Introduction
At Bounce Insights, we strive to make market research easy and accessible to everyone. In an industry dominated with fancy jargon, we have developed a go-to glossary for all things market research.
Since Market Research is constantly evolving, we will continuously update this glossary to make sure you don't miss out on anything!
A - C
Acquiescence Bias
This occurs when respondents agree with all questions within the survey even if they are contradictory.
Ambiguous Questions
An ambiguous question is defined as one where there is no specific query, meaning that a respondent will struggle to answer, not because they are a bad respondent but because it is a bad question.
Answer Order Bias
Respondents are often bias toward answer options higher on the list in a quantitative survey question, randomly shuffling the answer options for each respondent will reduce this bias.
Closed-ended question
A question that offers a limited selection of answer options to choose from.
Conditional logic
Conditional logic allow you to create dynamic surveys that change what a respondent sees and what happens based on their responses, e.g. if a respondent answers yes to a certain question they are shown a different question to a respondent who answered no.
Consumer Panel
A group of individuals selected by a business or organisation to provide input on products and services for research purposes.
Cost Per Interview
The price you pay per completed survey. This calculation is based on number of respondents, the targetting criteria and more.
Courtesy Bias
Courtesy bias is a type of response bias that occurs when respondents tend to not fully state their unhappiness with a service or product as an attempt to be polite or courteous toward the researcher.
Cross Tabulation
Segmenting respondents into subgroups based on their targetting criteria or on specific response in order to compare and analyse the results by those subgroups
Customer Centricity
A way of doing business that fosters a positive customer experience at every stage of the customer journey, building customer loyalty and satisfaction which leads to long-lasting growth.
D - K
Data Cleaning
Removing unqualified, biased or incomplete responses from a survey. This process improves data quality and protects against survey bias.
Date/Time question
A question allowing respondents to input a singular date/time or even a range of date/time as responses.
Demand Bias
Demand bias comes from the respondents being influenced simply by being part of the research, particularly when they are involved in longitudinal surveys or research communities.
Dichotomous question
A question where there can be only two answers, commonly ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
Double-Barreled Question
This occurs when researchers blend two questions into one, and then allow for only one answer. They are a form of ambigious questions and will cause inaccurate research.
Email Survey
Any survey are sent to targeted respondents via email.
Extreme Responding
This bias occurs when respondents provide extreme answers, whether it be positive or negative.
Image question
A question allowing respondents to select one image from many options. This question type improves respondents’ survey experience and gives a break from answering all textual questions. They are ideal for gathering research on branding and advertising choices.
L - O
Leading Question
A question using biased language to influence respondents in a direction which subtly prompts the respondent to answer in a particular way.
Likert Scale
A single choice question that uses a 5 point scale that ranges from one extreme attitude to another.
Loaded Question
Loaded questions make assumptions and the respondent may not be able to answer accurately.
Longitudinal Research
Researchers performing a longitudinal study will run the same survey many times over short or long periods, in an effort to observe how the opinions, behaviors or habits of the same population change over time.
Market Research Online Community
An Online Market Research Community as a closed network of profiled, opted-in research participants who take part in structured and unstructured qualitative research tasks.
Matrix question
A closed-ended question that asks respondents to evaluate one or more row items using the same set of column choices.
Mobile Survey
Any survey are conducted over a mobile app.
Multiple selection question
A question providing a list of answer options and asking respondents to select all that apply.
Nat Rep
A nationally representative sample describes a sample that is representative of the national population by 1-3 attributes, generally age, gender and region. In this regard, some component of the sample mirrors the population (based on census).
Numeric question
A question that requires a numeric answer. For example, researchers may ask how much money you’d potentially pay for a product or service.
Open-ended question
A question requiring respondents to type their response into a text box. Open-ended questions gather qualitative responses, getting a response from the respondent in their own words.
P - R
Pen-And-Paper Survey
Any survey where the initial dataset is collected using pen-and-paper rather than electronic devices.
Preference question
A question which asks respondents to order answer choices by way of preference.
Projective Techniques
Projective techniques, also known as enabling techniques, are methods that can be used by researchers to tap into respondent’s deep motivations and attitudes.
Qualitative research
Qualitative survey questions aim to gather data that is not easily quantified such as attitudes, habits, and challenges, aiming to understand the ‘why’.
Quantitative research
Quantitative research is about collecting information that can be expressed numerically.
Question Order Bias
This is a bias that occurs when the initial questions of your survey influences the answers your respondents give to the subsequent questions later on in the survey.
Questionnaire
Your questionnaire is the list of questions you plan to ask your respondents.
Rating question
A question displaying a scale of answer options from any range (1 to 3, 1 to 10, etc.)
Respondent
A respondent is a person within your sample who completes your survey.
Response Bias
Response bias is a general term for when respondents answer inaccurately or falsely to questions and it covers a wide range of effects and influences.
Response Rate
Response rate is the number of people who answered the survey divided by the number of people in the sample.
S - Z
Screening question
A question that either qualifies or disqualifies respondents from taking your survey—depending on how they answer, also known as screeners.
Selection Bias
Selection bias or sampling bias occurs when you only capture responses from a certain segment of your audience which skewed your results.
Single selection question
A question with a list of answer options, from which respondents may choose one answer.
Slider question
A question which allows respondents to include into a numerical scale, ideal for responses that require a percentage or monetary value.
Social Desirability Bias
This bias is linked with acquiescence bias and occurs because respondents want to be perceived in their best light. Therefore, respondents may exaggerate their habits, beliefs, and personal preferences so they are more socially attractive, even when surveys are anonymous.
Speeders
Respondents who complete surveys far too fast to have actually read the questions or truly contemplated answers. Speeder reduce the quality of the survey data and should be removed.
Survey Goal
The primary aim for the survey, essentially what the researcher wants to know and why they need a survey. A goal is not strictly measurable and tangible.
Survey Objectives
Objectives are more specific and measurable than a survey goal and they break down the steps to take in order to achieve the survey goal.
Telephone Survey
A telephone survey, also known as CATI or computer-assisted telephonic interview, is a research method where the researcher surveys respondents over the telephone. Unlike email surveys, researchers conduct data collection by conducting phone interviews and punching the responses themselves.
Weighting
A type of stratification where quotas are used to weight respondent pools however the researcher would like. E.g. a researcher weighs their survey so 40% of respondents are aged 18-24, 30% are aged 25-34 and 30% are aged 35+.
