Costly fieldwork means researching LGBTQ+ people is prohibitively expensive for many, creating a barrier to market research that is truly inclusive, writes Michael Brown as he calls for a cross-sector push for change.
It is within the reach of everyone in the market research sector to hone our practices in order to give a voice to people at the very margins of society.
From adjusting sample quotas and data cuts in reports to ensure that people from all sections of the population are represented and ‘heard’ in supposedly nationally representative fieldwork, to adjusting survey and question formats to be accessible and representative to all people, there are many techniques whose combined effect is to enable genuinely inclusive market research.
One of the fundamental ways, however, in which our sector needs to evolve if we are to truly realise our potential to do good by giving a platform to minorities – is to radically reconsider the way in which fieldwork is priced.
