Quality versus speed in online research

Gavin Mulholland of Illuminas and John Buckle of Alliance and Leicester debated at the MRS Field conference the implications of tight deadlines set by clients and the quest for cheaper research.

Gavin Mulholland (director at Illuminas) and John Buckle (head of marketing research at Alliance and Leicester) indulged in a spirited debate on the implications of tight deadlines set by clients, the quest for cheaper research and the quality of online research.

At the conference Mulholland stated: "Quality and speed do not necessarily sit at opposite ends of the scale".

He confirmed that even though quality work does take time, pressure from clients is a factor that affects the researchers and the fieldwork supplier's work and therefore quality suffers.

In his speech Mulholland supported online research not as a second class route to respondents: "Opting for online research does not necessarily mean that you lose quality - it is a disruptive technology, and most disruptive technologies do not start as perfect entities.

"But the speed that it offers is a major factor and that factor is too big to ignore".

He concluded his talk by firmly establishing that face-to-face interviews do not always deliver quality: "The real quality of any research is based on the effectiveness of decisions made on the basis of that research.

"Yes, the quality of the data is vital but the interpretation of the data is just as important.".

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