Market Research Glossary - E

Econometrics
The analysis of economic systems containing supply and demand data using statistical models.

Editing (aka Data Cleaning)
Editing involves examining each completed questionnaire to ensure that the proper sequence of questions has been asked, the answers are clear and consistent and they have been correctly marked.

Edit Instructions - see Data Reduction Plan

Effect Variable - see Dependent Variable

Eligibility Criteria
Specified characteristics that potential participants must possess in order to be involved in a particular research project.

Eligible Respondent
A person who meets certain criteria set for a particular study and thus qualifies to be included in the study. Respondents may be qualified on characteristics such as age, income, brand used etc.

Empty Nesters
Those people whose children have left or are about to leave the family home.

Enabling Techniques - see Projective Techniques

End Piling
A phenomenon where many survey responses fall into just a few categories at the end of a measurement scale.

EPOS Data
Electronic Point Of Sale Data
Electronic Point Of Sale Data measures sales of products as they are being paid for by consumers.

Error - see Total Error

ESOMAR
ESOMAR is the world association of research professionals. Founded in 1948 as the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research  - ESOMAR unites 5,000 members in 100 countries, both users and providers of opinion and marketing research. ESOMAR's mission is to promote the use of opinion and market research for improving decision-making in business and society world-wide.
Our address is:
Vondelstraat 172
1054 GV  Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 20 664 2141

Evoked Set - see Consideration Set

Executive Interviews (aka Business-to-Business Interviews)
Interviews with business people or experts within a particular field. Executive interviews are often used where the majority of knowledge of a subject is held by a minority of people.

Executive Summary
A document that summarises all the sections of a market research report.

Exhibits/Exhibit Cards - see Show Cards

Expected Value
Expected Value in a cross-tabulation is the number of objects one would expect to find after multiplying the probabilities of the row and the column in the table (which may be different to the observed value).

Experience Survey
A survey involving participants who have knowledge of a particular situation.

Experiment
The process of manipulating one or more independent variables and measuring their effect on one or more dependent variables, while controlling for external variables.

Experimental Design
A set of experimental procedures specifying: the test units, sampling procedures, independent variables, dependent variables and how external variables are to be controlled.

Experimental Error
The error caused by the conditions of the experiment itself and it creates uncertainty that the observed effects may not be due to the manipulation of the independent variable.

Experimental Treatments
The different conditions created by manipulating the independent variable.

Experimental Units
The objects or people who are part of the experiment.

Expert Opinion Survey (aka Key Informant Technique or Specialist Research)
A form of exploratory research that involves discussing a research problem with someone (or a group of people) with experience on a particular subject.

Exploratory Research
The initial investigation of a problem that uses unstructured techniques (such as group discussions or in-depth interviews) in order to develop hypotheses and/or understand a problem further.

Exponential Smoothing
A statistical technique that calculates a moving average where the most recent data are given a different weight to earlier data.

Extended Group Discussion
A group discussion that has been designed to last around 3-4 hours (compared with the usual time of around an hour and a half).

Extended Use Test - see Home Use Test

External Secondary Data
Existing data that have already been collected by other organisations.

External Validity
The extent to which experimental results can be projected to a population of interest.

External Variables (aka Extraneous Variables or Confounding Variables)
Factors that are not manipulated as part of an experiment, but they may exert some influence on the dependent variable under study.

Extraneous Variables - see External Variables (above)

Eye Tracking Research
Eye Tracking Research involves the use of various mechanical devices to record participants’ eye movements when they are looking at some form of stimulus (such as a press advert in a newspaper).