is the accepted abbreviation to indicate that the respondent is not at home, there is no answer to the doorbell or the telephone.

is the accepted abbreviation to indicate no response to a question because the respondent refused to reply, the question did not apply or it was skipped for some reason.

are the characteristics of the country where a research project is being conducted.

It is the observation of behaviour in a natural setting.

A nested sample is a series of stages in which people from each new sample are selected from a prior segment of sample.

The network effect is a phenomenon whereby increased numbers of people or participants improve the value of a good or service. The Internet is an example of the network effect.

A neural network is a collection of interconnected simple processing elements. Every connection in a neural network has a weight attached to it.

The field of neuromarketing—sometimes known as consumer neuroscience—studies the brain to predict and potentially even manipulate consumer behavior and decision making.

is usually the mean of all responses to a question and it can be used as a substitute for a missing response.

Niche marketing is an advertising strategy that focuses on a unique target market.

The Nixie Rate measures the amount of survey invitations that are returned to the sender because the respondent's address is incorrect.

A focus group participant who agrees to come to a session and is confirmed the night before, but nonetheless does not show up for the session. Focus group facilities compensate for no-shows by overrecruiting two to four people for each focus group.

Anything that interferes with the measurement of a marketing research variable. For example, competitive activity creates "noise" in the marketplace that makes it difficult for a manufacturer to understand the results of his own marketing actions.

is a type of face-to-face group discussion that is designed to minimise the group effect (where participants moderate their opinions and go along with a majority view). Participants are asked to consider a subject and then discuss it with one other member (or a small number of members) of the group before presenting it to the whole group

Nominal grouping is a highly structured technique designed to keep personal interaction at a minimum level during the process of new idea generation while maximizing the individual contribution of each respondent.

is a scale where the numbers act only as data labels (eg 0=male, 1=female or a social security number). The only analysis that can be performed is to observe how frequently each of the scale members occurs in the survey.

Answer choices or answer scales with more positive answer choices than negative answer choices, or vice versa.

A measurement made in isolation without reference to other items, things, or people. The term Monadic has similar a meaning.

is one where each object is measured independently of the other objects in the same test and absolute results are obtained.

A household made up of a person living alone or living with nonrelatives, as defined by the Census Bureau.

is a correlation measure for two non-metric variables that relies on rankings to compute the correlation.

is data that cannot be analysed statistically, such as that from a nominal or ordinal scale

is a perceptual mapping technique that is based on an analysis of non-metric data such as rank ordering.

is a test that involves non-metric data (ie data that comes from nominal or ordinal scales).

is a sample in which the selection of units is based on factors other than random chance, eg convenience, prior experience or the judgement of the researcher. Examples of non-probability samples are: convenience, judgmental, quota and snowball.

Events and occurrences with unequal probabilities of occurrence. In contrast, random events and occurrences have equal probabilities of occurrence.

A sample in which the selection of units is based on factors other than random chance, e.g. convenience, prior experience, or the judgement of the researcher.

Nonresponse refers to the people or households who are sampled but from whom data are not gathered, or to other elements (e.g. cars coming off an assembly line; books in a library) that are being sampled but for which data are not gathered.

is the variation between the true mean values of the original sample list (people who are sent survey invites) and the true mean values of the net sample (actual respondents).

It is a type of non-sampling error caused by some sub-groups of the sample responding less than the rest of the sample.

It is any error caused by factors other than sampling error. Examples of non-sampling error are: selection bias. population mis-specification error, sampling frame error, processing error, respondent error, non-response error, instrument error, interviewer error and surrogate error.

It is the standardised or hypothesised value against which a sample statistic is compared.

It is a symmetrical bell-shaped statistical distribution where the mean, the median and the mode all have the same value.

are established baselines to compare your data against. It allows you to determine if the results are above or below par.

It is the accepted abbreviation to indicate that the respondent is not at home, there is no answer to the doorbell or the telephone.

Process of choosing every "nth" name as an interval of "N" on a list, and using those subjects throughout the study. Also called an interval.

It is a statement to be tested that is usually expressed in a negative (or null) way and suggests that no difference or effect is expected. If the statement is disproved, then the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative hypothesis is accepted.

A database comprised of raw survey data over a wide range of topics that has not yet been analyzed.

It is a type of scale where the intervals are represented by numbers (as opposed to pictures or words).