchangeably, they have very different meanings. Validity is the characteristic used to describe research which measures what it claims to measure; for example, does the customer satisfaction rating scale actually measure customer satisfaction? Reliability is the characteristic of research methodology which allows it to be repeated again and again by the same and by different researchers, but always with the same results. Poor questionnaires or samples which are not representative of the relevant population are just two factors which make it unlikely that repetition of the same project will produce the same results. |  |
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The principle characteristics of the scientific method are (1) the objectivity of the researcher, (2) the emphasis on accuracy, and (3) the degree to which investigation is continuing and exhaustive. |
The first characteristic, objectivity of the investigator, seems obvious, but it is a principle that is frequently violated. It happens, for example, when an advertising agency researches its own effectiveness, or a research firm presents only "good news" to its client to keep its account. (All researchers know that some managers sometimes consider favorable results as simple good news, and unfavorable results as faulty research. So, to keep the messenger from being shot for bringing the bad news, don’t bring any bad news.)
The second characteristic, accuracy, is accepted by trained researchers as the most important characteristic. To a trained researcher, accuracy of the results always comes first: before speed, before cost, before everything. Think about it: managers are better off with no information at all than inaccurate information, because managers act on the information they have. Better a coin flip than a decision that leads down the wrong path because of inaccurate information. |
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The third characteristic, degree to which the research is continuing and exhaustive, reflects the thoroughness of the scientific method. Scientists are never sure that they have found the ultimate truth. They know that many well-established conclusions have been found to be inaccurate as time goes by. The trained researcher is always searching for additional evidence to support, modify, or even refute existing conclusions.
At MIT, the founder, CEO, and senior analyst has a doctoral degree in marketing, including extensive formal training in marketing research, which is an academic discipline in itself. He has been thoroughly schooled in the philosophy of science, and is himself a substantial contributor to the scientific literature.
Substance Matters
Substance is used here in the sense of practical importance, meaning, or usefulness. MIT principles combine years of extensive formal training under duress with even more years of applying that training in real-world situations.
Most marketing managers have just an undergraduate college course, or perhaps even less, of formal training in marketing research, which is understandable and expected. But it is also unfortunate because the modern marketplace is literally teeming with insubstantial researchers and research “products.” A few days of training at seminars with no hard duress of failure is insubstantial training for a research analyst. So to is 10 years of experience working in (or with) marketing research without appropriate training: it often is only "one year of experience repeated 10 times."
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Insubstantial research abounds in the modern marketplace, and many managers are simply unprepared to deal with it. Some "research" companies sell a particular statistical methodology, say, Perceptual Mapping or cluster analysis, which will proportedly solve everyone's information needs. Well, any thoroughly trained researcher knows that the research process begins with information objectives, and the research designfor obtaining that information flows from that decision. Scientific research never starts with a method. No particular method is appropriate for all, much less most, much less many research situations. |
Suppose a company lets an entire research process be used, say, hand-held computers in an interviewing situation. The decision literally started with the selection of a data collection technology, which in turn changed the data collection method. That decision in turn affected the amount and type of information that could be completed, accuracy, via respondent cooperation and interviewer bias, speed and cost, and a whole host of other research quality outcomes. My students in a research process lecture can appreciate the mistake, having just discussed the steps in the research process. |
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And the old four-way grid--you know the one, and its many variations--some performance ratings on the vertical, with importance ratings on the horizontal. The result is something on the order of you're doing great here, but its not important, you're doing poorly here, and it is important, etc. That hoary old chestnut has been around since the 1960s, and was just a teaching device. It was (and still is) frequently sold by some TQM researchers and the like as the solution to all problems. To the degree it has any impact at all, it works because half of all measurements are always below "average." A variation of the old standby is currently being sold as the latest word by one of the world's largest and best-know research firms.
MIT's research, combining formal scientific training with years of varied applications experience, is substantive from beginning to end, where the beginning is always the development of information objectives, and the end is always the formal reporting of findings, with everything else being in-between, where, according to science, it should be.
Sageness Comes with Experience
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Sageness refers to the insight of wisdom, and wisdom comes only through experience. In the case of marketing research, that experience comes from the application of scientific research principles to many different types of marketing problems. Each marketing problem is somewhat the same, and somewhat different. Skilled, experienced researchers can examine each marketing problem and identify its similarities--and most importantly--its differences, from a research viewpoint, with previous problems he or she has researched. This insight allows the experienced researcher to develop subtle research designs--the true art of marketing research--that maximize the successes and minimize the shortcomings of previous research. One size rarely fits all in the world of marketing information. Research can and should vary from client to client and situation to situation. |
Service is our Niche
Our relationships with most of our clients have been of very long duration. Some have lasted more than 20 years, and a number of others have lasted more than 10 years. That is because we are a high-service company. Our company philosophy, basically to serve fewer clients better, is stated more thoroughly in the "About MIT" section of this site. MIT partners with its clients in long-term relationships. We accept that your information needs are often urgent, and often come at inconvenient times--that is just the way of the modern marketplace.
| We have performed thousands and thousands of custom analyses from client information bases, often with same-day or next-day results. We are characteristically available nights, weekends, and, frankly, most holidays. We have worked under pressure during practically every traditional holiday on the calendar. Further, our custom analyses are usually free: we do not "nickel and dime" clients by charging for everything extra we do. Instead, we position ourselves as a contract or outsourced research department, available upon request. What we are hoping for in return, of course, is continuity of the relationship. It has worked for the most part. |  |