The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently a market research analyst apprentice for a non-profit. At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.
Week 7: June 15, 2020 – June 19, 2020
During these past few weeks when I began learning market research, I was surprised to learn that researching isn’t just about numbers, charts, and graphs. Subjective value like personal experiences and opinions are more important when it comes to figuring out your target audience and your customer’s motivations and behavior. You need to hear their stories instead of attempting to quantify it with spreadsheets and charts.
What I’m Learning:
One cool thing I learned at work last week:
Last week I coordinated a Zoom meeting with a professional market researcher, Isabel Aneyba.
Here are the steps on how to conduct individual in-depth interviews for market research. To learn more in-depth about research techniques listen to this podcast episode, Isabel Aneyba: Listening From the Heart and the Techniques of Empathy.
It’s important to note that this is an exploratory stage where we don’t need to ask specific questions. Ask broad questions instead.
Remember, keep this interview conversational as if you’re talking with a friend.
This process can be simmered down to 2 steps: start with an emotional handshake and then organize your questions into buckets.
- Before you interview, begin with figuring out your research objectives, what do you want to look for?
- Then open the conversation with an emotional handshake, find common ground and connect with your interviewee and get to know them. Start with an easy, broad, and non intrusive question, e.g. “What do you enjoy in life?” or “Tell me about your hobbies/last vacation/interesting beliefs you hold.”
- Then ask another broad but more specific question relating to your research objectives, e.g. “What inspired you to start your own business?” Keep asking until you find info about your interviewee’s motivations.
- Remember, don’t ask “why” too much because it can put people into a defensive mode and they might think they answered your question wrong. Instead, say “Tell me more” or “How so?”
- Follow this interview guide sample to help you organize your research objectives and questions.
One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
A friend of mine shared this video on Facebook and it is one of the most inspirational and eloquent speeches I’ve heard.
Jeff Deist is the president of the Mises Institute, an economics think tank and the fountainhead of the Austrian school of economics.
In his speech, Deist points out that the most effective form of action, for a libertarian attempting to plant seeds of liberty, is to redirect the individual’s energy to things within their immediate control. For example, things like choosing to read self-help books or learning a new skill instead of arguing with strangers on Twitter.
What I’m Creating:
One example of how I created value at work last week:
I moved a step forward by scheduling a time to talk with Isabel Aneyba, the professional researcher who helped me learn the beginner basics of in-depth interviewing. Her expertise helped me gain a clearer idea of how to conduct interviews and that subjective research is more valuable than cold, hard numbers.
I’m currently planning who to interview within my network and I’ve gathered the questions I want to ask.
What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
I’m still working on our market research and figuring out 18-29 year old entrepreneurs. I’m responsible for finding active learning resources as well.
What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
I figured out a way to learn faster and it all boils down to one simple step: looking for patterns. This has worked for me and might help you learn anything, especially with topics that are based on patterns and rules like language learning or verifying sources/stories/personal experiences by comparing with other individual accounts. Find the things that are in common.
Weekly Monday Workshop:
What Praxis Monday session did you attend last week (ie. what was the topic & who was the guest)?
Getting a pay raise with Tim Chermak
What was your favorite highlight from the session?
Tim gave us Praxians practical retirement advice; save at least $1,000 per month.
What was your biggest takeaway from that session?
- “When you’re specific, it forces you to think about what you have to do to justify the raise.” — Tim Chermak
- Don’t just do more work. Think of how you can create new value.
- “An NFL quarterback doesn’t make more money by being a kicker too, or playing defense. He can earn more money by being a better quarterback.”
- Don’t just say you’ll “create value.” Be specific about the type of value you’ll create.
- Become an entrepreneur inside your company. Learn about the business model. Make sure you understand the revenue structure and profit margins and costs. Your boss will be thrilled you’re curious too, and you’ll learn which levers you need to pull in order to create significant value.
How do you intend to apply that takeaway to your life?
When I negotiate a raise in the future I’ll be specific about the value proposition I offer my employer and show specific examples of what I’ll do to increase value. This is all about working smarter and not harder; I think it’s also interesting to note that this principle puts a dent into the labor theory of value.