A

Accompanied Shopping is a form of observation study where an interviewer accompanies a respondent (with his or her agreement) as they go shopping.
Achieved Communality a term used in factor analysis that represents the proportion of variance in an original variable accounted for by all the extracted factors. Each original variable will have an achieved communality value in the factor analysis output.
Acquiescence Bias (aka "yea saying" or "friendliness effect") A systematic bias caused by some respondents tending to agree with whatever is presented to them. Such a bias may be caused by either respondents or interviewers being overly friendly during interviews.
Additive Causal Relationship is a type of causal relationship in which the effect of two variables on a third variable is additive (ie one variable does not counteract the effect of the other variable).
Ad Hoc Research is research that is specifically designed to address a particular problem or issue. Ad hoc research is usually conducted when there is insufficient existing information. Ad hoc projects are usually single pieces of research rather than part of a continuous programme.
Affective Component is one of the three components of attitude that is concerned with individuals' emotions or feelings towards an object or idea.
Aggregate is a summary measure made by compounding two or more separate measures, eg national income and price index numbers.
All Commodity Volume (ACV) is the base commonly used in reporting a product's retail distribution. If a product is distributed in only one out of every five stores, it is 20%. However, if the stores that carry the product are the very largest stores that account for 80% of sales, then the ACV is 80%.
Analyse (aka Analysis) is the review of information gained from the responses to questionnaires completed for a study or other data and to arrive at conclusions or to make decisions and recommendations on the subject being studied.
Anchor Label is label used to define an extremity of a measurement scale.
A Posteriori is an approach where a theoretical framework is developed from the research (after it has been conducted).
A Priori is an approach where a theoretical framework is developed before the research is conducted.
Area Sampling is a type of cluster sampling where geographical areas are the clusters.
Association Technique is a form of projective technique where participants are presented with some stimulus material and they are then asked to respond with the first thing that comes to their minds.
Attitude is an individual's learned predisposition to behave in a consistent manner towards an object or idea. There are three components of attitude: (i) a cognitive component - knowledge and beliefs (ii) an affective component - feelings and emotions (iii) a conative component - behaviour (usually measured in terms of likelihood to buy).
Attitude Research (aka Attitude Survey) is a research study to obtain information on how people feel about certain products, ideas or companies.
Attitude Scaling is the development of measurement criteria used to measure individuals' attitudes.
Attribute is a word or phrase to describe a qualitative characteristic of an idea or object under consideration, eg gender is a attribute but age is a variable.
Attribute Analysis is a technique that is designed to develop lists of characteristics, uses or benefits relevant to a particular product category.Audit has two definitions in the context of Marketing Research. A Store Auditis a method of determining the number of product units that have been sold by counting physical units in stores and combining that with a knowledge of the number ordered and stock levels. A second definition is a Project Audit that involves visiting a project site to ensure all project specifications are being met and agreed procedures are being followed.
Average is a general term that is used to represent or summarise the relevant features of a set of values. The arithmetic mean is often used as a measure of average, but the median and the mode can also be used to summarise a set of values.
Awareness is a measure of respondents' knowledge of an object or an idea. There are two main measures of awareness: spontaneous (or unaided) and prompted (or aided) awareness.

B

Back Translation is a validation process where a survey is first translated into another language and then translated back into the original language by a different person. The objective is to ensure that the original translation is accurate.
Balanced Scale is a scale with an equal number of favourable and unfavourable categories.
Base is the required number of interviews to be completed.
Base Line (aka Bench Mark or Pre-wave) is the result of a study conducted to obtain a snapshot or reading of current conditions prior to some change in market conditions or the introduction of some test conditions. The result is then used as a standard for comparison with subsequent studies.
Baysian Analysis is a mathematical procedure based on decision theory that aims to estimate the value of a market research project.
Benefit Segmentation is the dividing of potential consumers into sub-groups according the benefits sought.

Best Light Phenomenon is when respondents bias their answers in a market research project so that they can then appear in the best possible way to those who are looking at the responses.
Bias is a general term referring to the inaccuracy in a research study caused by non-sampling errors.

Biased Question is a question that is phrased or expressed in such a way that it influences the respondent's opinion. Such questions may provide information that leads a respondent to consider the subject in a specific way. Bias may also be introduced through verbal or facial expressions, body language or by paraphrasing the original question.
Biased Sample is a sample that does not contain units in the same proportion as the population of interest.
Bimodal Distribution is a frequency distribution with two modes.
Binomial Test is a statistical test of dichotomous data (where there are two possible outcomes) to check whether the research data is significantly different to what would be expected.
Bipolar Adjectives are two opposing adjectives that define the opposite ends of a scale (such as a semantic differential scale).
Bipolar Scale is a type of scale whose extremities are defined by two opposing adjectives.
Bivariate Analysis is the analysis of a relationship between two variables.
Bivariate Correlation see product moment correlation coefficient.
Bivariate Regression is a procedure for deriving the equation that relates a single metric dependent variable and a single metric independent variable.

Blind Testing is the testing of products with potential consumers where brand names, packaging and other identifying items have been removed.
Blocking Factor is the relevant external variable that is used to group (or block) experimental units into groups so that the experimental group and the control group are matched.
Brand is a product or service to which human beings attach a bundle of tangible (functional product and service characteristics) and intangible (emotional and/or symbolic) meanings that add value. A brand has one strategic purpose and that it to differentiate itself from competitors.
Brand Awareness is a measure or indication of the readiness with which a brand springs to mind.
Brand Equity is a term developed to describe the financial value of a brand to the bottom line profit of a business.
Booster refers to additional interviews involving a particular sub-group of a sample to ensure there are sufficient members of the sub-group in the resulting sample.
Brief (aka Briefing) can have two similar meanings in the context of Marketing Research. A Brief can be a statement (usually in writing) of a business problem that could be alleviated by conducting some marketing research. Briefs are normally written by a client company for a research supplier and they usually have a background and an objectives section. A suggested methodology section can also be included. A Briefing can be a training session prior to starting work on a study in which all specifications and details of the study are reviewed. This is generally followed by practice (or pilot) interviews where they are being used.
Buying Rate (aka Volume per buyer) is the average volume purchased per buyer over the period of an analysis.

C

Contrived Observation is the observation of behaviour in an artificial setting.
Control Cell is a group of respondents that receives the normal (or no) treatment and provides a basis of comparison to the test or experimental group that receives the test or experimental treatment.
Controlled Store Test is a type of research experiment where one group of stores receives a certain treatment (test stores) and another group receives no treatment (control stores). Sales are then measured for each group over an extended period of time to measure the effect of the treatment.
Convenience Sample is a type of non-probability sample where the units have been selected because they are convenient to sample (may or may not be the optimum sample for the research project).
Convergent Validity is the ability of a measurement scale to correlate (or converge) with other measures of the same variable.
Cookie File is a computer file that is secretly added to the hard disk of someone who visits a web site that sends them. Their purpose is to track web site visitors, however the use of cookies in marketing research is not approved by ESOMAR.
Co-operation Fee see incentive.
Co-operation Rate is the proportion of eligible respondents who, having been contacted, agree to participate in a research study. The length of the interview, the subject matter and the type of person being interviewed impacts the co-operation rate.
Copy Point Recall is an advertising research measure of a respondent's ability to remember a particular message, slogan or theme etc from a commercial.
Copy Testing (aka pre-testing) is a method of determining the degree of understanding, impact, awareness and believability that an ad may generate. Respondents are shown the ad, and then they are questioned about their opinions.
Correlation is the existence of a relationship between two variables (which may or may not be a causal relationship - correlation on its own does not infer causality).
Correlation Coefficient see product moment correlation coefficient.
Correspondence Analysis is a perceptual mapping technique that is based on data where respondents are asked to identify only the attributes that relate to (or correspond with) the subject of the study.
Cost per Interview is determined by dividing the total budget for a project by the number of completed interviews.
Counter-biasing is a technique that is used to increase respondents' willingness to answer questions honestly. Questions are prefaced with statements that attempt to justify an answer that may go against social group norms, eg "recent surveys have indicated that the majority of people have difficulty saving every month".
Covariance is the extent of a relationship between two variables, whereby a change in one variable implies a change in the other.