Market Research - Is it for You?

When most people think of market researchers they envisage an onslaught of clipboards and a barrage of ‘agree/disagree’ statements to be answered. But there is a lot that goes on before and after the ‘clipboard’ moment. For the sake of brevity, market research can be seen as understanding groups of people and what makes them tick. These groups could be consumers of a certain brand or people of a certain age or members of the public we call on to debate social issues to understand more deeply what people think of an issue or product.

Market Research uses a range of methods that are broadly either quantitative (based on numbers and statistics) or qualitative (based on what people say and how they perceive the world around them). Being a qualitative researcher dealing with mostly social issues most of my references come from this field.

In market research you get to work with a range of public, private and Third sector organizations. This means that we are asked to investigate a range of issues from how to better communicate climate change to how the technologies people use impact their lives.

Some recent projects I’ve worked on include, for the Camelot Foundation, understanding what young people think of British identity; what makes some alcohol advertising appeal to young people and others leave them cold; climate change and what different groups of people from ethnic minorities to young people understand about it. I am also involved in large scale deliberative events where we bring together members of the public to debate certain issues such as the future of air travel and green taxes; how political parties are funded in the future; what is the balance of rights and responsibilities of the State and the citizen.

To be a market researcher you very rarely need a degree or background in research methods, although it helps if you are doing more complex quantitative analysis. Apart from some basic requirements the key to this job is to be passionate about discussing ideas with a team, being fascinated by the ways society and culture work, being calm in a crisis, hard working and creative; and you don’t need to have studied research before. There’s a very good graduate training scheme which covers all aspects of research.

You also get a chance to develop a whole range of skills: moderating discussion groups; cognitive interviewing which understands how people interpret the questions we ask them; designing a questionnaire that will get you intuitive findings; creative ways of interviewing people as young as five years; making short films or doing on-street vox-pops; answering research questions rather than just giving people the results.

The range of work is also what I find stimulating. I’m usually working on four or five different projects at a time, and they’ll all be at different stages of development. So I might be meeting clients at a central government department as part of a team planning a big public policy consultation. Later in the day, I could be editing a film I’ve made of an ethnographic interview of how young people use computers, or thinking of ideas with colleagues for the best way to approach a new project.

If you have passion and enthusiasm you can advance your career in a number of different directions, and be part of a research organisation with an international network that spans the globe.

Overall market research is a great field for people looking to develop a range of skills but most of all being inquisitive and creative about everyday life.

Personal Blurb In Box

Working at Ipsos MORI I’ve got the best of both worlds: it’s large enough for me to have the backing of a trusted and respected organisation yet small enough for me to know a lot of people across the company plus I get the opportunity to work in very diverse teams. But most of all, it’s the people who make Ipsos MORI a stimulating, fun and dynamic place to work. I can honestly say some of my best friends are my colleagues.

Gayatri Ganesh

Research Manager

Qualitative HotHouse

Ipsos MORI