Market Research

At Precision, we’re in the unique position to apply our elite expertise across quantitative and qualitative dataset development and analysis methodologies to help firms, agencies, and non-profits better understand their clientele and target audiences. Unlike firms that focus solely on market research, we offer our clients more than the typical surveys, interviews, focus groups, and field trials.

Our analysts apply cutting edge analytic techniques from applied economics, computer science, and research psychology to help you develop an intimate understanding of your market today–and tomorrow. This is why marketing research firms themselves comprise one of our major client bases: when you hire these firms, it may be Precision that is informing your operational and strategic marketing decision making.

Precision’s statistical consulting team has expertise with virtually every relevant statistical methodology, across a broad range of quantitative experimental designs, and with all statistical software packages. Because of our dual focus on both statistical consulting and qualitative research and analysis, we’re also experts in analyzing qualitative content–whether that takes the form of open-ended research questions, interview or focus group transcripts, or supplemental analysis and coding of video footage or other observations.

Since 2006, Precision’s team harnesses our long-standing expertise in data and content methods and analytics to employ techniques customized to your specific concerns regarding present and future market, clientele, or target audience. Just a short list of our customizable market research and forecasting services includes:

• Trend analysis
• Conjoint analysis
• Gap analysis
• MaxDiff analysis
• Text and content analysis
• Video content analysis
• Turf analysis
• SWOT analysis

Working with Precision guarantees your market research and forecasting questions will be articulated and addressed properly during the research process, that you’ll have an appropriate sample size to obtain robust results, and that your collected data will be analyzed optimally. When it comes to the analysis itself, we’re equally comfortable with conventional market analytic approaches and cutting edge high-dimension methodologies (such as machine learning).

We can assist you from the design of your market research–initial methodology and survey development – through designing and implementing the optimal analysis plan, performing your analysis, and providing a comprehensive, publication-ready write-up of your results. As part of our customized approach, Precision provides you with a dedicated team of subject matter experts and methodologists available to answer all of your questions.

Our Process

Initial Consultation: Our support often begins with a preliminary and complimentary advisory session, either a review of the proposed market research design approach or, if you do not yet have an idea about how best to understand your present and future market or target audience, we begin with a market research needs assessment and feasibility review so that we can determine, together, what the best approach is for your firm or agency. That said, most clients approach us with a bias toward a certain sampling procedure or analysis protocol, but after our preliminary, pro-bono advisory session you will understand the full range of options available to you for better understanding your current and future market.

No matter how broad or narrow the methodological and analytic options for addressing your market research questions may be, at Precision we work with you to develop a customized approach – so that each specific piece of information you would like to have about your market or target audience, you get.

Our goal at Precision is what economists refer to as “perfect information,” with which you can predict market behavior with 100% certainty. While we understand full well that such perfection is purely theoretical and unattainable in real life, that doesn’t mean we don’t strive to develop the best understanding of your market or target audience as the data will allow. We work with you to determine and refine samples and methodologies that are unbiased, accurate, and representative of your target population and overarching market research goals.

Market Research and Design: For those still selecting or developing a unique survey tool, Precision’s extensive experience in quasi-experimental marketing research design and survey, focus group, and interview research instrument design will ensure that your marketing research delivers accurate, usable results. We’ll help you specify your variables and determine whether a Likert scale, categorical options, or another question format are ideal for your purposes.

Our experts will also help you select questions eliminate bias from your survey responses. Will a multiple-choice survey best suit your needs? Or is it important to include open-ended questions as well? Our team can help you determine whether a quantitative, qualitative, or mixed survey is most appropriate for your market research goals.

Implementation: In addition to more typical survey sampling and analysis methodologies, Precision has a specialized expertise in employee survey implementation. We conduct site visits and focus group interviews, and work in concert with relevant personnel at client firm in order to best understand the results desired from the survey. Depending on the organizational structure of your firm, we also implement subsample selection and extrapolation due to differences in branch employee demographics.

Analysis and Interpretation: When the time comes for analysis, our methodological background in both statistical and qualitative research and analysis enables us to both report findings and provide an in-depth discussion of their implications.

Our team is highly skilled at interpreting statistical methods unique to market research such as TURF, Shapley values, or Thurstone scaling. For projects needing more complex analyses, we can offer numerical techniques, Monte Carlo and other simulations, psychometric techniques (such as confirmatory factor analysis or structural equation modeling, etc.), advanced machine learning algorithms (such as neural networks, random forests, gradient boosted models, support vector machines, etc.) and virtually any other relevant methodology.

Most importantly, our analysts will use your data to generate practical insights for your firm. We can estimate your clients’ utility functions with MaxDiff analysis, Hierarchical Bayesian modeling, logistic regression, or generalized linear modeling. Our team is experienced in working with many analytical software programs, including SPSS, SAS, STATA, and R for statistical analysis, and LISREL, AMOS, and EQS for structural equation modeling.

Qualitative Expertise: For qualitative research, we typically suggest the software package NVivo to our corporate and academic clients alike. This software’s flexibility allows us to analyze data from interviews, open-ended survey question results, or focus groups transcripts, and is particularly well-suited for larger datasets, such as large questionnaire samples or across multiple focus groups. Because we provide qualitative research and analysis support for academic researchers and institutions on a regular basis, we’re also well-versed in ATLAS.ti, MAXQDA, and Dedoose, among other qualitative analysis software packages. If you have a specific preference or software requirement, our qualitative research team can absolutely meet your needs.