Part 1 of 3: Preventing the 3 Biggest Types of Survey Bias: Selection Bias
One of the first things that any market research professional needs to understand is the fact that survey bias is an inevitable part of almost all primary data. Different types of survey biases can creep into the data based on the number of people that are questioned, the specific profile of people who are questioned, the manner in which the questions are worded and the flow and structure of the questionnaire. In some cases, survey bias is quantifiable and in others it is not. While the sampling error of a particular sample can be calculated to estimate the range within which the actual responses will fall, the errors caused by other kinds of biases are less easy to resolve.

Selection Bias – Errors and Bias due to Unrepresentative Sample
The selection of a sample plays an important role in survey research. When the method of choosing a sample is faulty, the individual respondents of the sample may not collectively define the population accurately. A bias that results from underrepresentation, overrepresentation or improper selection is called a selection bias.

• Under or over representation bias – This bias is caused when a specific kind of sub profile in the target respondent is over represented or underrepresented. For example, if the study aims at studying women in a developing country, using an Internet survey may result in a biased sample. As the Internet penetration in developing countries is not too high, it might result in a sample that is in favor of high income groups or highly educated women who have adapted to the internet faster than some of the others.
• Non response bias – A non response bias occurs in specific parts of the survey when respondents refuse to answer specific questions. At other times, specific profiles of people may refrain from responding to a question resulting in a biased statistic. A mail survey is typically prone to the non response bias.
• Voluntary response bias – Surveys that adopt the voluntary method of data gathering are prone to voluntary response bias. Typically, those who have strong opinions about the topic are likely to make the effort to respond to a question, thereby causing the data to appear polar in nature.

Selection bias can be avoided by ensuring that the sample that is selected is random. Random sampling can ensure that the sample is chosen purely by chance and every eligible respondent has an equal chance of being selected for the survey.

To keep of the changes in marketing analytics, one needs to spare some time to self developmental activities so that the latest trends can be used for clients. Here is a list of 10 marketing analytics and market research blogs that you may want to subscribe to or at least visit regularly to keep up with the latest news in the industry. Each of these has something unique to offer and therefore the list should not be considered as a ranking.

1. Vault Analytics is a company that is dedicated to one of the most difficult aspects of marketing analytics, namely predictive analytics. The team of professionals offers a range of services that include creating an algorithm a specific marketing problem, contracting analysts and training employees to be able to use predictive analysis. Given that the company is involved in training people in the marketing analytics arena, their blog has extremely valuable tips and latest news about marketing analytics.

2. The Forrester Blog for Market Research Professionals covers a large variety of topics. Published by a company that is known for its expertise in market research and richness in secondary research, this blog can provide you valuable data on various niches, tickle your mind with new and emerging thoughts on models and helps you with various market research methodologies and industry trends too.

3. Research Live not only provides you with the latest trends in data gathering and analytics, it also keeps you abreast with the movements of research professionals. The blog is nicely divided into sections like the latest polls, young ones, media, research technology, social media and various cases of specific surveys that have been conducted on respondents with regards to market research itself.

4. For a complete rundown on almost anything that you may want to know about analytics starting from statistics and software to methodology and analysis, the Market Research World helps you get all the details that you may have otherwise missed out in your busy schedule.

5. The Google Analytics Blog is a great place to understand web analytics and the manner in which you can use the valuable data that you gather to understand your customer, segment the funnel and understand bounce rates, keywords and other interesting analytics information for the ecommerce guy or the Internet marketer.

One feature being asked by advertising agencies, research organizations, and marketing departments is the ability to upload videos, images, and music inside an online survey. This allows you to test ads, music, and print material before rolling them out. They have talked and we have heard. The new Mineful allows you to upload rich media into your online survey very easily.

When creating your survey, simply “Add a Question” as you normally would. Select the Media question and follow the following 3 simple steps.

• 1. Enter the question’s text
• 2. Upload media file using the Browse button
• 3. Select the media type from the drop down menu (Video, music, or image).

For more information on uploading videos, images, and music into your online survey visit the Media Question Support Page. Happy rich media surveying!

The news about the proposed Islamic center about two blocks away from Ground Zero has led to a lot of fervor in the country. While the Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg is in favor of the proposal and backs Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, there are others who oppose the approval as a another feather in the cap of the jehadis. The specific proposal is to create a 13 storey cultural center for Islam along with a mosque a few feet away from where the Twin Towers stood a few years back. The project is to include an auditorium, a swimming pool, art exhibition space, restaurants, bookstores and also a mosque.

Republican Sarah Palin states that it would be a ‘stab in the heart of the families of the innocent victims of those horrific attacks’ and many other Republicans voice her opinion as the New York Mayor stands his ground in the belief that ‘Muslin religious freedom must be respected’.

Those opposing the mosque have tried to invoke the Landmarks preservation Commission but the vote goes towards the architectural development of the disused coat factory. There are also some who believe that the construction of the Cordoba House Cultural Centre would be an act of good inter-religious relations.

While some like US House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich call it an ‘act of triumphalism’, others feel that this could be the tipping point in the Muslim-West relations. Polls show that most feel that the building of a mosque is not an issue but the fact that the location is so close to Ground Zero seems tasteless. Some are even questioning the money trail that leads to various countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Iran.

Even as protesters accumulate at Ground Zero to voice their concerns about this event, various polls across the country are being conducted to understand the opinion and emotion of the general public.

According to the Quinnipiac University Poll conducted among 1183 New Yorkers in the last week of June, 52% did not want a mosque to be built as against 31% who were in favor of the decision. The Quinnipiac University Polling Institute Director Maurice Carroll stated that while New Yorkers are considered to be relatively tolerant of other religions, they were opposed to this decision by large. Further analysis of the data of this survey showed that Manhattan had the least number of people opposing the proposal with only 36 percent rejecting the idea as against Staten Island where a whopping 73% rejected the idea of a mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero. Among the other classifications the black voters rejected the proposal to the least extent (45 %) while 56% of the white voters rejected it as did 60% of the Hispanics. Rejection was high among Jews and Catholics (66 percent) as against 46% among Protestants. In this poll, 22% of the New Yorkers also felt that ‘Islam encourages violence against non-Muslims’.

Another CNN Poll that surveyed 1009 adults across the country summarized that 68% of Americans were opposed to the approval of the proposed mosque and cultural center near Ground Zero. The poll also reveals that 43% of Democrats support the mosque while only 17% of the Republicans are in favor of it. Support among the independents lies in between at 24%.

The Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey among 1000 adults dealt with more than just the proposed mosque issue. While only 20 percent of Americans were in favor of the proposal but it was also stated that about 22 percent were following the story ‘very closely’ and another 29 percent were following it ‘closely’. Some argue that the mosque will honor the 9/11 victims since it promotes peace among Islam and the West. However, this confidence is not felt by more than 30 percent of those who participated in the survey. The survey also showed that those above the age of 40 were more inclined to oppose the mosque than the younger ones. While the Democrats are split half way on the issue, the Republicans clearly (76 percent) oppose building the mosque near what was the site for the Twin Towers. Not many (only 13 percent) feel that allowing this will improve America’s relations with the Muslim world.

There are differences across these polls with regards to the proportion of people opposing the Islam Cultural Center that probably emanate from the manner in which the question is asked or how the proposed building is being referred to – an Islamic Culture Center, a mosque, a mosque near Ground Zero, a mosque in the Manhattan area or even a mosque near the Twin Tower site. However, the overall results seem to indicate that a majority (irrespective of whether we look at Americans, New Yorkers, Republicans, Jews or young and old) does oppose the proposal being agreed to by the Mayor of New York City.

This past Sunday, we moved to an all-round better datacenter. With this move, we introduced more, faster, and newer servers to help you use Mineful more efficiently.

The move was an ordeal. It took 2 hours longer than expected, but we got home around midnight happy that Mineful is now running smoothly in its new home. You can see from the photos below how much fun Jose and I had.

Eric MacAdie has joined Mineful as our new Software Developer. Eric worked for 9 years at Bank of America as a Systems Engineer and is currently the president of the Java User Group in Chicago. Among other things, at BOA, Eric designed and developed monitoring and reporting web applications.

We look forward to having Eric taking leadership on a variety of projects on our plate. Eric will design and build the foundation for our API capabilities and also be heading up new projects like improving performance of our application.

Welcome on board, Eric!

Tony Nilles has joined Mineful as our new Vice President of Business Development. Tony comes from a long journey with the Numerical Algorithms Group as VP of Sales and Marketing. Before that he worked at SPSS and SAS where he learned to explain the advantages of complex statistical software to business users.

We look forward to having Tony take a hands-on approach to our growing leads and client needs. He’ll also be heading up new projects like improving our messaging, sales process, and marketing initiatives.

Welcome on board, Tony!

Situation
The Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center provides all the services that HIV/AIDS and other infectious disease patients need under one roof including medical care, support services, prevention programs, and confidential testing of STDs and HIV. The CORE Center has more than 20 project managers, researchers, and patient counselors who are required to interact with patients based on data regarding visit logs, demographics, medications, and feedback.

Challenge
Part of the CORE Center’s data was housed in a Data Warehouse system with limited access and reporting capabilities. Other data needed to increase patient engagement in care came from survey tools, patient visit log system, and spreadsheets. To understand which patients needed the most urgent interaction, employees would issue a request, sort through a spreadsheet, and use gut instinct rules to select “critical” patients. It took weeks before any patient counselor could follow up with patients that needed the most help.

Solution
The CORE Center invested in 3 powerful components of Mineful: data collection, integration, and dashboard reporting solution. Data is updated continuously using Mineful’s API giving access to near real-time information to counselors, researchers, partners, and grant funding agencies. Researchers are able to dig deeper and use Mineful’s robust analysis engine to easily sort through medical, survey, and behavioral data and establish best practices and rules for patient interaction in order to decrease patient attrition and improve engagement in care.