Market research & insights agencies, reviewed and ranked

Primary research, segmentation and voice-of-customer. Scored on methodology and sample quality — the two places research quietly goes wrong.

14 evaluated, of which we would put 12 in front of a client and cut 2.

Ask to see the instrument before the findings

Question-method fit, bias controls, an analysis plan and stated limitations are what separate research from expensive opinion. A leading question produces a confident, useless answer, and by the time it reaches a slide nobody can tell. Ask for the questionnaire and the analysis plan, not just the deck.

Sample quality is where research quietly fails

Panel fraud, poor screening and unrepresentative samples produce clean-looking data that is wrong. Transparent recruitment, stated incidence, sample size, source, fraud checks and incentives should all be available on request. Vagueness about where respondents came from is the single most useful warning sign in this category.

Certainty should be stated, not implied

Good research says how confident it is and what it cannot tell you. Findings presented without limitations, confidence intervals or caveats have usually been polished for the boardroom, and the polishing is where the qualifications went.

Evaluated

And the ones we cut, so you can judge the rest

Named, with the reason and the sources.