Posts Tagged ‘panel’
So what is in the blend?
When we say that a blend is a statement of intent on the part of a researcher we mean that in every possible way. Our conclusion is that we have the professional responsibility to know what the blends we receive are best used for.
Many panel companies mix sample sources together for good business purpose. At best they might pursue some element of consistency. Think of the last time you used a sample from an online provider, did you really enquire as to its sample design.
The samples we receive are the product of their constituent parts. To assume that these parts are the same from sample to sample and time to time is almost ludicrous. What we get is what we ask for. When we fail to ask the right questions, we get an unknown amalgam of whatever is best assembled by the sample provider.
Yes. They intend well. But they are not the sampling professional. We are the ones who will take data that comes from those respondents and make something out of it. What can you make when you have no understanding of its component parts?