Marketing research methods and applications

Eureka Proj

Question Set for Legal Professional in the Government Sector

What source(s) do you currently use to obtain ongoing and current information regarding changes in laws/legislation that impact your practice, profession, and industry? How often do you utilize these sources? Do you find these sources reliable/consistent? Are there any specific issues/problems with these sources?

How frequently do you find it necessary to obtain specific texts regarding changes in laws, or to obtain general descriptions of changes in the law in order to remain aware of current trends and progressions in your practice, profession, and industry? Do you feel that there are adequate resources to keep your knowledge up-to-date? Do regular updates using current sources lead to adequate information retrieval and a growing knowledge base? Have you ever encountered any problems in your occupation as the result of incomplete or incurrent information from these sources?

Do you think that a flat universal fee, a low access fee and per-usage fee, or a higher access fee with a moderate level of usage and an additional per-usage fee for heavier usage would be most efficient for your practice, profession, and industry? Do you consider yourself a light, moderate, or heavy user of such sources and services? Do you think others in your profession have a similar usage level, or is it higher/lower? What do you think a reasonable fee for each level of service might be?

Key Research Questions

There are three key areas of research questions in this study. First, there is the question of what current sources are being utilized, with the "why" of this question also important. Determining what current sources of legal knowledge are being utilized and the reasons why they are being utilized will assist this research not only in determining what competing services it might be confronted with and what entities it could potentially incorporate or render obsolete, but can also provide information as to what features are most sought after. As the goal of the project is to create a combined and comprehensive source/service for legal information regarding legislative changes, knowledge of the information currently utilized is definitely required. Understanding current sources will enable for the design and implementation of a much more useful source and service as a result of this research.

The second key question in this research involves the frequency with which current sources for legal information are utilized. Highly related to the first question, determining usage frequency and patterns can help the researchers to understand the knowledge needs of professionals and practitioners in a variety of areas. Questions and answers pertaining to this overall research questions will ensure that the new source/service has the accessibility and frequency of updates necessary to provide a viable alternative to existing sources.

Finally, this research attempts to determine appropriate fee structures for the proposed source/service. As these fees are projected to be far lower than fees for existing services, it is hoped that respondents will be amenable to discussing fair numbers. This will determine the value placed on such sources and services by professionals/practitioners, however.

Required Information

The information required to address these research questions in a meaningful and comprehensive manner is not especially complex or far-reaching, though there are certain basic facts and understandings of relationships that are beneficial if not entirely necessary in carrying out the interviews based on these questions. In order to determine what sources are currently being utilized, to begin with, it is definitely helpful to already have a solid knowledge and understanding of the various sources and services that currently exist in different nations and/or regions, so that answers may be rendered more familiar to the researcher without requiring respondents to detail such information. With a better understanding of these specific alternative sources/services, the researchers will also be better equipped to interpret answers and ask relevant and more detailed follow-up questions, leading to more effective interviews overall and the gathering of more accurate and comprehensive information. This in turn will allow for the development of a better and more useful service.

Frequency usage rates require little background information; it is possible that some of the alternative sources/services currently in existence maintain records regarding usage frequency that they would be willing to share, and this would certainly make for an interesting comparison with the primary data collected in the research. This knowledge is not actually necessary in addressing this area of the research, however. Fee structures are a more essential piece of knowledge, as understanding current fee levels will help guide questioning and follow-ups during the interview process.

Relation of Questionnaire to Desired Information

The questionnaire was designed specifically and explicitly with the identified research questions firmly in mind, and with the interrelationships between these three key areas also acknowledged and accounted for. Determining the research questions ahead of time was key in ensuring that the questions developed remained focused and on-topic, and that they would quickly and efficiently yield comprehensive, accurate, and reliable answers that remained valid outside of the immediate context of the interview situation with each individual respondent. In other words, the questions developed for the interview are largely re-wordings of the primary research questions, asking respondents for their direct input and assessment in regards to these issues. The follow-up questions that were developed and included in the above questionnaire are meant to yield more detailed information in regards to the identified primary area of research the question is concerned with, and/or to make more definite and apparent the relationships and shared influences that exist between the three identified areas of essential research questions that make up the larger research project.

The three primary questions that appear above correspond directly to one area of essential knowledge attainment identified. The first question deals specifically with current sources used and the reasons behind this usage. In the second question, usage frequency and dependency is measured. The third and final question seeks input on fee schedules and structures, asking respondents to reflect on their other answers to determine the value of such sources/services.