ICG Publishes DIY Research Guide

UK research association the ICG (Independent Consultants Group) has introduced a new training guide to help non-researchers working in UK organisations conduct their own online surveys.

The step-by-step guide, which has been written by ICG members Chris Brookes and Gill Wales, helps users determine which types of surveys are suitable for a DIY approach. It also outlines how to write effective questionnaires, select people for the sample, and interpret results.

The guide was tested during development among members of AURA (the Association of Users of Research Agencies), and feedback was also provided by a variety of small and large organisations.

'The research industry needed to give people tried and tested guidance, and while the guide won't turn people into 'researchers', it will stop them making basic mistakes,' states Wales, who runs Gill Wales Research in Brighton.

Brookes - who owns Start-Up Research - explains that while planning the guide, the pair had found that both small and large organisations are setting up their own surveys independently of the in-house research department. 'We also found people who mistakenly believed DIY software would manage the sampling for them,' Brookes adds. 'Our guide supports all DIY researchers, whatever their experience.'

ICG Chair Andrew Smith believes the guide - which can be downloaded here: www.indepconsultants.co.uk/resources/diy-research-guides/ - will help drive best practice in organisations worldwide.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.