5) Panels

A

 panel 

is a group of individuals or organizations that have agreed to provideinformation to researcher over a period of time. A

continuous panel 

, the focus of thissection, has agreed to report specified behaviors on regular basis. There are 2 typesof panels: retail and consumer, consumer further divided into diary panels andelectronic panels.

Retail panel

In this method data is collected from the checkout scanner tapes of a sample of supermarkets and other retailers that use electronic scanning systems. For this tohappen the product should carry the Universal Product Code (UPC) often referred toas bar code.The

advantages

of this method are1.Greater frequency2.Elimination of breakage and pilferage being counted as sales3.More accurate price informationThe

disadvantages

are1.Only big supermarkets have scanners2.The quality of scanner data is dependent on checkout clerk. For e.g. if aperson is buying 5 packets of packaged milk. In that case the clerk may putonly 1 in the scanner and then multiply it by 5. So the rest 4 wont come in thescanner's data.

Consumer panelsDiary panels

A diary panel as the name implies, is a panel of households who continuously recordin a diary their purchase of selected products. It is used for those product categoriesfor which purchasing is frequent like food and personal care products.

Electronic panels

Electronic panels are composed of households whose television viewing behavior isrecorded electronically. The sets were wired to household meters. The meters were

connected to a central computer by a telephone line and automatically recordedwhen the set was turned on and the station to which it is turned on.The problem here is that it is difficult to understand whom all and how many peoplewere watching and what their demographics are.

6) Mail QuestionnaireAdvantages

1.It is easier to approach a large no. Of respondents spread all over the worldthrough post.2.A mail questionnaire is free from any interviewer’s bias and errors, which mayundermine the reliability and validity of the results emerging from the survey.3.A mail questionnaire will not have any distribution bias as it will not show anyparticular preference or dislike for a certain individual or household.4.When the questions asked to the respondents need time to be answered andneeds some thinking, mail questionnaire is ideal.5.Mail Questionnaire saves time in collecting the desired information as a largeno. Of respondents can be approached all over the country.6.It saves money as cost of traveling, boarding and lodging of interviewers isnot to be incurred.7.There is no difficulty in having central supervision and control over the surveyoperations over a large region.8.It avoids the bias arising from any inhibitions in answering questions. (Duringsome personal questions the respondents may hesitate to answer them in thepresence of the interviewer)9.It will not have the problem of non-contacts in the strict sense, as might be thecase in personal interviews when the interviewer finds that the respondent,being away from home is not available.

Limitations

1.It is not suitable when questions are difficult & complicated. In such a case thehelp of interviewer is required to offer some introductory explanation to therespondent.2.When the objective is to get the spontaneous answers of the respondent or his own answers uninfluenced by others who may influence his thinking.3.It is not possible to verify whether the respondent himself has filled in the questionnaire. (e.g.: If a questionnaire is targeted to a housewife she may ask her husband to fill it up on her behalf). This can result into incorrect answers.4.In case there is any ambiguity or any inconsistency in the answers it will be difficult for the researcher to make use of such questionnaire, as he has to accept it.5.The respondent may go through his answers after he has filled in the entire questionnaire and may make certain modification in his original answers as a result of which these answers cannot be regarded as independent.6.It does not allow the researcher to supplement the information by his personal observations.

7.A mail questionnaire normally has a relatively poor response compared to a questionnaire canvassed personally.