Evidence-Based Innovation Blog

Have you ever wished you could get inside the heads of people in your target audience?  To hear what words people use to describe their perceptions of your brand?  To see patterns in how people assess your value proposition?  To learn how your offerings bring meaning to their lives?

Sometimes privacy issues, sensitive topics, or the need for very in-depth information make one-on-one conversations with research participants more appropriate or fruitful than focus group sessions (e.g., when MBA applicants’ privacy requirements discourage group sessions).  That’s when business schools will opt for in-depth interviews (IDIs) as an excellent research strategy.

Core to the success of a higher education market research study is method of sampling -- a sample is a group of people drawn at random from all those people who are in your chosen market. If a researcher does not design the right sampling plan, then the research results will likely be inaccurate; thus, the right design is a key, first critical step in defining a research study.