If we can get past the twitch that seeing 2020 written down gives us, you’ll be as ready for it to come home as we are!
The postponed 2020 Euros are kicking off on Friday 11th June with Turkey Vs Italy followed by England’s debut kickabout on Sunday. Managed by supreme waistcoat wearer Gareth Southgate, England’s squad includes Harry Kane leading the attack for England, with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Dominic Calvert-Lewin all set to be included in the squad.
Whether you’re passionate about the beautiful game or more than content to let the off side rule fly over your head, there’s no denying that the joy and optimism that a summer football championship brings to our little island will be more than welcomed this year. We will take the Vindaloo chants, the cheesy two for one drinks offers and knock off sports strips, we’ll take it all for the glimpse of collective optimism that this year will be OURS.
We’ve put the below calendar together not only as your reminder to bag your beer garden spot and don your three lions but also to assist you in gauging just how responsive participants are going to be over the coming weeks, helping you to avoid any match clashes and ensuing low turn outs and lack of engagement. The match schedule could also be a good way to plan ways to interact with participants, getting their score predictions and live reactions to England’s inevitable wins *side eye*.
Simply click the image below to download the calendar and don’t forget to tag us in your match predictions on social!
We’re delighted to announce that Carina Ealam, who many of you will know from your work with Acumen’s Qualitative team has been shortlisted for the prestigious Parker Prize for Emerging Talent.
The award is organised by the Association of Qualitative Researchers (AQR) which seeks to recognise anyone working within the research industry who has a passion for their work and consistently delivers results with flair, innovation and a job done brilliantly.
Carina has certainly made her mark at Acumen; joining the company as part of her work experience for her Anthropology degree before returning to the company in a full time role as a Qualitative project manager; earning high praise amongst many of our clients.
Ken Parker, after whom the prize is named, was passionate about helping young people develop their passions so we’d like the fund to be put towards personal development. Think conferences, courses, talks, learning a new language, developing a new skill, or trying a new experience, from Semiotics to sky-diving. The fund will be held by the AQR secretariat and can be allocated to one or multiple courses or experiences (up to the value of £1,000) over the course of the year.
We’ll be keeping everything crossed for Carina while the judges deliberate over all 6 candidates up for this year’s prize. And while the winner of the Parker Prize will be announced on the 30th of June, we’ve long since known that Carina is a winner with both her colleagues and our clients.
Ahead of the General Election we’ve been asking people what they think about the major political parties, their leaders and what issues matter the most to them in the upcoming election.
In the first of our surveys that went out to the Research Opinions community last week we were able to collect a range of views from prospective voters across the country. One of the most decisive questions was about the big issues facing the nation. Top of the list was Brexit followed by concerns on the NHS, crime, the economy and the environment. Interestingly when we asked which issues concerned people personally, the responses we received put crime into fourth place while the NHS edged in front of Brexit – suggesting that people have different concerns when thinking about their personal circumstances versus the big issues they view as facing the nation.
This may have been reflected in another question put to voters. When asked about which leader’s government they’d personally favour to deal specifically with Brexit, people were equally divided. Only 39% supported the idea of a Boris Johnson led government while 36% supported the notion of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership; crucially the remaining 26% were unable to decide.
It seems that the potential leaders are proving to be particularly unpopular. When asked to rate the performance of both Johnson and Corbyn 59% of participants rated Johnson as performing badly while 68% gave Corbyn the same rating of disapproval. How this will play out as we head further into the election cycle remains to be seen with both candidates, vying for the top job in the government, take to their debating podiums this evening.
Acumen will be tracking the public sentiment and attitudes around the upcoming election with a series of polls going out over the coming weeks. Make sure you’re following all the news on our social media channels and checking our website for regular updates.
To find out more about how we can help with your research, whatever the subject, contact becki.pickering@acumenfieldwork.com
Matt Barker recently joined Acumen’s Quantitative market reseach fieldwork team, after working in both Qualitative Recruitment and Fieldwork. Here he puts together his thoughts on the 5 things that made his recent Hall Test a success.
Location, Location, Location
The right location is key to a successful hall test. It’s worth thinking about what location is going to ensure you are getting your target completes. At Acumen we take various things in to account when deciding upon a location. Are you looking to speak to city slickers about a new snack smoothie targeted to lunch time shoppers? Or is your sample more of a suburban, family type? Ensure you are considering who you are wanting to talk to when picking a venue.
Dream Team
As with any winning team, you need the right players. It is important each and every member knows their role in the data collection process, as well as having an understanding of your research aims. Doing so will steer your players to make decisions that benefit your research, not hinder it.
Sensible Questionnaire
The importance of a sensible questionnaire is paramount; it must meet your research objectives firstly whilst being designed in a way to avoid leading questions, unnecessary repetition of details whilst ensuring you’re eliciting the right level of detail for your research. Balancing these demands can be a high-wire act but if done correctly, it creates a solid foundation to build your project on.
Incentives
Having run hall tests in one shape or form since Acumen’s formation, 10+ years ago, we know about setting the right price to get the completes we need. Incentives vary from project to project, and considerations include the length of time it takes a participant to complete the test, in addition to the research subject the level of detail needed. Generally, we follow the MRS Guidance that anything upward of 5 minutes should be incentivised. As with everything in life – time is money!
Good Communications
Without proper lines of communication, valuable data can be lost in the process of a participant coming through the door, to them leaving. A key to a successful Hall Test is a clear briefing before fieldwork begins, timely updates throughout and ensuring everyone involved knows that there is no such thing as a silly question.
With all these things in mind you can be sure that your Hall Test runs smoothly from start to finish. For more information on getting your fieldwork off to a flying start speak to Acumen on 0161 234 9940 or email
As a company working within the market research sector, we know how important it is to ask for feedback. That’s why we’ve decided to formalise our methods of measuring success and are offering all of our clients, partners and suppliers the opportunity to recognise a member of the Acumen team.
Our latest initiative allows you to share your feedback directly with us and highlight the work of individual team members in addition to the overall qualitative fieldwork, quantitative market research fieldwork and healthcare fieldwork teams too. In order to start sharing your views you simple have follow the link that has been added to the email signatures of all our team members. This will then take you to a short 1 minute survey where you can give us an insight on what it was like working with Acumen.
The feedback we’ve received so far has been used to highlight the exemplary work of some of our team members as well as helping us to assess our services and look how we can continue to expand our range of services, adding greater value to your market research projects.
If you’d like to tell us what you think about Acumen or just share some feedback on some of the people you’ve been working alongside on your research projects, then simply follow the link at the bottom of one of our emails or access it here. We’d love to hear from you!
It’s that time again – the MRS Conference is back and Acumen are pleased to announce that we’re continuing our long-term partnership with the conference as the official Champagne Bar sponsor.
IMPACT brings together the latest innovations from the market research industry with papers and presentations from industry leaders along with case studies on cutting edge research projects. In addition to this there are a number of unmissable keynote speeches at this year’s conference from Bruce Daisley, VP EMEA at Twitter; Reverand Richard Coles, cleric and former Communard; RT Hon Nicky Morgan MP and a Keynote interview with Victoria Coren Mitchell.
Throughout the conference Acumen will be speaking to delegates from across the research industry in the designated networking area and will be providing a Champagne reception on Wednesday 13th of March from 4pm. Representing the Acumen team will be Julie Fuller, founder of Acumen; Becki Pickering, Fieldwork Director; along with Gemma Shevlin and Sam Garlick from our qualitative team.
We also have a very special surprise which will be revealed at the conference. Be sure to come and say hello and get yourself a glass of fizz to see what we’ve got in store.
If you’d like to know more about our services or how we can help on any research brief – qualitative, quantitative or for healthcare specific research – then feel free to drop an email to becki.pickering@acumenfieldwork.com
