Five common market research pitfalls (and how to avoid them)

Pitfall one: Not knowing what you want to find out

Pitfall two: Asking bad questions

• Only ask one question at a time. A lot of the time people will try and cram two or three questions into one, making it complicated and often impossible to answer.
• If you’re asking multiple choice questions, make sure that the answer options are balanced and representative of a range of opinions. For example, don’t provide 15 negative possibilities and one positive answer option (even if you believe what you’re asking about is a bad thing).
• Make sure your questions are not leading. If you read a question and can tell what side of the argument the person who wrote it is on, it’s probably a biased question.
• Only ask questions respondents can actually answer. Don’t assume knowledge of topics and don’t use jargon. Unless people can understand the questions, they can’t answer them accurately, and you’re wasting their time and your budget.
• Keep introductory text to a minimum, and if it is needed make sure it’s balanced and uses neutral language. ‘Factual’ does not necessarily mean the text is relevant.
• Avoid emotional language. Positive or negative adjectives should have no place in survey questions.

Pitfall three: Speaking to the wrong people

Pitfall four: Using a poor-quality sample

Pitfall five: Not presenting the results clearly

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