Blog
Articles on running surveys in Jamaica, including posts restored from our original site since 2011.
Main constraints on women-owned firms in the Caribbean
Finance and skilled staff led the constraints named by Caribbean women entrepreneurs in the IDB tracer from 2015 to 2018.
Green strategies to reduce flooding in the Caribbean
Nicole Barclay on permeable paving, rain gardens, rooftop tanks and protected land as complements to Caribbean drains.
Hotel review rankings, July 2020
Jamaican hotel review scores collected on 16-18 July 2020 from Google Maps, Booking.com and Expedia, with the ranking rule corrected.
Why Jamaican boys underperform in school
Teachers' 2020 account of boys' underachievement in one Jamaican school, read against PISA 2022 and CSEC pass rates.
Trademark surveys have to survive a court's test
A confusion survey helps in a trademark case only when the sample, the questions and the fieldwork can be defended in court.
How a small firm should use market research
A 2015 note on interviews, observation and surveys for a small firm, with the 2012 Apple trial record on buyer research added.
Jamaican schools should use data to improve performance
In 2015 Dr Maurice Smith told school leaders to decide from the data they hold. Schools now have EMIS and a duty under the Data Protection Act.
From the field: Balcostics projects, 2014 to 2017
Field notes from 2014 to 2017 on credit unions, STATIN tablet training, qualitative work, fish sanctuaries, Pedro Cays and August Town.
Six steps for a useful focus group
Plan the session, recruit the right people, stay neutral, draw everyone in, keep the pace, and test the recorder before you start.
How to fix Jamaica's justice system in five years
Donovan Ferguson's 2014 proposal to fund court and police reform through the diaspora, set against the court figures and the case system now planned.
The data problem in Jamaica's courts
A study of Jamaica's courts found Jamaica's courts keeping case data on paper. Parish courts now publish clearance rates, and a single digital system is due in 2027.
The myth that Apple skips market research
The 2012 Apple v Samsung filings record iPhone buyer surveys, alongside Steve Jobs's 2008 line that Apple did no market research.
How to check a business idea with customers
Talk to people who match the customers you hope to reach, and test the idea before you spend heavily on building it.
Correlation or causation: common errors in data analysis
Six analysis errors: a biased sample, weak measurement, correlation read as cause, a misread count, shifting figures, and the wrong model.
Jamaica's biggest problems are opportunities
A 2013 argument that Jamaica's problems are business opportunities, with the labour and health figures brought up to date.
What the 2013 SME conference survey found
Findings from 87 firms at the June 2013 NCB/IDB SME conference in Montego Bay, and how to read them now.
User research for innovation
The May 2013 note on user research for a new product or service, proofread in October 2026. The slide text was not recovered.
Market research and emerging markets
How a firm on a small budget can research a market like Jamaica, and why the interview mode has to fit the people you need.
Market research basics
Four ways to study a market, from published reports to your own survey, and why the sample has to match the decision.
Is market research useful for a small business?
Whether a small Jamaican firm needs market research before it spends, and what published data can answer first.
Survey tips from 15 years of fieldwork
Nine archive notes on question type, sampling, customer surveys, questionnaire design, online research and saving analysis code.
Pros and cons of online surveys
Online surveys cost less and let people answer in their own time. An open link is not a sample of Jamaica. 2026 panel and face-to-face ranges included.
A short guide to running a survey
What a survey is, four ways to collect it, and how budget, population, sample size and timeline decide the mode. 2026 cost ranges included.
Prepare for the telephone interview
What a telephone interviewer should be ready for, from a bad time of day to a dropped call, and why the 2011 landline rule no longer stands.
Questions to ask of each item
Four checks before a question stays: what it adds, whether one item is enough, who can answer, and how far back it asks people to remember.
Questionnaire design matters most
A questionnaire that misses the study question fails at analysis. Choose the method while you can still change the items, and run a pilot first.