Andrew Jeavons
technology
research?
and
survey with embedded IOT systems.
Andrew Jeavons: I think we
have achieved that, or at least
we have made huge advances.
When I started in the survey
software business there were
about 6 providers of survey
software in the world, at least
I only knew of 6. Now we must
have 600 or more. What has
happened is that as technology
evolved, particularly the web,
surveys evolved too. The survey
industry tends to be an early
adopter of new technology; I
was working on web surveys
in 1995/96 for instance. The
industry did see the potential of
the web very early on. Mobiles
and IOT are the next challenges
and I think IOT survey integration
will become as important as
mobile surveys. The challenge is
enabling some sort of interface
How do you take a customer
satisfaction survey initiated by
the fridge? How does the toaster
implement NPS? This may seem
bizarre now, but I think this is
the challenge we will face in
the future. When we talk about
technology we have to think
about attracting the best talent.
The industry has to show that it
values technological talent. Very
often there is some ambivalence
towards “techies” within the
survey industry. The truth is that
the survey industry is totally
dependent on technology and
the sooner this basic truth is
accepted the better.
What are some of the
common challenges survey
researchers face on a
recurring basis to provide
value to their clients?
Andrew Jeavons: It seems to me
that sample is always a source
of problems. Google surveys is
a great innovation, it is not so
much the survey technology
but access to the biggest river
sample on the planet that makes
it so useful. Your results are only
as good as the sample you use. I
wonder if IOT will help with this,
if we have embedded systems
in consumer goods we instantly
have access to know users of the
product, this could help alleviate
the
problems
with
getting
a valid sample. I don’t think
enough work has been done to
understand why respondents join
panels or complete surveys. We
need a “respondent theory” to
understand the motivations of
survey respondents. If we have
more insight into respondent’s
motivations
we
can
adjust
recruitment and management
strategies accordingly. To be
honest I am not a fan of the
“story telling” trend that seems
to be talked about constantly.
I think it implies that style is
more important than content.
I know that privately a lot of
MR executives feel the same
way. We are doing research,
not writing fiction. Yet I can see
the problem that story telling is
supposed to address, that is to
engage the client and make the
results meaningful. That is an
enduring challenge, but I don’t
think that better presentations
rather than better research
are the key. I see far more talk
about story telling than new
methodologies and that is not a
good sign.