A career in statistics in market and social research

Phil HughesCentre for Statistical and Survey Methodology, University of Wollongong

(formerly ACNielsen) - Australian Market and Social Research Society (AMSRS)

Statistics (honours), ANU, 1972Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), cadetship 1971/1972On graduation ABS Canberra, 1972 to 1990

ABS Sampling Section (30 statisticians): sampling and survey analysis support to areas running ABS surveysPublic Service scholarship to do PhD in Statistics at University of Southampton, UK, 1985

1990, moved from ABS, Canberra to AGB McNair (later ACNielsen), Sydney. Commercial market research company.

1990 – 2008 AGB McNair/ACNielsenMuch broader role – researcher conducting surveys for government and commercial clients, plus as specialist statistician

2004-2008, head statistician for ACNielsen Customised, Asia Pacific Responsible for survey and analysis standards across 17 Asia Pacific countries

Travelled to 10-12 countries each year to review surveys and train staff

2009, moved from Nielsen, to Centre for Statistical and Survey Methodology, University of Wollongong (based in Sydney)Consulting roleDeveloping new Graduate Certificate in Survey Research Methods, starting 2010

Working as a statistician in market and social research

Design and analysis of sample surveysMultivariate analysis of survey data

What do these surveys do?Answer questions Questions for which organisations need to know the answers – information has valueLet’s look at some of the questions asked

Questions:

Which party would people vote for?

Who is the preferred Prime Minister?

How important will Green preferences be?

What policy issues are important in people’s voting decision?

Where are Australia’s international visitors coming from?

How long did they stay?

Where did they go?

What did they spend?

OZTAM Television Audience

Measurement

How many people watched program X

What is the most popular program for males 18-24?

What channel attracts the highest audiences on weekends?

What does a statistician do in social and market research?

Sample designHow can I obtain a good sampleHow much sample is required?What sort of stratification is needed?How much sample should be allocated to each stratum?How should the sample be selected?What is the most cost-effective design?Can an online sample be used?

Sample analysisHow should the sample be weighted?

What is the level of confidence in the results?

How much non-response is acceptable?

How can the impact of non-response be reduced?

How should outliers be treated?

Are the differences in results between this year and last year due to a real change or just due to sampling variability?

Mathematical modeling of the dataHow can consumers be clustered into segments based on their similarity?What factors influence shoppers in their shopping choices?How do product quality, service quality and price affect customer satisfaction?

Skills sought by employersAbility to see the big picture – what lies behind the survey/the analysisCan do/down-to-earth practical skillsNot just application of the correct formulaAbility to think statisticallyAbility to communicate with other professionals with different views and perspectivesAbility to work as a consultant, setting clear objectives and maintaining focus

Problem solving

Formulae

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Uses your trainingRelevant – solving real-world problemsVaried range of subjects and problemsWorking with other professionals to design, conduct, analyse and report on surveys

THANK YOU