Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to argue that the supplier and the buyer of research should and can communicate with each other. This argument is developed with fieldwork, sampling and questionnaire particularly in mind. As background to this argument, the nature of communications is briefly discussed, and reference is made to the general influences that condition the ease and effectiveness of communications. Most problems encountered in market research are common to other fields of activity. Reference is made to the subjects on which it is appropriate for communications to occur. The summary of these subjects covers not only areas requiring contacts, but also makes suggestions of certain areas not so commonly considered. It is thus proposed that communications should be wider as well as deeper. It is recommended that the number and kind of participants involved in communications should be extended. The paper deals subsequently with obstacles of communications, since only by frankly recognising these and genuinely wishing to overcome them can real progress be achieved. In conclusion the paper, highlights the very real advantages to be gained from good communications, and makes positive recommendations on the ways in which communications can be improved.