QThis week’s subject is
market research. To help you understand what market research is, and what
market research firms do, I want you to locate one on the Internet. Use a
good search engine to search for market research firms. Browse their site
– get a sense of the kinds of services they offer. Then, summarize and
post your findings here. Give us the company name, the URL, and an
overview of their services. As part of that, concisely identify at least three
types of market research they perform.QThe US census website
is one of the most comprehensive websites when it comes to the amount of data
it encompasses. It has almost all the data that one could think off. Moreover,
this data is not targeted to one particular section, the website is built
keeping in mind the needs and requirements of diverse user. This actually shows
in the kind of data that is available. The website caters to the needs of each
and every person. For a lay man it has glancable data like employment rate etc.
In similar lines, for an expert user or researcher it has highly granular data
on employment which can be used for various research objectives. One of the
best parts of the website is the library. It is by far the most enriching and
comprehensive when it comes to government websites. I have used government
websites of other countries but apart from few research papers and annual
reports one cannot find anything else. Moreover, the data is often not updated.
However in the census website, one can thigk of anything and the chances are
that it would be there on the website. Moreover, the best part is that it is
updated on a regular basis, hence it is more effective.
This discussion will
allow you to conduct some very brief, illustrative market research using the
U.S. Census website (www.census.gov). This project is relatively
open-ended and designed as much for you to explore the census site as
anything.
Select one of the research tools on the site and
work with it. Keep notes of what you used and what steps you took to do
your research. Then, provide a brief overview of the data you
received. Seek to make sense of the value the data provides.
For
example, using the “People” tool, and then the “Journey to
Work” option, one can research the population of people who work from
home. From within that choice, one can look up average incomes of people
who work from home. (Of course, choose your path of
research, and don’t just copy this one).
