are research facts that are based on respondents’ answers to questions.

Data cleaning involves the detection and removal (or correction) of errors and inconsistencies in a data set or database due to the corruption or inaccurate entry of the data. Incomplete, inaccurate or irrelevant data is identified and then either replaced, modified or deleted.

It is the gathering of information (figures, words or responses) that describes some situation from which conclusions can be drawn.

It is an enterprise or agency that supplies trained interviewers for clients and receives payment for services delivered. The service is responsible for hiring and training of interviewers, executing a client's job exactly as specified, editing and validating each interviewer's completed assignment.

It is any device that is used to gather information from respondents, eg questionnaires, video recorders, tape recorders.

It is a complete set of responses in a given study

It is the act of inputting data into a database.

Data mining is a process used by companies to turn raw data into useful information.

It is the counting and tabulation of raw facts (ie data) into a form that is suitable for future use. This term is usually associated with computer tabulations.

National and international laws that cover the appropriate and required methods to be used in protecting data privacy. Organizations also have guidelines to be followed for data privacy, in which companies must adhere to the guidelines in order to be associated with the organization (see ESOMAR and ARF).

It is a set of instructions for editing and coding the questionnaire and specifies how the data should be evaluated for inconsistencies, skipped questions, etc, and then verified.

The United States Census Bureau's monthly newsletter.

A data warehouse is a relational database formed to analyze and perform query processing. Warehouse stores data retrieved from historical transactions; however, it also contains data from various other sources. 

Databases are organised pools of data used to store, manage and retrieve information.

The database software market consists of sales of database software which are used to develop, modify and maintain database records and files.

It is a standard measure of the impact of a TV commercial where respondents’ recollection of a commercial is tested the day after they are exposed to it.

The concept of daytime populations refers to the number of people, including workers, who are present in a city or town during normal business hours.

a time or date before which assignment must be done or finished.

It is the removal of brand names, packaging or other material that would enable research participants to identify a brand.

It is the presentation of research findings to clients.

Debriefing is a report of a mission or project or the information so obtained. It is a structured process following an exercise or event that reviews the actions taken.

The data collected by the decennial census are used to determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives.

It is where the marketing researchers are spread throughout an organisation and are not located together.

The deductive approach involves beginning with a theory, developing hypotheses from that theory, and then collecting and analyzing data to test those hypotheses.

Deduplication, or deduping for short, is the process of removing identical entries from two or more data sets such as mailing lists. Also known as merge and purge, deduping can be done for a lot of reasons.

It refers to the number of ways in which values could be assigned within a system. For example a table of observations with p rows and q columns has (p-1)(q-1) degrees of freedom. (In a sample of size n grouped into k intervals, there are always (k-1) degrees of freedom, because if (k-1) frequencies are specified, the other is determined by the total size n.)

The typical deliberative opinion poll takes a random, representative sample of citizens and engages them in deliberation on current issues or proposed policy changes through small-group discussions and conversations with competing experts to create more informed and reflective public opinion.

It is an approach to forecasting where a group of people produce separate forecasts and then each member is given information about the other forecasts and asked to revise their original estimate. The objective of the approach is to converge forecast estimates

The Delphi method is a forecasting process framework based on the results of multiple rounds of questionnaires sent to a panel of experts. Several rounds of questionnaires are sent out to the group of experts, and the anonymous responses are aggregated and shared with the group after each round.

are the responses given when respondents attempt to guess the purpose of the questions being asked. Demand artefacts can be the result of experimental conditions.

Corruption of the research when the respondents assume to know or actually know the research agenda. This can occur when the research sponsor is revealed to the respondents.

It is based on the age, gender, life-cycle stage, income and occupation of consumers.

Demographic analysis is the study of a population based on factors such as age, race, and sex. Demographic data refers to socio-economic information expressed statistically, also including employment, education, income, marriage rates, birth and death rates and more factors.

The changing number of births, deaths, diseases, etc. in a community over a period of time; the scientific study of these changes.

It is diagram that shows a hierarchy and the relation of subsets in a structure. It branches like a tree and is usually read downwards from the main trunk.

The number of things or people in a place in relation to its area.

It is a non-consequential approach to evaluating ethics, whereby the degree of ethicalness depends on the intentions behind the decisions rather than the outcomes or actions that result.

are types of multivariate analysis techniques that are used when one or more of the variables can be identified as dependent variables and the remaining variables can be identified as independent.

It is when one variable is influenced to an extent by another variable.

usually denoted as y, is a variable that is influenced to some extent by one or more other (independent) variables.

An in depth interview is a loosely structured interview. It allows freedom for both the interviewer and the interviewee to explore additional points and change.

The describing function method attempts to predict characteristics of those oscillations (e.g., their fundamental frequency) by assuming that the slow system acts like a low-pass or bandpass filter that concentrates all energy around a single frequency.

It is a form of conclusive research that aims to describe a product or market or identify associations among variables.

Descriptive research is defined as a research method that describes the characteristics of the population or phenomenon studied.

The design allows researchers to hone in on research methods that are suitable for the subject matter and set up their studies up for success.

Design controls designate the application of a formal methodology to the conduct of product development activities.

A designated market area (DMA), also referred to as a media market, is a region of the United States that is used to define television and radio markets.

It is the systematic examination of all available secondary data in the context of a particular marketing research problem.

It is the difference between the mean and an observed value.

It is an in-depth interview involving an interviewer and a participant (ie two people only). It is also referred to as a "one-on-one".

The diagnostic function is where data or actions of a target market are explained.

It is a log where facts are recorded relating to a respondent's experiences with a subject or product. Diaries can also be a record of regular purchases or viewing habits and they are often given to respondents when they receive a product to use at home..

It is a type of consumer panel where participants record activities or events in a diary.

are questions with only two alternatives, eg agree/disagree or yes/no.

Dig Insights provides contextual market research and analysis and delivers clear answers to complex business problems.

Digital signature is a mathematical technique with encoded and electronic stamp of verification on digital documents such as PDF files, word files and online legal contract papers .

The process of changing from analog to digital format.

 Interviews that are conducted entirely on a computer (questions are asked and responses are accepted).

It is when behaviour or events are observed while something is happening.

It is a question that directs the respondent to make a comparison between two objects, eg "which of these two products do you prefer?"

It is a question to research participants about their own behaviour (as opposed to an indirect question that asks them about the behaviour of other people).

are ways of asking people directly for information, such as personal or telephone interviews and mail surveys.

A directory database contains user accounts and security information for the domain.

Study results that reveal the proportion of respondents that claim that they would not buy a product even after trying that product.

It is the accepted abbreviation to indicate that a phone number has been disconnected, usually noted on the dialling report by the interviewer.

It is that from a measurement scale consisting of a number of separate values where intermediate values are not permissible, eg the number of cars per household.

A quantitative variable that has a set amount of possibilities as opposed to continuous variables which have an infinite set. An example would be the number of individuals in a family.

Discretionary income is the amount of an individual's income that is left for spending, investing, or saving after paying taxes and paying for personal necessities, such as food, shelter, and clothing. 

It is an analysis technique where the dependent variable is non-metric (i.e. nominal or ordinal in nature) and the independent variables are metric (i.e. interval or ratio in nature).

The value that is placed in front of the independent variable and describes the level of affect that the variable carries.

A value that is assigned to an object which then determines which group the object will belong to.

Discriminant validity is demonstrated by evidence that measures of constructs that theoretically should not be highly related to each other are, in fact, not found to be highly correlated to each other.

It is an outline of the subjects to be discussed during group discussions and/or in-depth interviews.

A discussion question that is truly great is challenging and inspires students to think critically and respond with well thought out answers. These questions are a framework for creating prompts that encourage inquiry, challenge students to think bigger and connect the classroom to real world ideas and events.

It is the observation of behaviour without participants’ knowledge.

It is any form of questioning where respondents are unaware of the true purpose of the questions

Disk-By-Mail (DBM): Self-administered surveys using a computer-based questionnaire mailed to participants on a computer disk.

Provided by the client to help the respondent picture or understand the product/ideas under discussion.

Disposable income includes earnings plus unemployment benefits, plus income from capital, including rental equivalent income of the main residence of the household.

The result of an attempt to reach or contact a potential respondent.

Disproportionate allocation to strata sampling involves dividing the population of interest into mutually exclusive and exhaustive strata and selecting elements (e.g. households or persons) from each stratum.

It is a type of probability sample where the probability of a unit being selected from a stratum is not proportional to the number of units in the strata. This sampling approach is used when there are strata in the population of interest that are quite small but very important and they may not be adequately represented in a survey if other sampling approaches are used.

It is an answer to a question that makes the respondent ineligible to participate in the research project.

It is a frequency or percentage table showing how a set of respondents is divided into various categories, eg percent who bought 1-5 times, 6-10 times, 11+ times.

It is a check and recording of the availability of specific items in stores.

It is the abbreviation recorded when a respondent lacks the knowledge to provide an answer to a question.

Door-to-door market research interviewing is a form of qualitative research whereby a respondent is asked questions on their doorstep, face-to-face. Door to-door market research may be used for several reasons. 

It is a survey where the interviews are conducted in pre-selected areas involving knocking on the doors of homes to find qualified respondents.

It is a product test where both the researcher administering the test and the participants are unaware of the complete identity of the products being tested.

It is a phenomenon or an empirical law where brands with lower markets shares suffer both from low purchases and low brand loyalty. 

Double sampling is a two-phase method of sampling for an experiment, research project, or inspection. An initial sampling run is followed by preliminary analysis, after which another sample is taken and more analysis is run.

are those that ask two questions at the same time. They can confuse respondents and answers to such questions are uninterpretable, because it is not possible to determine to which question the answer refers.

Respondents that leave the survey prior to termination or survey completion.

A dropout rate in surveys is the percentage of respondents who do not complete a survey due to the length, lack of interest, technical difficulties, or poor design.

It is a group discussion with two moderators, each moderator having a different role, eg one to ensure the smooth running of the group and the other to discuss or explain key issues.

are a way of respecifying categorical variables in data analysis by giving them either of two values (eg 0 or 1).

Duplicate Number Validation: A service in which the names and telephone numbers of focus group recruits are submitted to a company in advance of the groups.

Qualitative research where two participants are being interviewed by a single interviewer.