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Imagine spending months on your retail survey only to have skewed results due to factors you didn’t consider. Controlling the variables helps ensure the validity and reliability of your research. However, even well-structured, and precise research can also suffer from extraneous variables.
In this blog, we’ll highlight this variable’s impact and ways to control its potential influence. Understanding its aspects can help researchers generate accurate and reliable insights.
An extraneous variable is a type of variable in research that you are not investigating and purposefully controlling but can influence the result. This is a factor that you don’t consider under independent variables yet can affect the dependent variables.
For example;
Due to its presence, a researcher may draw erroneous conclusions or generalize based on inaccurate findings. In market or customer research scenarios, this can lead to misinformed business decisions, resulting in wasteful resources or misguided product developments.
Extraneous variables can compromise the validity, reliability, and consistency of your research and the result. Here are a few reasons why it is important to identify extraneous variables.
The variable can introduce bias in the respondent’s feedback, distorting the true relationship between variables. By identifying these variables, you can ensure that the findings accurately reflect the genuine opinion of the target market.
Extraneous variables can affect the consistency and reliability of market research conducted over time or across multiple samples. Minimizing its impact can ensure that the research will generate similar results if replicated.
Misinterpreted insights due to the variables can lead to erroneous decisions. Flawed decisions can result in ineffective marketing campaigns, misplaced resources, and misaligned product developments and customer service improvements.
For retailers, it is important to consistently produce accurate data about the market dynamics, consumer behavior, and competitive landscape. Identifying the variable will enable you to gain relevant insights in real-time, respond effectively to market changes and customer needs, and improve your market position.
Controlling extraneous variables is necessary for market research to yield reliable insights and ensure better business outcomes. When not controlled, this variable can introduce biases in your research survey. Some of these biases are:
By systematically identifying the extraneous variables in your market research, you can reduce the biases that can distort findings.
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There are four types of extraneous variables you need to consider in market research. Here’s a breakdown of these types.
This type of variable occurs due to factors related to the environment or setting of the research.
These variables can have a subtle influence on the participant’s response despite not being related to the research goal.
Individual characteristics of the participants can influence their survey behavior or responses.
For example, in a survey about luxury fashion products, income level can significantly impact a respondent’s choices.
Biases of the researchers themselves can inadvertently influence participants’ responses. A researcher’s enthusiasm about the new launch during a focus group survey can influence respondents to overstate their interests.
This extraneous variable occurs when participants modify their behavior or perception due to the cues or expectations of the research itself. For example, a respondent may feel they are expected to give specific responses, and they may adjust their behavior accordingly.
Let’s assume a fashion brand wants to gauge customer perception toward its sustainability initiatives. The potential extraneous variables that can impact the perceived importance of sustainability initiatives are:
Here are a few steps you can take in your research design process to minimize the impact of this variable and enhance research reliability.
Conduct a small-scale pilot test to identify variables you may not have considered. This will allow you to make necessary adjustments before launching a full-scale survey.
When designing your survey questions, consider asking questions that can help you identify the influence of this variable. For example, ask participants about their current mood, distractions, or environment. This will allow you to control these variables during data analysis.
Use the random sample strategy to share surveys with different groups. This will ensure your surveys are evenly distributed, minimizing the impact of extraneous variables on the result.
Implement a standard procedure for all participants to ensure a consistent environment. This will mitigate situational and experimental variables that may impact the outcomes.
Use platforms to design surveys that ensure a consistent survey delivery and access to a market research panel to enhance data quality and research reliability.
Identifying and controlling the extraneous variables is crucial to ensure the validity and reliability of your market research. Implementing necessary practices will enable researchers to obtain accurate insights that reflect the true opinions of the target market, leading to informed decision-making.
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