Research Industry Taxonomy

This is a guide to the basic types of research companies and how they work together.

Most research projects are not carried out within the bounds of a single company. The typical research company (especially a small or medium-sized one) specializes in some aspects of the process and partners with other companies for the others. Specialization has increased with the increase in online research and the development of new technology-based methodologies. Below is a guide to the basic types of research companies and how they work together.

Full Service Research Company - Full service research companies primarily concern themselves with the design and analysis of the research. Most outsource the actual collection of the data. Very few have their own phone data collection capabilities. However, it’s increasingly common for full service researchers to program and host their own online surveys in-house while procuring their sample externally.

Online Sample Company - Until recently this category would have been labeled “Online Panel Company.” However, while panels have proliferated, other online sample sources have increased market share, most notably river sample (respondents sampled in real time from the web) and social network sample (respondents sampled from social networks). Most online sample companies’ primary business is providing sample, but the majority also offer online programming and hosting. Some have moved more toward a full service data collection model, coordinating offline data collection for clients as well.

Online Sample Broker – Online sample brokers have arisen to help navigate the dynamic and often confusing world of online sample. With new panels launching and old panels merging, with new ways of recruiting respondents emerging, and with constant client requests for hard-to-find samples, some have come to rely on brokers who don’t have their own sample sources but make it their business to keep up on sample availability and manage the sample acquisition process for clients. The online sample companies themselves are also involved in sample brokerage, with often substantial volumes of sample trading hands directly between companies who are in many ways directly competitive with one another.

Full Service Data Collection Company – These companies typically handle multiple data collection modes – online, phone, in-person and mail. They coordinate survey programming or production as well as all sample management. They also usually handle all crosstabulation, data file creation, and translations, which may or may not be outsourced.

Phone House – There are relatively speaking very few pure phone houses left; most have morphed into data collection companies offering both phone and online solutions. In most cases they procure sample for clients and produce data files and crosstabulations.

Online Programming Company – Some companies specialize in online survey programming and hosting. These companies tend to be involved in relatively complex studies and may have advanced capabilties to program in Flash and using other technologies.

Research Technology Provider - Some companies offer technology solutions such as online qualitative methods or digital fingerprinting. In most (but not all) cases they integrate with many different survey platforms but do not typically program and host the entire study. Specialist providers of custom online panels fit into this category.

Survey Software Company - Survey software companies typically either host studies on their servers (possibly using an ASP model) or install their software on client servers so they can host studies themselves. This category includes the many DIY (do-it-yourself) online survey providers.

Data Processing House – These companies focus on crunching the data once the survey is closed. Many of the other types of companies on this list use these specialists to handle data file and crosstab creation.

Translation House – As the name suggests, these companies focus on translating surveys into different languages. For many online survey software packages the translator can enter the translation directly into the software.

It’s a starting point but there’s plenty of room for more detail.

Cathy Harrison (@VirtualMR) posted this response on Twitter: "This is a great start and very useful. Where would ethnographics, qual, indep project mgrs, indep advanced analytics fit in?"

I would say each of these merit their own category. Ethnography tends to be a specialty, though quite a few full service research companies offer it. Under qualitative belongs independent moderators/qualitative specialists and focus group facilities. Independent project managers and independent providers of advanced analytics should also be added to the list.

If there's one thing that's clear it's that even for a project being run by a large research company, there may be a lot of small independent contractors involved.

- July 2009

This content was provided by The Operandi Group. Visit their website at www.operandigroup.com.