India is developing nation and like any other developing nation a lot needs to be discovered in order to have the insights into future. Field Research is primarily helping marketers understand remotest of the markets to penetrate and operate with various government initiatives like startup India a new breed of startups are emerging in new India making it even more important for marketers to understand this new landscape of opportunity.
Challenges
Field research or face to face research is fraught with challenges and only a well versed field agency can take away pain faced by the marketers to get quality data from field research. These challenges are primarily:
Analysts are always eager to have data in a typical format which is not a strong point of field research which is where agencies like Damolekule Research & Analytics steps in to address all the above challenges as they have a robust process driven mechanism to counter these challenges in order to provide analysts with speed and accuracy of data collection
Key Ingredients of Field Research
Research projects are often dismissed as too labor-intensive or time-consuming. But with proper planning, effective and efficient collaboration is possible. For consultants passing the work to a research team who is not familiar with client details, an easy-to-consult project brief and plan should include written protocols to:
Those overseeing the project plan could assign the task to a generic position title or a qualifier akin to “available researcher at the time.” Assigning one person to a task can provide clarity, but it can also create a bottleneck. Assigning two people can create confusion about who is ultimately responsible. The best practice is to assign he most critical component of a research management plan is the scheduled work breakdown for each task. This information is often the central focus of a team’s agenda, yet they often lack the necessary specificity to prevent confusion. To ensure accuracy, include specific task instructions to account for the who, what, and when of each assignment as follows:
Who? - Naming specific individuals or research teams as responsible for the task is best practice.
Alternatively,
a lead and a secondary whenever possible. This provides clarity along with accountability.
What? – Research project plans should reference the research methodology or methodologies employed. The Project may include any combination from quantitative data collection methods such as online surveys, microsurveys, or phone surveys to qualitative methods such as focus groups and in-depth interviews. Each of these have their own set of best practices. Sourcing helpful guides can help provide detail and ensure the explicit needs of the project are fulfilled.
When? – Work plans delineate specific times to accomplish tasks (e.g., Wednesday, March 9 at 10:30 a.m.) or start and end dates. The more discrete the desired task duration, the better completion progress can be monitored. It may also help to designate a “reminder” date for tasks to keep track of impending deadlines. Project phases can also help group tasks together for completion within a set timeframe needed to keep the project on track.
Accountability
Task assignment is another critical research component of an effective work plan. For every discrete task or task group, a specific team member should be designated as the responsible lead. While they may not complete all of the work, they are ultimately responsible for coordinating completion. Field interviews, survey programming, and reporting should be assigned to the appropriate parties who are experts in that field or methodology. In the end, compiling the data outcomes and communicating completion of each task is the job of that lead. Without clear accountability, even small challenges can disrupt project success.
Checks & Balances
Project managers should audit ongoing tasks while mid-process using periodic assessment and reporting. The aim is to ensure that “completed” tasks are inspected and completed as expected. This auditor can also help summarize the data assembled so far in an easy-to-reference report to show consistent progress. Keeping tabs during ongoing research means discovering fewer unexpected oversights once data collection is completed.
According to CEO of Damolekule Research & Analytics “Field research is a art and science which can be mastered only by consistently delivering projects which earns client respect and trust again and again for which robust processes must be put in order”.