Comments on: Research Techniques

By: HtherMcCu

HtherMcCu — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:53:09 +0000

I think that when I am interviewed I do like most give them what they want to hear and that isn’t always the best. I know that we have surveys in the end of our quarters from school and I enjoy that very much I like to know that it helps provide better techniques for future students.
HtherMcCu

By: Alan Rains

Alan Rains — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:20:29 +0000

I detest surveys and interviews. I don’t use those cards that so many stores offer to get those “valuable” points.
I detest mystery shoppers unless they are there to check out management too. I have never been one, nor have I worked where one of them come into. However, I went into a convenience store, it was packed, the line was long and it was a busy hour for business. When I finally paid for my 7up, I told the kid behind the counter I’d forgot my “rewards card”. He yelled to the lady after me, “Do you have a rewards card?” The shift manager was busy on her cellphone talking with her boyfriend the whole time. What a joke it can turn out to be.

By: drawls1183

drawls1183 — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:18:11 +0000

I love surveys and interviews. I work at a bank and recently we added a new survey column to our reciepts so customers can call in and answer a couple questions and then there put in for a drawing which is an incentive to them. Were always hoping every quarter they are good responses considering our pay is based on how well we do too. Conducting these new surveys are very beneficial to us so we can make appropriate changes and give the best customer service per customer!

By: tiffanypolzin

tiffanypolzin — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:39:33 +0000

Ugh! This is the part of every class that I hate…theories and research. There are so many and so many ways to get data. To me its absoulely mind boggeling! One way I can relate to gathering data is Secret or Mystery shops. I have these all the time on the job. People come in and act like regular customers. The look to see if we are using the steps of COSP. Each and every step has to be there or we are docked points. We also have to make sure we word the greeting exactly how they taught us during the training (which to me feels a little robotic and mundane). After they leave they submit a survey with all the critera and score us on each topic. They then give a step by step encounter in the comments section at the end of the evaluation. The thing I have found with this sort of data is that it can be skewed. People can’t remember and either out right lie or say nothing at all which can impact the overall score. I have also learned how to spot one of these people. They will not let you check their credit, they ask you a lot of strange questions, and they always ask for my business card at the end of the encounter…they have to know your name. So I myself can ensure that I follow each step in a robotic fashion to ensure I don’t lose any points. So as you can see, gathering the data for research can be useful, but its not always acurate.

By: HtherMcCu

HtherMcCu — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 04:57:31 +0000

I too like surveys I think it is great that the school uses them for classes to get information back on how the class is and the teacher this is a good thing.

HeatherMcCu

By: SaraBritton04

SaraBritton04 — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:07:19 +0000

I like the breakdown of the research tools. These podcasts make it 10x’s better to understand. They break it down in their own words and not in text book format.

By: tracybennett

tracybennett — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 13:35:32 +0000

I’ve actually done mystery shopping before. I took it very seriously because I felt it was extremely important to give the client valuable information. A lot of the material on the questionairres were subjective though. My favorite ones were when I actually rewarded the employee at the time of the shop for doing their job correctly!

By: 48egr2lrn

48egr2lrn — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:25:14 +0000

I did not realize that observations played such an important part of data because it is something that we do naturally and no other thought is given to it. I like holding open-ended interviews because I want the individual to feel comfortable ~ open up ~ discuss anything and everything. It provides a warm and inviting atmosphere. I interviewed an assistant manager at Wal-Mart for one of my projects and I found it to be a challenge~in a good way. Once generalized questions were asked to break the ice, everything flowed like clock work. It was amazing as to how much information I gathered within a 30 minute time frame (imposed by me). Even though we gather information, it still needs to go through the entire evaluation process to be effective in all areas.

By: 48egr2lrn

48egr2lrn — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:16:49 +0000

Wal-Mart uses surveys everyday, and 30% of the customers ignore the question that is on the debit reader before they select a language. The other 70% take the time to answer the question and with feedback. It does not give them enough information to rate the individual that is serving them at the checkout. Most of the customers that I have encountered tell me how exceptional I was; most pleasant and fastest checker that they have seen; just all in all a pleasure to have waiting on them. At times, I have to be on the register due to lack of cashiers and I enjoy it very much. The encounter with the customers just make my day.

By: hlaw

hlaw — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:20:56 +0000

I used to work in a customer service area and we conducted surveys about our service to our clients alot. I do find surveys (although this is different when you’re surveying trainees vs. clients) to be very telling. Like it was mentioned above, people feel free to be more honest in them because you’re not face to face. But combining them with follow interviews is an interesting research technique. I thought that was very interesting.