2013 Market Research in the Mobile World Big Ideas: Roddy Knowles | The Garage Group

2013 Market Research in the Mobile World Big Ideas: Roddy Knowles


Last week, we attended the 2013 Market Research in the Mobile World Conference in Minneapolis. We were excited to learn about mobile as an important vehicle to collect insight and learning, and to hear about trends and use cases from vendors and clients using mobile as part of their learning plans.

As a follow up, we’re interviewing several thought leaders to get their perspective on a few big ideas they took away from the conference and the implications moving forward. Roddy Knowles, Senior Delivery Manager, Mobile Research Expert at Research Now shares some of the challenges ahead for the industry, as he reflected on the key theme of “combination” that seemed to emerge from the presentations, case studies and conversation at the conference:

“The key theme that emerges to me after reflecting on the conference, based on what was both explicitly and implicitly discussed, is combination.  And it raises 3 important sets of questions: As researchers, how do we…

Combine different types of data?  Mobile quantitative, qualitative, and behavioral data can be integrated and are often most powerful when combined in some fashion.  Synthetic approaches to mobile research will continue to bear fruit.

Grapple with fragmented/modular survey data?  Breaking larger surveys into smaller, more palatable surveys that can be taken (and enjoyed) by respondents on mobile devices should continue to gain traction.  As it requires sewing the data together on the back end, continuing to test “tried” methods of stitching and imputation, while also exploring new ones, will be critical.

Continue to share with each other?  In forums such as this, sharing collectively what we learn independently should drive us all to think critically and creatively about how we approach – and improve – mobile research.”

Great questions, Roddy. We’ll be watching for how Research Now continues to provide thought leadership and integrated solutions! Follow Roddy on Twitter here.

Watch for more perspective from other thought leaders over the next several days.

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