Focus groups are excellent sources for a wide range of opinions on a subject.  They offer insights that more structured interviews would not bring to light. A typical group consists of 8-12 people who have been recruited because they share some common traits.  For example, they may all be home owners; they may all shop at the same or similar stores. The interview lasts between 1 ½ hours and 2 hours. It is usually video recorded. Clients are invited to watch the discussion from another room. Back to top.

Intercepts are interviews conducted in-store, on the street, at trade shows or in malls. The sample is considered a convenience sample, but can still provide valuable information about attitudes toward new products, promotions or advertising. Back to top.

Mail research has a much lower response rate than other forms of interviewing. Also, since it requires the respondent to complete a questionnaire on his own, it is open to executional errors. Nonetheless, it is quite valuable when surveying a customer base since customers generally are more responsive and the interviewing procedure is relatively inexpensive.  Back to top

Mock Trials are an opportunity for you to present your case to a group of "jurors" who are not unlike the jurors you will have when you are in court.  Find out more about mock trials. Back to top.

Mystery Shopping, an effective method where anonymous “shoppers” visit target locations to identify strengths and weakness in your sales or customer service representatives, product appearance, or retail layout.  For restauranteurs, mystery diners experience the complete dining experience at your establishment from the hostess, bar, servers to the food presentation. Maintain your business at competitive levels.  Back to top.

One-on-One interviews, another qualitative technique, offers greater depth and/or focus than focus groups. These are interviews conducted by superior interviewers with the objective of creating a greater understanding of the subject.  Back to top

On-line research can be economically carried out using this form of data collection. Its primary benefits are speed, anonymity, precision and economy. Costs are less than telephone research.  One of the key cost variables is the sample. Most traditional marketing research can now be conducted on-line taking full advantage of the power of the internet.  On-Line Research now makes it possible to reach low incidence populations and to research sensitive topics such as hygiene or illness. Back to top.

Telephone interviews usually involves a minimum of 150 people with samples of 300 to 500 being the usual number.  Getting people to participate in telephone interviews is becoming increasingly more difficult.  However, these interviews tend to provide very good data because of the opportunity to have a direct dialogue between the interviewer and the respondent. Back to top.