Research: using it properly His [Dave] Trott-ness tells the tale of the Indian Mongoose brought in to control the rats in Hawaii. He says it was the right answer to the wrong question: Properly used, research is about finding out things we never expected, things we didn’t know. Which is why Jon Steel says the …

The benefits of foresight? Do predictions become self-fulfilling prophecies? Does this make predictions dangerous? Should we stop making predictions? Will I ever stop asking so many questions? (I hope not.) Stuart Ritchie has been unpacking Margaret Heffernan’s book on our addiction to prediction. Our fervent desire to know and chart the future – and our …

Advertise or not to advertise There’s much debate about whether budgets should be cut. Do we market (research) our way out of this crisis or is everyone right to stop? Mark Ritson argues that the best marketers will be upping, not cutting, their budgets. Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to …

This is not a debate Marco Del Valle spent 30 days interviewing some of the best debaters to see how we could improve strategy. Many debaters use the HEEL structure for their arguments, which can also be applied to our own industry: Handle – Your idea in brief Explanation – The insights that support it Examples …

Firstly, before we get started, a short notice: if you work with independent qual researchers then please read this – we know things aren’t easy at present, so we’re trying to help where we can. On a personal note, I hope you and your families are staying well. We drink tea and carry on. In bricks …