End of Year 2012 MR Quiz - Results
"Isn't it time for an End of Year Market Research Quiz?"
That was the question I posed on Social Media to the Market Research online Community between Christmas and New Year's Eve of 2012.
41 people started the quiz, 34 completed it - not a massive participation rate, but I feel that we need to do more fun things in MR, so why not do something like a Quiz?
I enjoyed preparing it - thanks to all those who participated!
I also invited anyone who might be interested to do a Q&A with me on Social Media early in 2013 on the topic of what they saw the key challenges for MR in the future to enter their names for participation in a raffle. 3 names were forthcoming, the raffle has been done, and the person I'm going to get in touch with will be notified. To the 2 who didn't come out of the hat first - I'll be in touch as well, if for nothing else bu to say thank you.
So: what were the Right Answers, and how did this group of people fare?
I've published the full results on Prezi - http://bit.ly/XvFd8R - with the correct answers in blue. Have fun clicking around with what I found a great format.
For those of you who just want the Top Line, here are the correct answers and the percentage (caution: low base sizes....;)) values who guessed correctly.
1. Which of the following Market Research Agencies got bought by another Top 10 Agency in 2012?
Correct Answer: Synovate. 71% people knew this, the highest level of correct answers.
2. Which of the following famous people is said to have popularised the phrase: "Lies, damned lies and statistics"
Correct Answer: Mark Twain. 61% people got this right.
3. Which of the following Market Research Agencies was voted the most innovative in 2012 according to the most recent Green Book Industry Trends Survey?
Correct Answer: Brainjuicer, which was guessed correctly by 68% of quiz-takers.
4. Which of the following statistical statements is correct ?
A p value of more than 0.05 would generally allow one to reject the Null Hypothesis - FALSE, something only 41% guessed correctly.
The plane of best fit is used graphically to represent the relationship between three variables - TRUE, but only 36% got this right.
Statistical tests are unaffected by self-selected sampling - FALSE. Here a more satisfying 64% got the right answer.
5. Which of the following Companies recently published the finding that only 1% of Facebook fans engage with brands?
Correct Answer: Bass Ehrenberg Institute. Only 8% knew this - surprising to me, and the lowest correct answer by far.
6. What is the name of the blogger who accuratetely predicted the outcome of the 2012 US Presidential Elections?
Correct Answer: Nate Silver - 66% got this right.
7.Which of the following is widely regarded as the founding father of Social Sciences?
Correct Answer: Auguste Comte. A tough one this, with only 16% hitting a home run.
8. Which of the following Non-Fiction books contains the following challenge: "A bat and ball cost $1.10. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?"
Correct Answer: Thinking, Fast and Slow. I was surprised at how many people - 61% - knew this. Amazing - it's just one detail in a hugely information-rich book.
9. Which of the following acronyms is the odd one out?
Correct Answer: WARC, again something correctly guessed by 61%.
10. In which of the following Years was the UK Market Research Society Founded?
Correct Answer: 1946. 42% of quiz takers had this right. I have no way of knowing how many people were in the UK taking the quiz.
So what - if anything - did this fun quiz tell me? Nothing robust for sure, as I have no way of knowing who took a peek at Google or Wikipedia before answering, nor did I ask for any profiling data to help me classify responses. Plus we have barely adequate numbers to quantify at all. There are plenty more caveats and qualfiers.
That being said, I'd venture the following:
It seems that knowledge of Current Affairs was pretty good, and that folk weren't bad at what is going on in our Industry right now.
We (or at least those who participated) were less good on MR History, and the Stats wizadry was, well, less than impressive.
The Bass Ehrenberg Institute has way to go in raising its profile, it would seem, something that may or not concern it.
And Mr Kahnemann has done an amazing job in writing a book where the facts seem to stick in people's memory remarkably.
So much for the End of Year MR 2012 Quiz. Hope people enjoyed it, and let's hope 2013 has plenty of fun moments in store for us.
Curious, as ever, as to others' views.