Fact
A statement that is objectively true and can be verified.

Factor
An underlying construct defined by a linear combination of variables.

Factor Analysis
A form of multivariate analysis that takes a large number of variables or objects and aims to identify a small number of factors that explain the interrelations among the variables or objects.

Factorial Design
A type of statistical experimental design where units are assigned to groups that represent all possible combinations of the independent variables of interest.

Factor Loading
The correlation (or regression weight) of a variable with a factor.

Factory Staff
Those who are mainly involved with conducting marketing research and have limited contact with research clients.

Field
The physical location where the interviewing takes place.

Field Director - see Field Supervisor

Field Experiment
An experiment conducted in a natural setting (where the external validity is usually higher than the internal validity).

Field Force
Interviewers and supervisors who are involved in data collection.

Field Service - see Data Collection Company

Field Supervisor (aka Field Director)
The person who is responsible for selecting, hiring and training interviewers. He or she is also responsible for the data collection phase of the survey and following the agreed instructions.

Fieldwork
A general term that refers to any data gathering process.

Filter Question
A question in a questionnaire to ensure that respondents meet the required criteria for a subsequent question (or questions) in a survey.

Findings
Information that answers a research question.

Fixed Field Code
A code in which the number of records for each respondent is the same and the same data appear in all the same columns for all respondents.

Fixed Sample
The repeated observation of the same sample of respondents over a period of time.

Focus Group (aka Focus Group Interview or Group Discussion)
A type of qualitative research that consists of an informal discussion of a particular topic with a small number of selected participants (usually 8-12). The discussion is guided by a skilled moderator who does not influence the outcome, but ensures that all the subject areas are discussed by the group and the views of the participants are as clear as possible. The ideal number of participants depends on the subject matter being discussed, eg complex subjects may be better discussed with fewer participants - possibly 4-6.

Folder Test
A qualitative press advertising test where the advertising is placed in a folder with competitive advertising (and editorial extracts) and respondents are asked to page through it.

Forced Exposure
Forced Exposure is when research participants are exposed to some advertising in a contrived way (such as in a hall test or a focus group) as opposed to an on-air test where participants are see the advertising in a natural setting (such as in their own homes).

Forced Rating Scale
A scale that does not allow a neutral or no opinion choice.

Frequency (aka Average Opportunities to See)
The average number of times an advert has been exposed to a specified television audience or universe.

Frequency Distribution
A representation of the number of counts of objects or responses, usually in the form of a table or graph.

Friendliness Effect - see Acquiescence Bias

Friendship Pair Interview (aka Paired Depth or Triad)
A type of depth interview where there are two respondents (instead of the usual one). Friendship pair interviewing is often used for research with children and young people (where they know each other) in order to avoid respondents being intimidated and biasing their responses accordingly.

Front-of-Mind Awareness (aka Top-of-Mind Awareness)
A measure of how readily a brand name or concept comes to respondent' minds. It is the first answer to questions such as unaided brand awareness.

Frugging
Fund raising under the guise of research and it is one of the reasons why potential participants in market research projects are reluctant to take part.

F Test
A statistical test of the equality of the variances of two populations.

Full Service Agency/Supplier
A company that is hired to design, manage and implement a research project, as well as analyse and interpret the data. The company may collect the data themselves or hire a data collection company for this phase of a project.

Funnel Approach
A way of ordering questions in a questionnaire so that general questions are asked before specific questions. This ordering avoids the responses to specific questions biasing the answers to general questions.