This past month, our August InsightsNow webinar dug into how to work to design market research that supports diversity, equity and inclusion and results in more representative insights that can better serve decisions for target audiences. We were thrilled to run a roundtable panel discussion, “Designing Research for DEI: Practical Questions and Applications,” with our CRO Greg Study moderating. Joining us for the panel discussion were:
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- Shannon Danzy who is the Director of Research and Strategy with Rally, and also serves on the Board of Directors for Insights in Color, is a member of the Insights Association’s IDEA Council, and a Co-Chair at the QRCA.
- Melissa Geathers who works in global bid management with InnovateMR, as well as serving as an event manager for Women in Research and working closely with the Insights Association’s New England chapter.
- Lilah Raynor, the CEO and Founder of Logica Research, who also works closely with Women in Research on a variety of initiatives, serves on the Insights Association’s IDEA council, has a certified woman-owned business through WBENC, and works with a variety of non-profit organizations like Build Commonwealth, TechSoup and the Financial Health Network.
With such an esteemed panel of talent, we were able to answer questions like: What are the benefits to companies who make the effort to design more inclusive research; and What capabilities should companies be looking at developing to meet the deep need for more representative research?
United States 2020 Census Data Impact
We kicked off talking about the results of the recent U.S 2020 Census data, with, for example, more than a third of our population living in communities of color. Some of the other results of the census show a very real need for market researchers to take note of ways to reach historically underrepresented audiences that have rapidly grown in the past decade and previously. You can view the census data here: https://data.census.gov/cedsci/
Changing Market Research for Inclusivity
The panel went on to discuss how we’ve already seen some market research approaches change, like screening questions for study respondents. This is a challenging and complicated area, and the panel talks about current work being done to help advise our industry on how best to move forward to help elevate inclusivity in research structures. The discussion went beyond demographics to touch on other accessibility issues, like creating studies where respondents with differing abilities or low access to technology can participate successfully and so forth.
This conversation is sure to continue as the market research industry navigates how best to answer the call to greater inclusion in our studies. Want to learn more? Access our webinar and give it a watch and a listen!
