This interview with Professor McIlwain was conducted in 2016 but the information is still relevant so it was worth a revisit in the lead up to this year’s presidential debates. Enjoy… Most of us within the research community are approaching next week’s first Presidential Debate with excitement and fascination. But […]
Archive by Author
Here’s the Technology Behind Political & Public Policy Research
Any successful political campaign starts with having a strong candidate. But, to be successful in today’s volatile political climate, campaigns need to be nimble with their message, and keep pace with the shifting moods of voters and the 24-hour news cycle. For this, campaigns need a crack research team that […]
10 Ways Dial Testing Will Improve Your Research
For as long as dial testing has been a mainstay of media and public opinion research, its applications and benefits still remain a mystery to some. Whether to eliminate groupthink, quantitatively validate an idea, or drive deeper and more meaningful group discussions, dial testing plays a critical role in focus group and survey research. To help introduce (or re-introduce) you to dial testing methodology, here are 10 GOOD REASONS why it should be part of your research mix.
5 Best Practices for Honing Political Messaging
It’s essential to test your message (in all its iterations) outside the echo chamber of your campaign team. They aren’t your audience. They already (probably) agree with you, and they (obviously) support you, and they (likely) could be inclined to tell you what they think you want to hear. […]
What is Online Dial Testing?
The majority of market researchers know what dial testing is. Most think of it in terms of our Perception Analyzer dials in the hands of respondents in a live focus group. But over the past decade (and certainly over the past 2+ years), the acceleration of new tools and technologies […]
Political Research: Dial Testing the Texas Governor’s Debate
As it has for years, dial testing was again front-and-center during coverage of a key election event, aiding in the reporting and analysis of how the candidates’ responses to key campaign issues resonated with voters. This time it was the Texas Governor’s debate between incumbent Governor Greg Abbott and Democratic […]
Live-Streaming Your Focus Group Has Finally Gotten A Facelift
Talk to anyone who’s used technology for live streaming in-person focus groups and they’ll tell you the same story. “Well, it’s serviceable.” Over the years, we’ve been conditioned to expect and accept “serviceable” because there were few, if any, alternatives available if you needed to live-stream a focus group to […]
Dial Testing Helps Trial Research Consultant Overcome Assumptions and Deliver Hard Truths
I tell my clients that if you want the most return for your trial consulting investment, it’s pennywise but pound foolish to cut something so integral to getting good data. The data we get from the dial tests are the glue of the mock exercise. For more than 30 years, […]
The Ultimate Dial Testing Research Playbook
Being in the market research biz, we tend to know the questions people are going to ask even before they ask them. Take, for example, our free, downloadable Dial Testing Research Playbook… What’s a Dial Testing Playbook? Well, dial testing is what we do here at Dialsmith so we know […]
3 Questions to Ask to Validate Your Research Methodologies
In market research, we often counsel clients that they need market research to validate what they think they know about their customers. But how often do we turn that question around and ask ourselves if we need to validate what we think we know about our research methodologies?
