Grey Matter Research - Public Studies

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Grey Matter has released much of our non-proprietary research work for public use. We are pleased to provide these articles, white papers, and news releases to you; may the insights be meaningful in your work.

We will continue to release new information, so check back occasionally for updates (or if you would like to receive it directly as it is released, simply e-mail ron @ greymatterresearch.com—and remove the spaces around the “@” sign).

White Papers and Reports

· How Sliders Bias Survey Data

· Americans’ Perceptions on the Financial Efficiency of Non-profit Organizations—2012

· More Dirty Little Secrets of Online Panel Research

· Heart of the Donor

· Millennials: The Apathy Generation

· Dirty Little Secrets of Online Panels

· Americans’ Perceptions on the Financial Efficiency of Non-profit Organizations—2008

· What Difference Does Christianity Make?

· America’s Definition: What Is an Evangelical?

· When Online Survey Respondents Cheat on Fact-based Questions

· Exploring Loyalty to Grocery Store Brands

· Exploring Loyalty to Drug Store Brands

· Exploring Loyalty to Fast Food Brands

· Exploring Loyalty to Home Improvement Store Brands

· Exploring Loyalty to Christian Book Store Brands

· Defining “Evangelical” in Polling and Research

Exclusive Research Studies

2013 – American Public

· What non-profit organizations do Americans think of first?

2012 – American Public

· Should Protestant churches reference their denomination in the church name?

· What are seen by young evangelicals as the most effective ways to reduce abortions?

· What would evangelical Millennials do in the case of an unexpected pregnancy?

· How does Bible readership impact the likelihood of sex before marriage?

· Does behavior match beliefs with young evangelicals and sex?

· How sexually active are young evangelical adults?

· What do Americans really think about abortion?

· How do Americans react to the intersection of professional sports and religion?

· How religiously diverse do people think America is?

· Are Americans official members of the place of worship they attend?

· What do Americans think about overhead expenses of charitable organizations?

· How many people use church websites, and for what purposes?

· How are Americans using the Internet for religious purposes?

· What do non-donors think about non-profit organizations and the act of giving?

· What impact does the Christian faith have on American society?

· How widely recognized is Tim Tebow as a religious athlete?

· How would eliminating the charitable deduction impact giving?

2011 – American Public

· What types of donors support various causes?

· How did parents influence the charitable behavior of today’s adults?

· Are places of worship competing with non-profits for the donor dollar?

2009 – American Public

· How loyal are churchgoers to their denomination?

2008 – American Public

· What do Americans think an “evangelical Christian” is?

· What does it really mean to be “unchurched”?

· How racially, religiously, and politically diverse are the relationships of Americans?

· When people change where they worship, what else changes?

· Where do Americans think kids get the best education?

· How do Americans define sin?

· What should be legal when it comes to religion, morality, and the public arena?

2007 – American Public

· What is legal when it comes to religion, morality, and the public arena?

· How did childhood religious attendance impact today’s adults?

2007 – Protestant Clergy and Laity

· What are churches doing in evangelism and community outreach?

· How loyal is the congregation?

2006 – Protestant Clergy and Laity

· How familiar are pastors and laity with popular culture?

· How involved are churches in politics?

· What priorities are churches involved in?

· How do clergy and laity use Christian media?

· What are the financial priorities of pastors and churchgoers?

· What do pastors say about giving and tithing (and how does that compare to what their congregations say)?

· What do churches put on their websites?

2005 – Protestant Clergy

· What kind of classes and education do churches offer people?

· Why do ministers change jobs?

· How healthy are ministers' families?

· How satisfied are ministers with their personal prayer life?

· How much are ministers furthering their education?

· How is technology used in Protestant churches?

2004 – Protestant Clergy

· What are the greatest threats to the family?

· How much would pastors cooperate with non-Christian faith groups?

· How much do ministers know about other faiths?

· What do pastors think about church/state separation?

· What do ministers think of various versions of the Bible?

· What worship elements are used in church worship today?

· How denominational are Protestant ministers?

2002 – Protestant Clergy

· Just how healthy is the typical pastor?

· How do pastors view the issue of homosexuality?

· What do ministers see as the future of Christianity in America?

· How well do pastors' perspectives match up with their denominations?

· What kind of a report card would pastors give their own church?

· Do ministers support or oppose the Faith-Based & Community Initiatives program?

· What is President Bush's job performance rating among ministers?

2001 – Protestant Clergy

· Ministers have doubts about faith-based public assistance

· Pastors call China the country where persecution of Christians is most severe

· Are ministers pro-life or pro-choice?

· Should "marriage" be "only between one man and one woman"?

· What kind of presidential candidate would pastors vote for (race, gender, religion, etc.)?

· Even politically liberal ministers support student-led prayer in schools

· Do pastors support legalizing marijuana for medical use?

· Pastors speak out on the death penalty and physician-assisted suicide

· Pastors name their personal favorite version of the Bible

· Did pastors support Al Gore or George W. Bush for President?

Articles and Blogs

· Getting into Their Shoes Before Getting into Their Minds Before fielding a questionnaire, there’s one critical respondent who must take the survey: you (Greenbook Blog, September 21, 2012)

· The Black Hole of Research: Dull but Critical Are you paying enough attention to the boring part of research—the one that can destroy your project? (Greenbook Blog, August 7, 2012)

· Specific Time Frames in Questionnaire Design One nuance missed by many is the appropriate use of time frames when asking people about their activities (Greenbook Blog, May 21, 2012)

· Biasing Your Research by the Act of Doing Research

If you’re not careful, longitudinal studies can bias your research simply because you’re doing the research (Greenbook Blog, April 23, 2012)

· Biased Research, No Matter What the Methodology

What methodology you choose for your research can impact the resulting data—no matter how good the survey (Greenbook Blog, March 19, 2012)

· Counteracting the Dirty Little Secrets of Online Panels

How can you make sure research you do through online panels is valid and trustworthy? (Greenbook Blog, February 14, 2012)

· More Dirty Little Secrets of Online Panel Research

Panel research is very common in the industry—but not all panels are created equal (Greenbook Blog, January 30, 2012)

· Predicting the Unpredictable: A Call for Reason

Predictions about massive changes in the market research industry in 2012 are all the rage—but are they reasonable? (Greenbook Blog, January 9, 2012)

· Brand Happens (With or Without You)

Whether you’re a client-side researcher or a vendor, your brand is being communicated to clients constantly (Greenbook Blog, December 18, 2011)

· Information Assassination—How They’ll Simply Get the Research Wrong

How to help make sure critical research information is transmitted accurately (Greenbook Blog, November 18, 2011)

· You Can’t Get This Right—What Else Will You Screw Up?

The devil really is in the details (Greenbook Blog, October 26, 2011)

· Brand Happens (With or Without You)

Whether you’re a client-side researcher or a vendor, your brand is being communicated to clients constantly (Greenbook Blog, December 18, 2011)

· Information Assassination—How They’ll Simply Get the Research Wrong

How to help make sure critical research information is transmitted accurately (Greenbook Blog, November 18, 2011)

· You Can’t Get This Right—What Else Will You Screw Up?

The devil really is in the details (Greenbook Blog, October 26, 2011)

· Generalizing: The Bane of Insights

Data complexity can take up so much mental bandwidth that it leads to lack of accuracy and clarity in reporting (Greenbook Blog, September 22, 2011)

· World’s Worst Questionnaire Design

Is it really possible that some company is going to base strategic decisions on this disaster? (Greenbook Blog, August 9, 2011)

· Moderator or Road Warrior?

How you schedule focus group travel can make a significant difference in your project (and your moderator) (Greenbook Blog, July 20, 2011)

· Generally Specific

Why do some research studies ask broad questions with no detail and then try to project the findings to real-life decisions consumers have to make? (Greenbook Blog, June 15, 2011)

· How Do You Assure Online Panel Quality?

There are some truly bad panels out there—how do you tell the good from the bad? (Greenbook Blog, May 31, 2011)

· Why Are We Hiring Cheerleaders When We Need Quarterbacks?

There’s a lot of talk about making surveys more engaging for respondents—how about simply respecting their time? (Greenbook Blog, May 5, 2011)

· Are You Labeling or Defining?

When you see research about “the affluent” or “donors” or “Catholics” or any other group, do you know how that group is defined? (Greenbook Blog, March 28, 2011)

· Where Does the Buck Stop Again?

Who is responsible for timing the length of a questionnaire? (Greenbook Blog, March 3, 2011)

· Can We Stop Arguing over What’s the “Best” Methodology?

Why do researchers need to insist that their pet methodology is the only one that should be used? (Greenbook Blog, February 21, 2011)

· It’s the Little Things That Mean a Lot

Something as simple as sending (or not sending) holiday cards says a lot more about your brand than you might think (Greenbook Blog, December 23, 2010)

· We Want to Give You Personal Service, (INSERT NAME)

How the “personalized” marketing messages you send out can come back to bite you (Greenbook Blog, October 15, 2010)

· Garbage In, Garbage Out

Irresponsible and sloppy reporting in USA Today harms the research industry (Greenbook Blog, September 7, 2010)

· Scaling the Ladder of Success

How context plays a major role in customer satisfaction scales (Greenbook Blog, August 10, 2010)

· More Show & Less Tell, Please

Let’s stop pretending there’s one “right” methodology for all research needs (Greenbook Blog, August 1, 2010)

· Hearing the Voice of the Customer (A CEO Love Story)

How one leader used research the right way for his non-profit organization (Greenbook Blog, July 21, 2010)

· When It Comes to Quality, We Are the French

We complain about bad research, but bad vendors continue to thrive (Greenbook Blog, July 12, 2010)

· What Do Consumers Think? Don’t Even Bother Asking

Most consumers have no idea what effect advertising has on them, so why do we insist on asking respondents to tell us things like that? (Brandweek, May 3, 2010)

· Choosing a Focus Group Facility: How to Avoid Unpleasant Surprises

All focus group facilities are not created equal – here’s what to look for in selecting a facility that will fit your project. (Alert! June 2007)

· What Business Can Learn from Political Polling

We’re about to be inundated by political polls for the 2008 election. Here’s what business research can learn from political polling. (Quirk's Marketing Research Review, April 2007)

· The Use of Technology in Church Ministry

Technology is a major issue for every church, because it is a major issue in society. (Clergy Journal, January 2007)

· Selecting Markets for Focus Groups

There’s a lot to think about when selecting which markets you’ll use for focus groups – don’t just default to “Los Angeles, Chicago, New York.” (Alert! July 2006)

· Stop Worrying about What Is Better
Researchers need to stop worrying about whether one methodology is inherently better than another, and start worrying about which methodology is right for each individual project. (Quirk's Marketing Research Review, May 2005)

· Respondent Abuse - A Plague to the Profession
Research projects that are unreasonable for participants (lengthy or complex questionnaires, confusing instructions, etc.) will lead to unreliable results. (Alert! May 2004)

· Sifting Out the Oddballs: The Key to a Successful Qualitative Study
It is crucial to recruit only the core target for qualitative research. How to avoid some common mistakes in designing qualitative project specs. (Alert! May 2004)

· Focus Group Facility Perks

Some focus group facilities go over and above to make the life of a client or a moderator better—see how they do it. (Quirks Marketing Research Review, March 2004)

· Virgins or Veterans?

How comfortable are you relying on facility databases for your qualitative recruiting? How comfortable should you be? (Quirks Marketing Research Review, November 2002)

· Designing Questionnaires: See through Their Eyes
You can't tell if your questionnaire is clearly written until you answer it yourself. (Quirk's Marketing Research Review, October 2002)

· Asking Reasonable Questions

An immutable law of market research is that just because you need certain information does not mean respondents will be willing or able to provide it to you. (Alert! March 2002)

· Selecting a Sample Size
How do you select the right sample size for a study? (The NonProfit Times, September 15, 2001)

· Ministers and Christian Media
How often do Protestant church pastors watch religious television, surf the Internet, or listen to religious radio? (NRB Magazine, February/March 2001)

· How to Tell When a Survey Sample Is Not Valid
When you put a survey on your website, or a local newscast asks viewers to call in for their poll, is that valid research? Don't bet on it. (The NonProfit Times, January 15, 2001)

· Mail vs. Telephone Surveys
Which survey methodology is better: mail or telephone? It depends… (The NonProfit Times, March 15, 2000)

· You Can Ask -- But Will They Answer?
Just because you can ask a question doesn't mean people can answer it accurately. Learn what's reasonable to ask in a research study. (The NonProfit Times, January 15, 2000)

· Do It Right or Not at All
Every organization has those "quickie" research projects for which significant resources aren't available. Here are some keys to making them more accurate and useful. (The NonProfit Times, May 1999)

· Vendor Response: An Experiment
Fifty focus group facilities were contacted with a simple request for information. Find out what happened -- it might surprise you. (Quirk's Marketing Research Review, December 1998)

· Research Success, Not Just Failure
Why do we so often use marketing research just to correct problems? Why not use it to help determine what went right, to replicate that success elsewhere? (The NonProfit Times, November 1998)

· R.S.V.P. to Potential Donors
How easy is it for a potential donor to learn about your organization once they contact you? You might be surprised… (NRB Magazine, July - August 1998)

· Outsource It or Keep It In-house?
Is it better to depend on research vendors or bring the work in-house? Read what some experts had to say. (Quirk's Marketing Research Review, May 1998)

· Keys to Usable Research
Ever have a disappointing experience with marketing research? This may be why… (The NonProfit Times, May 1998)

· Qualitative versus Quantitative—Choosing the Right Approach
Before you think "focus groups" or "telephone survey," know how qualitative and quantitative research can be used. (The NonProfit Times, March 15, 1998)

· Nine Global Trends in the Future of Religion
This sweeping forecast evaluates where religion stands in the world today...and where it's going. (The Futurist, January 1998)

· Interpreting Research Data Depends on Context

So 60% of your customers are satisfied—what does that mean? Is that good or bad? It depends on the context. (Quirk’s Marketing Research Review, January 1998)

· How Are Your Statistical Ethics?
When you're using, quoting, or commissioning research, do you know how to make sure you're doing it ethically? (Christian Management Report, November 1997)

· How to Tell Good Research from Bad
We all see research data quoted frequently in articles, speeches, etc. Before you rely on that data, how do you tell whether it's accurate? (The NonProfit Times, November 1997)

· Research for Broadcast Ministries
Marketing research can help radio and television broadcast ministries -- here's how. (NRB Magazine, July - August 1997)

· Focus Group Facilities and Non-profit Organizations
How non-profit organizations can work efficiently and cost-effectively with focus group facilities and moderators. (The NonProfit Times, May 1997)

· Making a Good First Impression with a Potential Client
What clients should expect from marketing research companies (and what you can expect from Grey Matter Research). (Quirk's Marketing Research Review, November 1995)

· Image Research and Non-profits: A Case Study
A case study of what a local non-profit organization learned from a study of their image. (The NonProfit Times, February 1993)