Market research software is in some ways no different from other software, but you are likely to need and understand detailed features for survey data collection, analysis and reporting. These detailed requirements mean that you will want to care about productivity, best practices and, often, learning the full scope of any software product.

Switching your main tabulation software platform from Quantum to MRDCL is not an easy decision, even when there may be 101 compelling reasons. There is likely to be a concern about moving projects, particularly large or complex ones.

If you type ‘survey software’ into Google, you will be presented several alternatives – for example, Qualtrics, QuestionPro, SmartSurvey, SoGoSurvey, SurveyGizmo, SurveyMonkey, SurveyPlanet and SurveySparrow.

I heard someone at a US conference in 2001 say that by 2010 there will be no more paper surveys; all surveys will be online. Predictions are dangerous, and the speaker was wrong, of course.

Online data collection has become the most common methodology for most market research surveys around the world. However, in some countries, for example, in Asia Pacific, where we operate extensively, data collection online still represents less than 50% of all fieldwork.

In my experience, I find that most people who buy research software spend most of their time considering the look and feel of the software and the features it contains…What is often given little or no consideration is how productive the staff using the software will be.

Market research software products have expanded over the last 25 years to cover online surveys, tabulations (crosstabs), reporting, online dashboards, CATI, CAPI, paper surveys, online communities, social listening, text analytics, automated reporting, automated coding, text processing and analysis, dashboards and, more recently, AI.

As a seller of software for market research, you might think it is difficult for me to be objective in offering advice to potential buyers about what matters most in that purchase decision (continued from Part 1).

As a seller of software for market research, you might think it is difficult for me to be objective in offering advice to potential buyers about what matters most in that purchase decision.

Market research has adopted technology at varying speeds in its history, often at a different rate to other industries. Why is this? Is it important? CAPI (Computer-assisted personal interviewing), CAWI (web interviewing), CATI (telephone interviewing), tabulations, reporting and dashboarding all pose different wants and needs.