What do people think? Why do they think it? Where do they work? Where do they live? What matters to them? Who do they like? What do they value? What don’t they like? Why does it matter?

Whether it’s a company trying to understand its reputation, a political campaign working out where to focus its efforts, or an organisation trying to understand which chocolate bars are most popular, these are the basic questions that market research, through polling and focus groups, seeks to answer.

When I first started working with and analysing polling data ten years ago, the UK Market Research industry was a small place, dominated by a handful of firms - most of which still survive and thrive to this day.

Since then, the big players in the UK polling industry have been joined by a plethora of competitors, from highly quantitative and tech-enabled firms, to specialised qualitative researchers.

These have spurred a huge amount of innovation in the industry, and opened up a range of possibilities for combining polling information, big data, and insights from different sectors. It’s in this spirit that we have set up a new data science company; Stack Data Strategy.

What we believe‍

We believe that polling and market research should be inseparable from data science. There is much more insight to be gained from the data we collect than the same old headline figures delivered week-in week-out.

We believe that the data collected when polling should be the start of generating insight, rather than the end output, and that there is a huge amount of untapped value in the data that the market research industry collects then forgets.

We believe that our understanding of the world’s complex problems would be improved by combining the best aspects of the market research industry with perspectives from data science, consultancy, and industry-specific backgrounds.

In short, we believe that the research industry can, and should, be delivering more insight with the data that it collects. Our mission is to make that aspiration a reality.‍

‍What Stack will do‍

By building on techniques from the worlds of computer science, artificial intelligence and econometrics, Stack will break new ground in delivering insight using polling data and focus groups.

We will of course continue to deliver high-quality polling, but we view that as the start, rather than the end, of the work we will do. By employing cutting edge research to draw out insights from complex data sets, identify shifting trends and analyse the real-world implications of these changes.

Our work will move far beyond headline figures, and into understanding what is driving public opinion, determining causality, and exploring how it can be mapped across different countries. We are able to do this because of the huge diversity of backgrounds our staff have. Their expertise ranges from physics and advanced modelling, through to specialist policy knowledge.

In short, Stack’s work will generate true insight that goes beyond simply what public opinion is, and into why that’s the case, what is driving decisions, and how a company can respond.

Stack’s goal is to create truly novel solutions to measuring and modelling public opinion, and to understanding what the strategic response should be.

We can’t wait to get started.