Paired Depths:

Depth interviews that are conducted with two respondents simultaneously. This technique is often
employed with a child that is interviewed with a friend to lessen the apprehension of the interview
situation.

Panel:
A group of respondents that participate in multiple surveys over an extensive period of time.
Respondents willing participate with the market research project in return for some compensation.
Specialty panels can be created for specific samples (eg doctors, IT professionals, youth), or for
specialist research and product testing. Traditionally, panels are used for a wider range of projects,
including general and consumer research. There are massive panels and databases of people available
for research.

Pantry Check:
This is an audit conducted by the respondent. The respondent is requested to create an inventory of the
products and brands found in their kitchen pantry or refrigerator. This prevents research corruption from
a respondent’s poor recollection.

Paper and Pencil Interviewing (PAPI):

A traditional method used for surveying that involves respondents filling out a physical paper
questionnaire that had been administered by an interviewer.

Paradata:
Information collected about the research process. Often includes time and date of interviews as well as
duration, number of questions answered, number of errors, length of text used in open-ended questions,
etcetera Used to make the research process more efficient.

Parameter:
Determines the numerical summary associated with a population distribution.

Parent (underlying) Distribution:

Measurements of the original population distribution.

Part Worths:
An amount determined by respondents regarding value or utility that is associated with product/service
attributes at different levels.

Participant:
A person that has agreed to be involved in a survey, focus group, or study. Can also be referred to as a
subject, unit, experimental unit, unit of analysis, or respondent.

Past Participation:
Some researchers may exclude respondents that have participated in research studies of the same topic
or that have participated in research studies during a particular time frame. Thsi process can remove
potential bias.

Pearson's Correlation Coefficient:

Most commonly used method to determine the strength associated with a set of variables.

Penetration Analysis:
An analysis performed to determine the market share held by a particular company or product in a
market segment determined by demographics or various classification universes.

People Meter:
A way of measuring demographic information related to national television audiences overnight through
a microwave computerized rating system.

People Reader:
The ability to document a participant’s reading material as well as their eye reaction at the same time by
using a machine.
Per Capita Income:
Value of the average income for an entire population. This is computed by dividing a country’s total
income by its total population.

Percentile:
A percentage scale from 0 to 100 that is associated with an item to show which percentage of the
distribution is above