Be a devil’s advocate when writing a research brief
A good research brief has clarity, displays depth of thought, and provides direction.
Drafting a comprehensive brief takes time and should have an input from several people, including peers and at some point, may also be tweaked by your research consultant acting as a devils’ advocate, questioning the value, and reasoning behind some of its contents.
A research brief should include the following elements.
Background – setting the scene.
Objective – issues you want to address.
Positioning – how research needs and expected outcomes will fit in wider business strategy.
Sample and methodology – expected / proposed research method.
Deliverables and timescales.
We believe that the priority is to ensure clear objectives – the other elements ‘flow’ from them.
As in most tasks, but particularly in a research context, the first step to designing a good market research plan is to define your need. What issue do you want to address? What do you hope to achieve? Set a goal to keep your market research focused on the decisions you are trying to make, describe concisely what the research is trying to achieve.
This will help you and the consultant if you are working together to make sure that in the design stage you will only ‘ask’ questions that are relevant to your objectives.
In many instances, asking questions that ‘would of interest’ but not crucial to the objective, can lead to longer interviews / conversations with respondents that divert attention from the real goals.
When writing your objective remember to make it SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.
A clear objective provides focus when writing the rest of the brief, and should always be referred to, thus ensuring that one is on track. Be a Devil’s advocate!
Drafting a comprehensive brief takes time and should have an input from several people, including peers and at some point, may also be tweaked by your research consultant acting as a devils’ advocate, questioning the value, and reasoning behind some of its contents.
A research brief should include the following elements.
Background – setting the scene.
Objective – issues you want to address.
Positioning – how research needs and expected outcomes will fit in wider business strategy.
Sample and methodology – expected / proposed research method.
Deliverables and timescales.
We believe that the priority is to ensure clear objectives – the other elements ‘flow’ from them.
As in most tasks, but particularly in a research context, the first step to designing a good market research plan is to define your need. What issue do you want to address? What do you hope to achieve? Set a goal to keep your market research focused on the decisions you are trying to make, describe concisely what the research is trying to achieve.
This will help you and the consultant if you are working together to make sure that in the design stage you will only ‘ask’ questions that are relevant to your objectives.
In many instances, asking questions that ‘would of interest’ but not crucial to the objective, can lead to longer interviews / conversations with respondents that divert attention from the real goals.
When writing your objective remember to make it SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.
A clear objective provides focus when writing the rest of the brief, and should always be referred to, thus ensuring that one is on track. Be a Devil’s advocate!