an you imagine research without fieldwork - or field executives without questionnaires aimed at unravelling the mysterious consumers� day-to-day habits? Field agencies are such an integral part of a research project that data collection is almost inconceivable without them. At the most, the Internet may substitute a field agency for data collection in the case of online research. But offline, it is the field method, that is, conducting door-to-door interviews, which is still very much in vogue.

One agency, however, which is looking to add a new dimension to data collection, is GroupM�s Media Consumer Insights (MCI). The specialist unit has developed a research tool called MindSet, which collects data electronically - through a pre-programmed personal digital assistant (PDA) - eliminating the need for a field agency in the process. ... more