When conducting overseas research, desk research using the Internet is essential. Nevertheless, the density and freshness of information obtained through this method depends on the country’s Internet usage rate and the degree of information disclosure. Telephone research and offline surveys are more effective in many countries. At Global’s basic package includes both “Internet research” and “telephone research. We will propose the most appropriate research method according to the situation of the target country and your research objectives.
Even in Japan, survey results can vary depending on the region and economic level where the survey targets live, but this is even more pronounced overseas. Especially in the case of marketing research, it is necessary to identify and select appropriate survey targets by utilizing multifaceted indicators such as SES (Social Economic Status) and SEC (Social Economic Class), including occupation, education level, and race.
There are often cases where a survey form designed for Japanese people cannot be translated into the language of the country where the survey was conducted and utilized as is. For example, as the concept of diversity has spread throughout the world, it may be necessary to provide a third option for “gender” (e.g., the U.S. version of Facebook allows respondents to select their gender from more than 50 options). We need to understand the current situation in the target country accurately and be knowledgeable enough to localize the questionnaire appropriately.
For example, when translating a questionnaire form into the language of the target country, the translator must have sufficient translation skills to accurately translate each question, including its nuances. Also, in the case of legal research, information written in a foreign language must be found without omission and translated into accurate Japanese before a report is prepared. This is because a lack of reading comprehension or an error in translation could invalidate the entire investigation.
In many cases, when a hearing investigation must be conducted at a public office for legal research, etc., it is not uncommon for the person in charge to finally be reached by repeated contact. Also, unlike Japan, many Asian countries have adopted the Chinese New Year, and it is not uncommon to take a week or more off other than during the year-end and New Year holidays. With these various points in mind, it is necessary to estimate a longer construction period than for a domestic survey of the same content.
