Edelman/Technorati Blog Study :: Results Are Out
They obtained 821 responses. A good pool. However, I don’t find much about the methodology and can only conjecture as to how they’ve done it based upon some other posts around the web.
From the email announcing the results:
Click this link to see the complete findings. You can see the responses to the open-ended questions by clicking the link (here or) just under the title of the study.
None of the results are very surprising to me. If nothing else, the effect of this survey is to reinforce existing perceptions about blogs and their use in business.
That is one of the great things about traditional research methods. Test. Re-test. Test again. The more of this we have – provided the methodology is sound – the better we will be able to formalize rational and effective practices. Congrats and thanks to out to Edelman/Technorati for the effort.
Old issues…
Suffice to say that I had a previous post in drafts responding to some of those that criticized the survey. After some thought, I’ve come to conclusion that responding to them will be fruitless and futile. First, they rarely respond. Second, their criticism was mis-guided and seemed to lack appreciation for traditional survey research methods. Thirdly, they failed to recognize that established large firms are naturally going to first embark on such survey efforts with “tried and true” survey research methods. There is nothing wrong with that.
Simply put – the best PR begins and ends with sound research. Some people may have forgotten that. This survey, so far, seems to be sound. I’d like to see the methodology published, though. Number of expunged responses, etc… Hey, I’m selfish. I want to show it all to students.
So, I’ll just state that the preceding link’s post – and others – missed the point that survey research is needed in the area. If those that undertake efforts use standard practices, I see nothing wrong with it. In fact, I applaud their interest in the topic and their efforts in trying to further the body of knowledge.
Those that don’t appreciate such efforts are – sadly – sometimes the ones that don’t try to better the discipline, anyway. I can give specific examples.
Robert, I have the highest respect for the “tradtitional survey research methods” – and I want to see them used in an appropriate manner. What I mean by that is that the survey’s results must include a discussion about its limitations, and on how they are affecting the results.
For example: I’d like to see Edelman acknowledging that their research is based on a nonprobabilistic sample and that the rate of response is very small. How should the results be interpreted, as a result of these limitations?
Am I asking too much?
Constantin, you are not asking for too much, at all.
And, for the record, I wasn’t referring to you.
I, too, would like to see the survey’s methodology published. That is the failing of many surveys. They don’t provide the background to determine validity.
I disagree about the survey’s response rate being small – or nonprobablistic – if I get your drift. 821 out of the list they emailed? I don’t know the list’s size. Do you? If it was the top 1, 2 or even 10 thousand … that’s not too bad. That would be an 82%, 41% or 8% response rate. I don’t think that is small at all. It is actually higher than many academic efforts I’ve seen.
And, if those are the ones they emailed, then it is probable that those are the bloggers likely to be pitched.
Now, if we are talking non-problematic in their approach … Yes, I would agree that the issue is more CRM than media relations in dealing with – pitching to – bloggers. But, this survey is a start.
What I see as positive about the Edelman/Technorati survey versus – say – the Blog Relations Survey is the respondent pool. 821 respondents versus 50? Not a really hard decision to see that one is likely going to have a more valid outcome. Respondent pool alone does not determine validity, but it is a strong determining factor.
I note that Edelman/Technorati have now added more information about the respondent pool. The Blog Survey did not. Edelman/Technorati offer Free-form Answers, Geographic Data, and Language Data. The Blog Survey did not – initially. At least one PR blogger linked to The Blog Survey with out questioning it. In contrast, they criticized the Edelman/Technorati survey. That, to me, says they don’t get it. And, they don’t understand survey research.
Edelman/Technorati is still shy of the total disclosure / transparency level for reporting their methodology. They have, however, been more open about it. Edelman is a large corporation. That they chose to begin with a standard survey does not surprise me. I expect more research down the road. I do not fault them for starting out with the type of research they know and are comfortable with … in fact, I believe they have been transparent in stating that this is a learning experience for them. So, I give them (a) the benefit of the doubt and (b) the kudos for making the effort. If nothing else, they are giving the issue of blogs in business and PR more validity.
My next post will go into what I believe are some limitations of the survey, for what it’s worth. It will also include some re-cuts of the data. In particular, I’m interested in exploring how behavior changes between the entire sample set and those who claim to blog in order to increase their visibility.
Thank you, Phil. I look forward to that post.
I just posted some requests for further information.
I hope you will conisder placing the methodology on the post results page.
[...] Robert French: Edelman/Technorati Blog Study :: Results Are Out, Oct. 5 [...]
[...] However, all isn’t bad in the Edelman/Technorati survey. As Robert French points out in his post “Edelman/Technorati Blog Study :: Results Are Out” “None of the results are very surprising to me. If nothing else, the effect of this survey is to reinforce existing perceptions about blogs and their use in business. That is one of the great things about traditional research methods. Test. Re-test. Test again. The more of this we have – provided the methodology is sound – the better we will be able to formalize rational and effective practices.” [...]
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