Editorial
Front Page - Friday, October 9, 2009
Southern Adventist University establishes Market Research Institute
Samara Litvack
A new market research institute will open on the campus of Southern Adventist University in October. The non-profit organization will work in conjunction with the school of business and management to administer market research and demographic analysis for businesses in and around Collegedale, Tenn.
Lisa Goolsby, assistant professor of business and faculty administrator for the institute, says it will provide not only professional level work to businesses but also reduced costs due to the fact that the institute will employ qualified students, who will gain real world experience through their participation.
“In market research, there’s so much theory and other material students need to know,” Goolsby says. “They have to understand the different kinds of research, how to structure their questions and how to make the research statistically significant.
“I believe students learn better by doing, but our semesters are only 16 weeks long, so it’s been hard to combine theory with application because they need to have so much textbook knowledge before they can start doing research.”
To fill the gap between the classroom and what takes place beyond the academic environment, Goolsby came up with the concept of the institute. She wanted it to function like a lab environment, with students and market research professionals working hand-in-hand.
“Students will still learn the hard and fast things they need to know, but they’ll also get a look how market research works, how clients use it and how it helps companies,” says Goolsby. “It’ll take them through the whole process from beginning to end.”
Goolsby took the idea one step further by suggesting students be hired to work at the institute. She also wanted some of the money the institute earned to be funneled into scholarships for students attending the university.
The resulting program will provide several unique benefits for clients, Goolsby says. For starters, they’ll be on the receiving end of quality services, as market research professionals will be overseeing the projects and distributing work among the students.
“We’re not going to have students doing all of the work,” says Goolsby. “We’re going to contract people like myself who will be giving students specific tasks and then checking the work to make sure we’re providing a superior product.”
Plus, clients will save money by using the institute. “We’re going to cost less than a for profit organization because our overhead will be minimal,” Goolsby says.
Goolsby also believes companies will feel good about hiring the institute to conduct research. “There will be the joy of getting a good product while helping students,” she says. “A company will be able to say it assisted with the learning process, provided scholarships and created jobs for young scholars. Any way you look at it, we’re a good choice.”
Services the institute will offer local businesses include qualitative analysis through focus groups, one-on-one interviews and telephonic surveys. Long-term plans include the ability to support additional marketing services on a national level.
While the institute will employ traditional research techniques, such as having clients observe a focus groups from behind a one-way mirror, the advanced communications technology with which technicians are wiring its facility on Fleming Plaza in Collegedale will enable it to conduct focus groups for a broader range of clients.
“A client will be able to be in his office, or at home, and see his focus groups streaming live across the Internet,” says Goolsby. “And if he wants to stop the process or explore an idea further, he’ll be able to send me a message.”
Although the institute will likely conduct a few internal projects to work any bugs out of the system before beginning to serve clients, there’s already some local interest in the services the organization will be providing. “Some of the people with whom I’ve talked have said they do market research and are excited about being able to give us some things to do,” Goolsby says.
To those companies that might be leery of hiring the institute because they want to stick with tried-and-true researchers, Goolsby suggests giving the institute at Southern Adventist a small project, just to see the results. “I think you’ll be happy with the outcome,” she says.
Southern Adventist is a liberal arts university located in Collegedale. It’s affiliated with the Adventist Church. The university operates a radio station, WSMC-FM, which plays classical music as well as news from the BBC, National Public Radio and Public Radio International. The station also provides live broadcasts of services from the Collegedale Adventist Church. The school also operates a health food store and a wellness center.
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