It is a process of selection from a population or a sample of the population through which each item stands an equal chance of being chosen.

This is the selection process of choosing from all the empanelled people the respondents who would finally participate in a certain marketing research study.

The empanelled people suggest their other contacts who may be potential panellists. This is called giving a referral.

A respondent is the individual who willingly provides the data in the form of opinions or feedback required to be collected during the process of a study. The respondent is also called a unit, experiment unit, unit of analysis, participant or subject.

Response rate is the ratio between the number of people who actually participate and complete a study successfully to those originally selected at random for a study. This figure is usually represented in percentage form. It is an indication of whether the data collected actually signifies the overall views of the entire population. This also points out the methods which can be used in order to improve the quality of the data.

Rewards are the incentives given out as gratitude by the companies to the respondents of a study. These can be in the form of cash, gifts, vouchers, coupons, free products, memberships to clubs, entries into sweepstakes, access to contests, additional chances to play – and – win online games, and many others. The rewards depend upon the market research solutions provider, conducted study and the company sponsoring the study. Software is also available for managing the research rewards which enable companies to completely automate the process.

Random selection is a process of selection which gives an equal opportunity for each item of the population to be chosen in the sample.

Random Sampling is a sample chosen that gives equal opportunity to all subjects or units of the population to be selected. It is also called probability sampling. All subjects have equal probability of selection.

Randomization is the process of choosing subjects at random to be part of all groups within an experiment. This is done so as to include all characteristics present in subjects in each group. This ensures the uniformity of the sample.

Ratio Scale is the response scale for a survey or questionnaire that categorizes responses ranking them from smallest to largest and has a consistent range between each of the category choices. This scale is for variables that have a definitive zero as in age, weight, and height. An example of a ratio scale would be, “What height group do you belong to,” with options “[<5’] [5’-5’6”] [5’7”-6’] [6’<] and so on. These are given as options for the respondents to choose from.

Recommendations are the action strategies suggested at the end of a research report. These are usually included in the conclusion at the end of a report to a client suggesting actions that need to be reinforced from the research that was conducted.

Recontact is the process of contacting a survey respondent again after an initial contact for an interview. In recontact additional questions are asked to reinforce the earlier responses.

Refusal Rate is the number of respondents who refuse to cooperate in the research study by either not participating at all or by leaving the study mid-way. This may also include the number of respondents who deliberately give answers that may corrupt the research results.

Refusals are the respondents that refuse to participate in the research study.

The specialized marketing strategies focusing on developing long-term and even lifetime relationships with the customers rather than based on individual transactions of the customers are called relationship marketing strategies. They are used in order to increase long-term profits for the company. Relationship marketing aims to capture the customer share rather than the number of customers within the market share.

Repeat-Pairs Technique is a technique used when respondents are asked to identify and pick out the product they prefer out of the two offered products. After this they are again asked to compare two products that are exactly the same as the first two studied. This gives an idea of the consumer perceptions while comparatively analysing two products.

Repeat Rate is a proportion highlighting the opportunity and occurrence of first time users purchasing a product for the second time.

Re-Screening is a step in the market research process to confirm that participants chosen in a sample truly qualify for the research. Re-screening is done typically when participants arrive at a research location and are examined before the research process actually begins. The questions asked are often the same questions that were originally asked as a part of the initial recruiting process. This is done to be doubly sure of the quality of respondents chosen.

Research Design is an overall plan of action to be followed during an experiment to be sure that the objectives are met. It contains the outlines of the specific procedures and methodologies to solve the problems at hand.

Research Methods are how the research is to be conducted. The research methods are found in the research report. This allows for research replication in case someone needs to do it again at a later time.

Research Proposal describes the design, schedule and budget for conducting a research project. This is generally presented to the client for approval before starting the project.

Response Bias is an error in the given answers to an interviewer’s questions due to misinterpretation by the participant. This may also be introduced if the participant responds in a way so as to please the interviewer rather than giving his true feelings. Response bias can occur both deliberately and unintentionally. It brings in considerable corruption in the research results.