First, let me thank all NPD Insights readers who sent words of encouragement in response to our first Research Edition in January. Dr. Kinnucan’s article on our “research-on-research” project examining online versus offline populations was widely read by our clients and friends, and I was happy to see all the comments and suggestions related to NPD’s QC Protocol. If you missed that edition, it’s still online – click here to view it.

Methodology!  Methodology!  Methodology!

Okay it’s true. NPD’s Research Sciences team is obsessed with research methodology.

We’re also obsessed with developing ways to improve the accuracy, reliability and timeliness of our deliverables. Our full-time staff of 22 researchers works closely with product managers to make sure our techniques meet clients’ business needs. Operations managers ensure the methodology is “doable” and executed correctly, and our clients tell us whether we’re on the right track. It is our passion – and we love to talk about it.

In this issue, Vice President, Research Sciences, Ash Dhupar focuses on our calibration methodology outlining NPD’s method for integrating point-of-sale (POS) retail scanner data with consumer survey information. NPD uses consumer calibration techniques (in industries where both POS and consumer data is available) to identify, measure, and mitigate residual biases in the consumer data. While calibration is complex in its practical execution, Ash’s article boils it down to the essential elements.

Speaking of consumer data, “Research 101” covers NPD’s protocol for managing consumer tracking studies. Researchers who have managed tracking studies have learned the hard way that what might seem at first to be small changes to a tracking questionnaire can have profound effects on a study’s results. At the same time, the industries we track are changing, and so are our customers’ information needs. We have synthesized these seemingly incongruent forces into a comprehensive protocol for managing changes to NPD’s tracking questionnaires. I’m pleased to say the protocol has served us (and you!) very well. Since implementing the protocol in 2003, no NPD databases have been impaired due to questionnaire changes.

I hope you will find this NPD Insights Research Edition informative and thought-provoking. We’re glad to have your feedback, so please share your thoughts, comments and questions. To contact us, e-mail me at Steve_Coffey@npd.com, or use the “Feedback” tab at the top of this page.

Steve Coffey
Chief Research Officer
THE NPD GROUP, INC.