DP Tasks
Conventional approach
Market Researchers have special needs when it comes to data processing. This is the typical sequence:
The problem with these tasks is that there are quite a few software packages around that do some of them right, but there are very few that do all of these tasks right. Unfortunately this often results in a messy workflow:
A bad situation, because:
  • Most intermediate steps can not be automated
  • As a result recurring exports typically require multiple hours of work every time they are run
  • Maintenance is painful. This causes unhappy faces, especially when analysts need to work on their colleagues' projects...
The benefits are
obvious
● Workflow can be largely
automated. Instead of spending 2-3
hours per week on a 10 week project we prefer to spend 10 hours on the setup and 5 minutes per remaining week. This is not only more efficient, but it also greatly reduces the risk of human error.
● We can extend the software if
we need to. This means that we can
basically handle any input or output
format, provided it has some form of documentation.
● Much easier maintenance, even
when the project is someone else's.
● More flexibility, more efficiency,
and higher quality data
- Happier customers!
The MROffice Approach
To tackle these problems we have built our own in-house DP scripting tools that are finetuned to our needs. This approach results in a much more structured workflow, something like this:
It gives us a good uniform approach that consists of the following steps:
  1. Import from a variety of data formats (SQL, CSV, SPSS, NIPO,Surveycraft, Quantum, etc)
  2. Map the data
  3. Edit the data (weight, merge, create new variables, etc)
  4. Check the data for consistency
  5. Run reports
  6. Export the data to any required format