2.5 pros and cons
There is an increasing trend amongst market researchers to turn to online
tools in their research processes. The Internet allows for research at a far
lower cost, can more easily cross geographic boundaries and can speed up
the research process. This is not to say there are not downsides. While the
Internet makes it possible to reach a far larger group of people without the
cost of facilitators, this does come with some challenges. For example, not
having the ability to control the environments in which information is being
gathered. For an online sample, it’s important to focus on getting the correct
number of people to make your study statistically viable. If your questions are
not carefully drafted, confusing questions could lead to answers that are not
relevant or flawed. Additionally, online incentives could lead to answers which
are not truthful, meaning that the value of the data could be questionable.