Empiricism? Yes!
Each week we are buffteted by unsettling news - a mixture of COVID-19 stories, Christmas being possibly cancelled, the demise of holidays abroad, whole sectors of industry decimated and more.
And then there's politics. Everything, it seems, is somehow politicised or polemicised - culture wars are in full steam ahead mode - injustices highlighted, biases foregrounded. No sphere of activity is spared.
The way people express opinions has changed - online the default mode, increasingly in more "closed" forums, to speak perhaps in private with more honesty than they might in public.
What does this all mean for us humble market researchers - and our participants, with whom we Zoom regularly? Is the business of evidence in danger of bowing to pressures, delivering what commissioners and broader societal stakeholders wish to hear?
I'd say possibly yes, and add a call to action: an important part of our remit is to avoid "correctness", to ensure that no gulfs emerges between the powerful, or brand owners, and those buying and consuming - and that dissenting voices are heard and not overlooked.
A few thoughts on bias and the business of evidence.
Challenging Narratives, not just Going with the Flow
As tactical as research may be currently in a tough business environment, the ethos of our professional lives and dies by its ability to be empirically sound, balanced and potentially outspoken at the same time.
Which means having an open mind on our briefs - taking us where the evidence leads, and not with a pre-given endpoint in mind.
The more challenging the environment, economic and political, the easier it is to go along with agendas simply to survive - depart from recognised language, challenge a powerful narrative and you may may well be swept away.
The reverse can also be true.
Failing to pick up on sub-cultures and counter-narratives risks trends being missed, whole companies or systems being blown away.
We have a professional duty to speak truth to power, warts and all.
Avoiding Biases - intentional or otherwise
Research can be sanitised, even worse it can be abused - twisted to suit a purpose.
The changes in the way research is executed over the past 10 years have incresed this danger: as reporting, data analysis and execution become faster and faster, increasingly democratised, with DIY commonplace, distortion is more and more common - headlines that misrepresent main body of a study, for example.
Or an online poll that is embedded in an online article discussing the topic in question but with little scientific ambition.
Or simply leaving aspects out of a conclusion to make a narrative simpler and easier to swallow.
Managing this requires skill - diplomacy, persuasiveness yes, but also courage to call things out. This is the business of evidence that needs defending.
We do well to remember our privileged role as experts in social science and data, in whatever shape form or size. We need to resist pre-determined outcomes - however much we want the gig :) - and call out poor or bad practice.
Avoiding Group Think....
Which includes group think and ensuring that we access individual opinions - regardless of one's own opinion.
This should be eminently do-able for skilled researchers - we are no doubt constantly mindful of our own biases ;)
Whilst arguably trickier in a digital age (voices have lighter online footprints), the tools are there: implicit measurement, flexible online communities, projective techniques and more for example - even if a shared coffee with a participant might be quicker and emotionally more engaging ;)
Outlook: Outcomes First, Empricism to the Fore
To continue to thrive in future, research has to justify itself by its impact on a business outcome, deliver a positive ROI.
We cannot afford to dumb down - nor pander to politics.
However much the language of business changes, softens in response to societal change, business behaviours remain intensely competitive. Successful outcomes are all important - without which, the "way you achieved your goals" is irrelevant.
Market research needs to be mindful of this - and the need to be truly empirical in our efforts, aiming for zero bias.
None of the above should be new to researchers, soical or market focused - but it's possibly more easily overlooked in an age of rush-to-topline on a budget-lite approach.
Empiricism should not be a victim to the challenges we currently face - so here's to a healthy research future, bristling with objectivity and spark.
Curious, as ever, as to others' views.