A ‘nice little earner’ from research job

Poor Iain Murray has come under a particularly vitriolic attack from members of the research fraternity for his funniest piece of the year, on qualitative market research, “New Labour seeks divan intervention” (MW January 5).

The research people say he does not know what he is talking about, and call him “silly, snide and insulting”. But when I was invited to join a qualitative survey on low-alcoholic drinks, and told the organiser I did not think I fitted the requirements because I worked in advertising and publishing, she told me it didn’t matter as she would put me down as a “hospital worker”.

I found when I got to the meeting that I was also supposed to drink in pubs regularly, and be in the C2 socio-economic group, which I don’t and am not (I wish I had the money).

Most of the other chaps in the group knew each other, although when the researcher walked in they pretended not to. Everyone there regarded it as a nice little earner.

I recounted this to the director of our advertising agency at the time and he told me that it was all down to “poor organisation”.

But later that year, I was invited to another quantitative survey in a different place, on behalf of a pharmaceutical company. The same thing happened. There was a different set of people there, who mostly knew each other, and we pretended to be not who we were to fit in with requirements.

I am sure the researcher knew what was going on, because she wore a tongue-in-cheek expression whenever one of us slipped from the masquerade.

At no time were we asked by the researcher to verify that we fitted in with requirements. Could any of Iain Murray’s snipers claim their researchers question all those in their groups to verify their status?

Or do they delegate it to the group organiser to stage manage as both ours did?

Peter Hobday

Managing director

Subscriptions Strategy

Helston

Cornwall