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Once your data has been collected, it needs to be "cleaned." Cleaning research data involves editing, coding and the tabulating results. To make this step easier, start with a simply designed research instrument or questionnaire.
Some helpful tips for organizing and analyzing your data are listed below.
- Look for relevant data that focuses on your immediate market needs.
- Rely on subjective information only as support for more general findings of objective research.
- Analyze for consistency; compare the results of different methods of your data collection. For example, are the market demographics provided to you from the local media outlet consistent with your survey results?
- Quantify your results; look for common opinions that may be counted together.
- Read between the lines. For example, combine U.S. Census Bureau statistics on median income levels for a given location and the number of homeowners vs. renters in the area.
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