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Objectives
• Determining the need and target population• Matching the method to the need• Using research findings• Guiding Principles
Determining the Research Need• Situation analysis
– Assesses the current situation/describe the problem– Defines research need and research objectives
• Tools– Program or product analyses – Primary data collected by others (traffic counts/VMT; NHTS;
National surveys)– Literature search (TRIS online, NTIS, agency library)
Driving Design by the Research Need• Who is the audience that
can provide the information you need?
• How can you reach them?• What data do you need?• How will the research
results be used?
Target Population
Research Method
ResearchQuestions
Analytics
ResearchObjective
Defining the Target Population
• Considerations:– Behavior (licensed drivers; highway usage
patterns; attitudes)– Demography (age; ethnicity; vehicle
ownership)– Geographic (regions; cities; suburban/rural)
What is the purpose of your research?
Who will provide the most useful input?
Which customers use these services?
Defining Customer Segments
Selecting a Research Method Qualitative Quantitative
Objective Gain directional understanding of underlying reasons/motivations
Quantify information and generalize the results from the sample to the pop of interest
Sample Small number of cases; 6-10 per focus group; at least two groups on a topic.
Large number of representative cases; Statistically valid sizes—industry standard is 400 provides a margin of error of +/-5%.
Question type Unstructured; Open-ended, open-response
Structured; Closed-ended, response options; scales and ratings
Interpretation of Data
Directional and reflective of only the persons interviewed; Exploratory
Can draw inferences to the population as a whole; Confirmative
Costs Incentives Required; $65-$125
Low-end $3,000; Mod-end $5,000; high end $10-12,000 (hard to reach)
Highly variable; example
Mn/DOT Telephone, N=400, $35,000-45,000
Selecting a Research Method• Qualitative—directional insights; exploratory
– Test ideas, designs/prototypes, branding– Understand target population opinions/attitudes about
programs/products– Pretest survey instruments– Explore survey findings
• Quantitative—confirmatory– Point-in-time measure of attitudes, behaviors, opinions– Establish baselines– Measure shifts over time (trending)
Focus Group—Trade offs• Strengths
– Produce deep insights and wide range of ideas
– Group setting is comfortable and participants are likely to be highly engaged
– Allows observation by viewers and sessions can be recorded
– Can be conducted quickly
• Limitations– Results are exploratory, not
conclusive– Cannot generalize to the
population as a whole– Susceptible to client/researcher
bias– Requires professional moderator– Unstructured nature of data
makes analysis time consuming
Source: NCHRP 08-36
Telephone—Trade offs• Strengths
– Reach majority of Households (cell phone)
– Fast turnaround– Higher response rates– Less question
nonresponse– Interviewers can ask for
clarification
• Limitations– Generally, higher cost– Respondents may
“screen”– Interrupts Respondents
free time– Not including cell phone
sample may cause sampling bias
Source: NCHRP 08-36
Mail—Trade offs
• Strengths– Relatively inexpensive– Reach households with
address-based sample
• Limitations– No probing/clarification– Lower response rates– Less control over
respondents– Slower turnaround– Length can affect
completion rates (lower)
Source: NCHRP 08-36
Online—Trade offs• Strengths
– Very low cost– Can be very fast– Flexibility to respondent – Provide more detail on
open-ended questions
• Limitations– May not reflect population as a
whole (not statistically valid if conducted as a population survey)
– Requires multiple reminder emails
– Unintended respondents may reply if passcodes not provided
– Lower completion rates on longer surveysSource: NCHRP 08-36
Putting Data to Use• Processing and weighting • Coding (qualitative and quantitative)• Basic analytics (frequencies, cross-tabulations,
tests of significance)• Higher level analytics (customer segmentation,
stated preference, conjoint analysis, and models)
6 G
uidi
ng P
rinc
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s
Have Clear Research Objectives
Partner with Research Experts
Find a Research Champion
Match Method to Need
Consider Segmentation
Apply Research
Source: NCHRP 20-07
Relevant Resources• NCHRP 20-07, Task 260, Putting Customer Research
Into Action (2009)• NCHRP 20-78, Communicating the Value of Research
(2009)• NCHRP 08-36, Task 74, Customer Research Practices &
Applications: A Guidebook for Practitioners (2007)• NCHRP Report 511, Guide for Customer Driven
Benchmarking of Maintenance Activities (2004)• NCHRP Report 487, Using Customer Needs to Drive
Transportation Decisions (2003)