Market research is really all about effective communication. Some will say it is about conducting research or learning and understanding. Yes, it is, but it all starts and ends with clear communication, communication from the client to the researcher, the researcher to the participant, the participant back to the researcher and finally the researcher to the client. Communication includes spoken and/or printed words, actions, voice reflections, punctuation, body language, etc.

During a recent presentation of a shortened version of "Researching Research," where I discussed the five major weak areas of consumer research and the four primary root causes of the weaknesses, I had written the following question on the board.

            Woman without her man is useless.
                [   ] agree
                [   ] disagree

I did not address the question until well into the presentation. I wanted the participants to reflect on the question.  When I did address the question, I asked, who agreed and who disagreed. Not surprisingly, the responses were split across gender lines. Most of the women present disagreed with the statement. I mentioned that I thought their disagreement was unusual since the last time I asked members of the audience the same question, the females present voted over-whelmingly in agreement. Needless to say this came as a surprise to those present until I told them I had not completed the statement. I then went back to the board and made the following additions.

Now the women were in agreement with the statement. But one of the young men in the back of the room stated that I had made a mistake. He suggested that I had the second comma in the wrong place. He said the statement should read as follows.