Interpreting the data

Important as sources of information and methods of gathering data are, of even greater importance is the interpretation of the data. It is at this level that many research reports fail. The best fact-finding study can be rendered completely useless by faulty or improper interpretation of facts. Technical competence, broad understanding, and intimate knowledge of the problem at hand are prerequisites.
The final step in marketing research is summarizing the results of the research and making a report. The findings and recommendations of the researcher must be in such a form that whoever receives them can understand them clearly enough to use them effectively.
In general, we recognize four types of reports: (1) the executive report, (2) the technical report, (3) the data report and (4) the popular or persuasive report.
In most cases, where the report has been prepared for a business executive, it will be in the form of an executive report. This will have a title (all good reports have a specific title to identify them), a summary of the findings, recommendations if the researcher has been asked to make them, followed by a detail of the findings themselves, a statement as to how the study was made (called methodology), and any additional proof in the form of tables and charts that might help the reader to better visualize the contents of the report. The aim is to give the busy executive a quick, factual report on which he can base business decisions.
The greatest aid in such report-making, aside from making the study itself and the use of trustworthy data, is the ability to express oneself simply, forcibly, and clearly. Many beginners make the mistake of believing that the use of strange or erudite words stamps them as learned. The reverse may very well be the case. Writing, like any other form of communication, gains from simplicity, from the use of positive-action words rather than outmoded cliches, complicated terms, or other archaic forms of speech used by many people when they attempt to impress rather than to inform.
The experienced researcher presents his findings and recommendations in simple, forceful language everyone can understand. He knows that an expression or word which sends the reader to the dictionary might be an additional block to the acceptance of the report. And since the ultimate aim of all marketing research is action to improve a given situation, acceptance of the findings and recommendations becomes the objective of such studies.