Market Research Glossary

Market Research Glossary

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There are currently 52 names in this directory beginning with the letter F.
F Test
It is a statistical test of the equality of the variances of two populations.
F-Test
A statistical probability test measuring a calculated value’s ability to occur due to chance.
Face Validity
Face validity is the extent to which a test is subjectively viewed as covering the concept it purports to measure. It refers to the transparency or relevance of a test as it appears to test participants.
Fact
It is a statement that is objectively true and can be verified.
Factor
It is an underlying construct defined by a linear combination of variables.
Factor Analysis
It is a form of multivariate analysis that takes a large number of variables or objects and aims to identify a small number of factors that explain the interrelations among the variables or objects.
Factor Loading
It is the correlation (or regression weight) of a variable with a factor.
Factor Loadings
Factor loadings are part of the outcome from factor analysis, which serves as a data reduction method designed to explain the correlations between observed variables using a smaller number of factors.
Factorial Design
It is a type of statistical experimental design where units are assigned to groups that represent all possible combinations of the independent variables of interest.
Factory Staff
are those who are mainly involved with conducting marketing research and have limited contact with research clients.
False Accuracy
False accuracy results from a situation where a set of data gives the impression of being accurate, when in actual fact only a small degree of accuracy is present.
Family
Officially defined by the Census Bureau as two or more persons that live together in one household that are related by birth, marriage, or adoption.
Female Head-of-Household (FHH)
The woman most responsible for maintaining the household. May or may not be the primary wage earner.
Fertility Rate
Fertility rate, average number of children born to women during their reproductive years. For the population in a given area to remain stable, an overall total fertility rate of 2.1 is needed, assuming no immigration or emigration occurs.
Field
It is the physical location where the interviewing takes place.
Field Director
The person who is responsible for selecting, hiring, and training interviewers. He or she is also responsible for the data collection phase of the survey and following the agreed instructions.
Field Experiment
It is one that is conducted in a natural setting (where the external validity is usually higher than the internal validity).
Field Experiments
Research conducted in the actual setting environment (i.e. outside of the laboratory).
Field Force
It refers to the interviewers and supervisors who are involved in data collection.
Field Management Companies
Companies that act as subcontractors to collect data, format questionnaires, and screen write for market research firms.
Field Service
The process of collecting survey data.
Field Supervisor
It is the person who is responsible for selecting, hiring and training interviewers. He or she is also responsible for the data collection phase of the survey and following the agreed instructions.
Fieldwork
It is a general term that refers to any data gathering process.
Filter Question
It is a question in a questionnaire to ensure that respondents meet the required criteria for a subsequent question (or questions) in a survey.
Final Report
A complete description of the research for the client after the research has been conducted.
Findings
are information that answer a research question.
Finite Population Correction Factor (FPC)
The finite population correction (fpc) factor is used to adjust a variance estimate for an estimated mean or total, so that this variance only applies to the portion of the population that is not in the sample.
Fixed Field Code
It is a code in which the number of records for each respondent is the same and the same data appear in all the same columns for all respondents.
Fixed Personality Association
A projective qualitative technique. Respondents are shown pictures of people and settings and asked to interpret those pictures in relation to a topic. By using the same pictures over and over again, normative data can be created to enrich the analysis of responses.
Fixed Sample
It is the repeated observation of the same sample of respondents over a period of time.
Focus Group
It is a type of qualitative research that consists of an informal discussion of a particular topic with a small number of selected participants (usually 8-12). The discussion is guided by a skilled moderator who does not influence the outcome, but ensures that all the subject areas are discussed by the group and the views of the participants are as clear as possible. The ideal number of participants depends on the subject matter being discussed, eg complex subjects may be better discussed with fewer participants - possibly 4-6.
Focus Group Facility
A central location in which focus groups are held. Conference rooms are connected to observation rooms by a two-way mirror so that researchers can observe the respondent’s words and actions. 
Focus Group Interview
A focus group is a market research method that brings together 6-10 people in a room to provide feedback regarding a product, service, concept, or marketing campaign. Focus group participants are recruited based on their purchase history, demographics, psychographics, or behavior and typically do not know each other.
Focus Group Moderator
A trained moderator leads a 30-90-minute discussion within the group that is designed to gather helpful information.
Folder Test
It is a qualitative press advertising test where the advertising is placed in a folder with competitive advertising (and editorial extracts) and respondents are asked to page through it.
Forced Exposure
It is when research participants are exposed to some advertising in a contrived way (such as in a hall test or a focus group) as opposed to an on-air test where participants are see the advertising in a natural setting (such as in their own homes).
Forced Rating Scale
It is a scale that does not allow a neutral or no opinion choice.
Forecast
An estimate on future occurrences based on past performance data. 
Forecasting
Forecasting is the use of historic data to determine the direction of future trends.
Frame Error
A type of nonsampling error in a survey caused by a sampling frame (i.e., a list) that is not a perfect representation of the population or universe. 
Frequency
It is the average number of times an advert has been exposed to a specified television audience or universe .
Frequency Distribution
It is a representation of the number of counts of objects or responses, usually in the form of a table or graph.
Fresh Participants
Fresh participants are naturally curious, enthusiastic, and are keen on discussing the subject of their interest.
Friendliness Effect
A systematic bias caused by some respondents tending to agree with whatever is presented to them.
Friendship Pair Interview
It is a type of depth interview where there are two respondents (instead of the usual one). Friendship pair interviewing is often used for research with children and young people (where they know each other) in order to avoid respondents being intimidated and biasing their responses accordingly.
Front-of-Mind Awareness
It is a measure of how readily a brand name or concept comes to respondent' minds. It is the first answer to questions such as unaided brand awareness.
Frugging
It is fund raising under the guise of research and it is one of the reasons why potential participants in market research projects are reluctant to take part.
Full Group
A focus group comprised of 8-10 respondents. Mini-groups consist of less than 8 participants.
Full Service (F.S.) Research Company
A company hired by a manufacturer or service company to design and manage the implementation of a research project, as well as analyze and interpret the data. 
Full Service Agency/ Supplier
It is a company that is hired to design, manage and implement a research project, as well as analyse and interpret the data. The company may collect the data themselves or hire a data collection company for this phase of a project.
Full Text Database
A full-text database or a complete-text database is a database that contains the complete text of books, dissertations, journals, magazines, newspapers or other kinds of textual documents.
Funnel Approach
It is a way of ordering questions in a questionnaire so that general questions are asked before specific questions. This ordering avoids the responses to specific questions biasing the answers to general questions.