The podcast is a three-part series examining whether there is a data quality crisis in market research, with the first episode, released today, focusing on the causes and potential consequences of issues with data quality in the sector.

Speaking to host Liam Kay-McClean, deputy editor at Research Live, on the first episode of the podcast, Debrah Harding, managing director at the Market Research Society (MRS), said of data quality issues in the industry: “If left unchecked, this could become an existential issue”.

Harding added there is a need to invest in practices to strengthen data quality in market research.

“We need to see this truly as an investment rather than a burden,” she explained. “Ultimately, having a strong handle on data quality will allow the sector to make better use of technology like AI and synthetic data and other innovations to deliver the best insights and mitigate the risks of evolving technology.

“It is certainly an existential issue – it is not a crisis, but we have got a lot to do, and we have a long way to go.”

Melanie Courtright, chief executive officer at the Insights Association, said there were real-world consequences to not tackling data quality shortcomings.

“Buyers that are aware of the issues that are affecting especially online research are turning to other methods to answer their needs, so it actually affects the potential growth and size of our profession overall.

“It affects the buying, it affects the selling, it affects the propensity to make a mistake and it affects confidence and trust overall. As a profession that is supposed to be representing the voice of the consumer and helping businesses make decisions, to erode trust and confidence is a huge existential threat.”

Rebecca Cole, managing director at Cobalt Sky and MRS main board member; Andrew Cooper, founder and chief executive officer at Verve; Oscar Carlsson, founder and Milo Advisory and former chief innovation officer at Cint; and Kyle Ferguson, chief executive officer at Forsta, also participate in the first episode.

The first episode of the Research Live podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and below:

The following two episodes will examine what organisations and agencies are doing to combat challenges in data quality and what the potential impact could be of the advent of artificial intelligence and synthetic data.