University of Nebraska Kearney

Market Research Program 

Could your business use an analysis of how a future product will perform in the market?
Have you struggled with really reaching your customers?
Does your community really understand the needs and wants of the citizens?

• Data collection and analysis 
• Evaluation studies 
• Moderated Focus Groups
  (recording available)
• Needs assessment 
• Research design
• Scientific sampling 
• Surveys and polling  

Professional Facilities

Our newly opened Global Market Research Lab includes a multi-purpose room equipped with a LARGE conference table for up to 14 people, teleconferencing equipment, a Smart board and projection system and internet connection.  The adjoining room includes one-way observation windows, telephones and internet ready laptops to complete the infrastructure for nearly every type of research imaginable!     

Focus Group Session	Smart Board Technology	Phone and Internet Survey Services
With our regional partners, Nebraska Business Development  Center (NBDC), Nebraska Economic Development Districts, NPPD (electric utility), Chambers of Commerce, and many others, we are committed to helping our residents start, improve and expand their businesses in rural Nebraska.       Market  research and survey services are available for practically every industry and market sector. From private-owned companies (small and large) to governmental entities to non-profit organizations, if there’s something you need to know, chances are the CRRD can help you gather the data through either primary or secondary methods or BOTH!    Our newly opened Global Market Research Lab is a state-of-the-art facility with smart-board presentation technology. Uses include focus group sessions, phone and internet surveys and product sample testing.  The Global Market Research Lab  is available by appointment through the CRRD at UNK’s College of Business & Technology.		FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION      Our work is customized to meet the client’s specific needs. Before estimating the price of any particular service, we want to understand your needs in some detail.  As a University Center, our motive is your success and results, rather than profit.                 Whether by e-mail, by phone, or in person, an initial consultation (free of charge) will allow us to give you an estimate based on cost recovery.  Often we are able to suggest alternative approaches to help you keep costs to a minimum.

The center provides many resources to help future students, current students, alumni, and industry including:

• Market research projects that give students real-world training while helping industry solve real problems
• Focus groups to determine needs of regional entrepreneurs
• Market research speakers that teach new approaches to help advance the profession
• Networking opportunities to help match students and alumni to career opportunities
• A directory of UNK Faculty and Staff available for consulting.
• Market Research Portal: vast array of market research information
• Community Needs Assessments: New requests, selected completed community reports

We partner with Nebraska Economic Development Districts and Public Power Districts to bring a more complete menu of services. Please check back often for updates and more information. In the meantime, please call Shawn Kaskie at 308-865-8135 to discuss your current needs and questions.

The Nebraska Business Development Center is also housed in the West Center building at UNK and is a valuable source of information and services to Nebraska businesses. 

Why is Market Research important to Nebraska? 

The University of Nebraska of Kearney serves the Third Congressional District of  Nebraska, an area encompassing eighty percent (80%) of western Nebraska, but where forty-percent (40%) of Nebraskans live.  Even though the Agriculture Industry and the Trade, Transportation, and Utilities Industry account for most of the economic stability of the region, a recent study conducted by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development  suggested that this region target the following industries for development: processed food, heavy machinery, transportation and logistics, information services, bioscience and medical technology, hospitality and tourism, and health services. 

Unfortunately, the identification of the possibilities of the region and the knowledge and resources available to create new ventures with new jobs at higher salaries are at variance in Nebraska.  Market Research, especially market research combined with Geographic Information System technology, is a valuable tool to use to identify economic potential when businesses flounder, large numbers of workers lose their jobs because of a plant closing, or recently graduated post-secondary students are looking for career jobs. 

Free Market Research Resources 

General Sites
Business Plans
Business, Demographics, and Economic Statistics
Export and Trade Information Financing Resources
Marketing Principles and Strategies
Market Research-General
Market Research-Primary Research
Company and Industry Information  

The following list was originally prepared by Christine Hamilton-Pennell, Business/Industry Affairs Department, City of Littleton, January 2005. Additions have been made since January 2005. 

   The Gallup Organization, http://www.gallup.com/, contains links to various polls, reports, trends and audits of public opinion conducted by The Gallup Organization. The main page and the "Gallup Poll" link contain the majority of the useful free information. The site contains a search function. You can subscribe to the full content of the site for $95 a year. 

National Center for Health Statistics, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/, is the Federal Government's principal vital and health statistics agency. It includes healthcare industry trends as well as information about vital statistics and topics such as health insurance coverage. 

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html, contains a searchable list of 2002 NAICS codes (with links to definitions), as well as tables showing correspondence between NAICS 97 and SIC, and tables showing correspondence between NAICS 97 and NAICS 02. NAICS was developed jointly by the United States, Canada, and Mexico to provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across North America and has replaces the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. 

Statistical Resources on the Web, http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html, from the University of Michigan Documents Center, is and annotated index to statistical websites and individual statistical publications arranged by broad subject category. Subjects covered include agriculture, business and industry, consumers, cost of living, demographics, economics, education, energy, environment, finance and currency, foreign economics, foreign governments, foreign trade, U.S. government finances, health, housing, labor, military, politics, science, sociology, transportation, and weather. 

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), http://www.bea.gov/, offers information on such key issues as U.S. economic growth, regional economic development, and the position of the United States in the world economy. BEA's National Income and Product Accounts, http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/Index.asp, provides "an aggregated view of the final uses of the Nation's output and the income derived from it's production; two of it's most widely known measures are gross domestic product (GDP) and gross domestic income (GDI). BEA also prepares estimates of the Nation's stock of fixed assets and consumer durable goods." 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data, http://www.bls.gov/data/home.htm, includes time-series data covering employment, prices and living conditions, compensation and living conditions, and productivity and technology. 

U.S. Census Bureau Economic Programs, http://www.census.gov/econ/www/, provides economic statistics by geography, sector (e.g. construction, retail trade, and transportation), and frequency. The site includes the Economic Census, which profiles American business every five years, from the national to the local level. You'll also find statistics on county business paterns, e-commerce, foreign trade, monthly wholesale and retail trade, and many other economics topics. 

USA Today Money, http://www.usatoday.com/money/front.htm, provides daily updates on domestic and world markets, treasury securities, commodities, currencies, key interest rates, and other economic indicators. 

Information, http://www.cyberschoolbus.un.org/infonation/info.asp, offers the ability to compare statistical data for the member states of the United Nations. Select up to seven countries for comparison, and then select statistics and other data fields to compare among the identified countries. Included are statistics on geography, economy, population, and social indicators. 

International Telecommunication Union, http://www.itu.int/home/index.html, offers free electronic copies of its reports and free statistics such as telephone lines by country, number of PCs per country, and telecommunications indicators. 

NationMaster.com, http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php, allows you to graphically compare economic and demographic statistics among nations. "NationMaster is a vast compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, United Nations, World Health Organization, World Back, World Resources Institute, UNESCO, UNICEF and OECD. Using the form above, you can generate maps and graphs on all kinds of statistics with ease." 

National Statistics, http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/index.html, "provides a broad and comprehensive range of foreign trade statistics that are available on a monthly, annual, and historical basis. This includes information on up to 18,000 import commodity codes, 9,000 export commodity codes, 240 U.S. trading partners, 400 U.S. ports, over 50 states and territories, and 45 districts. Some of the statistics include quantities, values, shipping weights, methods of transportation (air or vessel), duties collected, unit prices, and market share." 

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 Market Research - General Sources 

Calgary Business Information Centre, http://www.calgary-smallbusiness.com/primary.html, identifies the pros and cons of different types of primary market research. 

Condensed Guide to Market Research, http://www.informars.com/main/MarketResearch.aspx, from Informa Research Services, provides an overview of market research, including data collection techniques, available research methodologies, and when to conduct research. 

Inc.com- Market Research, http://www.inc.com/guides/marketing/24018.html, has a collection of articles about market research, including low-budget suggestions for conducting your own market research. 

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Market Research - Primary Research 

Focus Groups: A Facilitator's Guide, http://oqi.wisc.edu/resourcelibrary/uploads/resources/Facilitator%20Tool%20Kit.pdf, is a PDF file form the University of Wisconsin-Madison that contains helpful information on setting up and facilitating focus groups. Another useful resource on the site is the PDF file, Focus Groups: When and Why to Use, http://www.virginia.edu/processsimplification/resources/WiscFocusGroups.pdf. 

UNESCO Internal Oversight Service- Evaluation Manual, http://www.portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=24467&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html, offers basic information about how to evaluate a program or services and includes questions to ask at each stage of an evaluation excercise, a guide to the preparation of questionaires, a guide to the preparation and conduct of group interviews, and a glossary. Please note this link does not go directly to the manual, however the list of evaluations is quite helpful. 

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Company and Industry Information 

AnnualReports.com, http://www.annualreports.com/default.aspx, "is the most complete and up to date listing of Annual Reports online. We are America's largest report service. Our directory is a free Internet service that will enable potential investors to review a company's annual report in an easy, convenient manner. This free service provides access to annual reports in their actual format." 

Hoovers.com, http://www.hoovers.com, offers free brief information about companies, as well as news and industry information. For most companies, you can access a description of the company, sales revenues, and key personnel. To access the in-depth information (financials, executive profiles, competitors) you must purchase a subscription, which ranges in price depending on the type of organization and number of users. 

LLRX.com- Business Filings Database, http://www.llrx.com/columns/roundup29.htm, is a helpful compendium of annotated links by state to corporate and business filings available online. "All 50 states make some level of corporate and business filings available online. In a few instances only limited information (such as name availability) is retrievable. The majority of the states, however, use their Web presence to disseminate a range of public business records -- and most of them offer access at no charge." 

New York Public Library- Searching for Company Information, http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/sibl/company/c2index.htm, includes a free online course, "Prospecting for Business Information." 

SEC Filings and Forms (EDGAR), http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml, provides free access to U.S. corporate filings. All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. The website offers links to the complete list of filings available through EDGAR and provides instructions for searching the EDGAR database. 

Thomas.net, http://www.thomasnet.com, is an industrial search engine that provides information on more than 650,000 manufacturers, suppliers, and service providers. You can search for product information by category or name; for example, glass bottles or fence posts. You can also search for company information by region or for the entire United States and Canada, and for information by brand name. Other options include millions of CAD drawings, a radius search from a specific location, and company certification information. The website is free. 

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