26 Mar Stat Testing for the Stat Scared

This white paper provides an introduction to statistical and significance testing in market research and answers the following questions:

• What does statistical testing mean, how is it shown, and how should it be interpreted?
• Why are there multiple statistical tests, and how are they different?
• What do terms like “margin of error” and “nineteen times out of twenty” mean, and how are they relevant?
• Why is a margin of error not reported in online research?

 
Most of the time when doing marketing research, there is interest in differences between groups. Demographic groups, groups based on psychographics or attitudes, or any number of other slices and dices may be relevant to the researcher. However, for a non-researcher or a new researcher, entering the world of stat testing and interpretation can be daunting. Sometimes researchers forget that most people don’t look at research results all day, and we often forget that not everyone can eyeball a significant difference!