When it comes to collecting data, quality and validity matter. A lot. Your credibility and reputation are on the line—and you’ll be making important decisions based on the data. So, for both these reasons, you want to feel confident that the research partner you choose to work with is following important best practices that will ensure you’re able to collect accurate and appropriate data to meet your research goals.
Use this checklist to evaluate how much of a tailored experience your research partner will provide and how closely they follow survey-based research best practices.
Download a PDF copy of the checklist here
Will they allow you to customize your audience based on specific parameters?
While there are limits as to how narrow you can go with finding the “perfect” audience, the right research partner should be willing to work with you to help you customizeyour audience to align with your research goals.
What best practices does your research partner follow to ensure data and audience validity?
Ask what “safety checks” they put in place to ensure you’re getting quality data, such asinserting questions that test your audience is reading the questions and thoughtfullyresponding, not just clicking bubbles.
How does your research partner validate the survey design?
Ask if they collect feedback on the survey from external sources before they launch the survey. Having others test and validate the survey before launching it is essential to ensure the programming is working and that the questions are clear to others who weren’t involved in designing the survey.
Does your research partner conduct a soft launch?
A soft launch is a best practice. It allows you to pause the survey once you collect 10- 15% of responses to verify that there are no issues with the survey.
How much will your research partner provide customized analysis of the data?
Ask if they provide additional research analysis, such as comparing how different demographic audiences responded to certain questions. This can often result in some intriguing insights.
How adept is your research partner at content messaging and data storytelling?
The format of the questions and how you phrase questions is an important part of ensuring you have data that creates interesting or impactful messaging points. Make sure your partner is thinking about your content goals right from the start.
Score Your Research Partner
- A score of 1, 2 or 3 = The quality and integrity of your project are at risk.
- A score of 4, 5 or 6 = You’re missing out on getting your project tailored exactly to your needs and quality could be an issue.
- A score of 7 or 8 = You’ve found a partner who follows best practices and will tailor the project to meet your unique research goals.
Having the right research partner is essential to ensuring that the survey data you receive is high-quality and meets your research goals.
The above checklist is designed to ensure that your partner will go beyond a cookie-cutter approach so you can feel confident you’re surveying your target audience, asking the right questions to get great insights and messaging points, and using the data as effectively as possible to create content that will provide media-worthy insights, increase engagement, and build brand authority.
Download a PDF copy of the checklist here
Ready to launch your research project?
If you’re ready to get started with an original research project, but need more guidance on how, book a FREE 30-minute research road mapping session to learn:
- How to refine your research goals for the greatest success
- How to find and survey your B2B audience
- What the research process involves
