Resource Center
A collection of resource materials related to market and media research. Included in this resource area are presentations, reports, and articles.
A collection of resource materials related to market and media research. Included in this resource area are presentations, reports, and articles.
Quick Glossary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
Advertisement
A paid public announcement appearing in the media.
Advertising
A paid, mediated, form of communication from an identifiable source, designed to persuade the receiver to take some action, now or in the future.
Advertising budget
Money set aside by the advertiser to pay for advertising. There are a variety of methods for determining the most desirable size of an advertising budget.
Advertising page exposure
The opportunity for readers to see a particular print advertisement, whether or not they actually look at the ad.
Advertising plan
An explicit outline of what goals an advertising campaign should achieve, how to accomplish those goals, and how to determine whether or not the campaign was successful in obtaining those goals.
Advertising research
Research conducted to improve the efficacy of advertising. It may focus on a specific ad or campaign, or may be directed at a more general understanding of how advertising works or how consumers use the information in advertising. It can entail a variety of research approaches, including psychological, sociological, economic, and other perspectives.
Advertorial
An advertisement that has the appearance of a news article or editorial, in a print publication.
Agate line
A unit of measure of newspaper advertising space.
Aggregate
A summary measure made by adding two or more separate measures.
Aided recall
A research method frequently used to determine what consumers remember about an advertisement they have seen or heard.
Ascription
Ascription is a model developed used to achieve a complete data set. The technique ascribes missing data by assigning responses from a donor respondent to a recipient respondent with similar demographic characteristics.
Audience
Total number of people who may receive an advertising message delivered by a medium or a combination of media.
Average
The most common average is the arithmetic mean. This is computed by adding a group of values together and dividing by the total number of values in the group.
Average age
Average age is based on all respondents who provided their age, respondents are asked for their year of birth. Age was estimated for those who did not provide their year of birth by asking them to select an appropriate age range. The estimate was attained by assigning them to the mid-point of that range. The average age reflects the 18+ population as only adults are interviewed in the study. Average frequency Average number of times a consumer has been exposed to an advertisement in any medium that is part of an advertising campaign.
Average income
This is calculated by multiplying the total number of responses in each income range by the mid-point of the range and dividing by the total population. It does not include those who have no income. This is available for both household and personal income.
Average issue audience
Average issue audience is made up of those who read the paper yesterday. It is expressed as a percentage, also referred to as Net Reach, Read Yesterday,
and Read Last Saturday or Sunday.
B
Banner advertising
Ads that run horizontally on the bottom of a page of a publication.
Belly band
Advertising that wraps-around the paper. Consumers must remove the wrap before they can read a publication.
Benchmark
A study conducted to obtain an originating point in time measurement. A benchmark is usually conducted prior to a change in stimuli. The results are then used as a standard for comparison.
Billings
Total amount charged to clients, including the agency commission, media costs, production costs, etc.
Bleed
Allowing a picture or ad to extend beyond the normal margin of a printed page,
to the edge of the page.
Blogs
An online journal or diary. Blogs are sometimes used by respondents to give their opinions on the experience of taking surveys.
Body copy
The text of a print ad, not including the headline, logo, or subscript material.
Brand name
Name used to distinguish one product from its competitors. It can apply to a
single product, an entire product line, or even a company.
Break off
A person who has abandoned the survey of their own free will. This is more common in self-administered surveys like online surveys than it is in interviewer assisted surveys.
Broadsheet
Standard size /traditional newspaper.
Bulletin board
Allows people to carry on discussions online, read postings, add comments and feedback, upload and download files, etc., without all parties being connected to the computer at the same time. Bulletin boards are sometimes used to conduct qualitative research surveys.
Bundling
Bundling is the practice of packaging of several items together as a single product, for instance, a book and an accompanying CD. Also bundling is used when a medium combines rates from two or more vehicles/media into a package for an advertiser.
Business-to-business advertising
Advertising directed to other businesses, rather than to consumers.
C
Callback/Recall
A repeat telephone call to a potential respondent for their participation in a survey, or a repeat call to someone who participated in an interview to correct an error.
Camera-ready art
Artwork that is in sufficiently finished form to be photographed for printing.
Card rate
Media rates published by a print publication on a "rate card."
Category development index (CDI)
A comparison of the percent of sales of a product category in a market, to the percent of population in that market.
CATI
Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview. Administration of the interview is managed by specifically designed programs. Responses are keyed directly into a computer. The program checks for invalid responses and will not accept responses outside prescribed limits so subsequent editing and keying in of data is avoided.
CAWI
Computer-Assisted Web Interview. Another name for online (or web) surveys.
Census
An official, usually periodic enumeration of a population, often including the collection of related demographic information.
Census agglomeration (CA)
Area consisting of one or more neighbouring municipalities situated around a major urban core. A census agglomeration must have an urban core population of at least 10,000. This is a Statistics Canada definition. Census metropolitan area (CMA) Area consisting of one or more neighbouring municipalities situated around a major urban core. A census metropolitan area must have a total population of at least 100,000 of which 50,000 or more live in the urban core. This is a Statistics Canada definition.
Census subdivision (CSD)
Area that is a municipality or an area that is deemed to be equivalent to a municipality for statistical reporting purposes (e.g., as an Indian reserve or an unorganized territory). Municipal status is defined by laws in effect in each province and territory in Canada. This is a Statistics Canada definition.
Centre spread
In the centre of a publication, an advertisement appearing on two facing pages printed as a single sheet.
Circulation
Of a print publication, the average number of copies distributed.
Classified advertising (Print)
Print advertising that is limited to certain classes of goods and services, and usually limited in size and content.
Click through rate (CTR)
The percent of individuals viewing a Web page who click on a specific banner ad appearing on the page.
Client
The ad agency or newspaper term for the advertisers it represents.
Closing date
The day final copy and other materials must be at the publication in order to appear in a specific issue.
Cluster
A classification of demographically or attitudinal similar groups into homogeneous groups. Each group represents distinctive lifestyles patterns and offers a basis for segmenting the market.
Clutter
When an advertisement is surrounded by other ads, thereby forcing it to compete for the readers attention or the extent to which a publication’s pages are fragmented into small block of advertising and / or editorial.
Colour separation
Process by which final art is prepared for colour printing; tones are broken down and printed in four colours: black, magenta, cyan and yellow.
Column inch
A common unit of measure by newspapers, whereby ad space is purchased by the width, in columns, and the depth, in inches. For example, an ad that is
three standard columns wide and 5 inches tall (or deep) would be 15 column inches.
Combination rate
A media pricing arrangement that involves purchasing space or time in more than one medium, in a package deal. This is frequently offered where different media vehicles share a common owner. A special media pricing arrangement with the seller.
Community newspapers
Community newspapers are non-daily newspaper published at regular intervals under a common title and whose editorial content serve the information needs of a small geographic community. This is a Canadian Heritage definition.
Completions
Questionnaires that are completed through a pre-determined question sequence and are included in the final data set for the study.
Confidence level
Statistical measure of the number of times out of 100 that test results can be expected to be within a specified range. For example, a confidence level of 95% means that the result of an action will probably meet expectations 95% of the time.
Consumer advertising
Advertising directed at individual people, rather than to a business or dealer.
Consumer behaviour
Study of how people behave when obtaining, using, and disposing of products and services.
Consumer panel
A group of recruited survey respondents, who have agreed to take part in surveys.
Controlled circulation
Publications distributed free, or mainly free, to individuals within a specific demographic segment, or geographic area.
Cookie
A small amount of data sent to a computer’s browser from a web server and stored on the computer’s hard drive.
Cooperative (Co-op) program
A system by which ad costs are divided between two or more parties. Usually, such programs are offered by manufacturers to their wholesalers or retailers, as a means of encouraging those parties to advertise their products and services.
Cost rank (Crank)
Ranking of publications by their coverage, cost per thousand, audience composition, etc., against a defined target group.
Coverage
Percentage of number of individuals in a specific target group/geographic area reached by publication or combinations of publications.
CPM (Cost per Thousands)
Advertisers' cost per thousand readers exposed to a campaign or an advertisement. If the cost of the advertising campaign is $10,000 and the readership is 1,000,000, the CPM is $10.
1,000 X $10,000 ÷ 1,000,000
Cross-Tab (X-Tab)/ Cross-Tabulation
A table which shows the number and/or percentage of respondents and their projection in the population, who gave various answers to a question in a survey. The table can show the answers simultaneously for various sub-groups of respondents and characteristics.
D
Daily newspaper
A newspaper published daily, usually being not restricted in its contents to a subject field, and containing actual information.
Data
The term frequently used to describe the contents of surveys.
Data processing
The counting and tabulating of raw information into table form suitable for future use. This term is usually associated with computer tabulations.
Day-after recall (DAR)
A research method that tests consumers' memories the day after they have seen an ad, to assess the ad's effectiveness.
Demographics
Population or consumer statistics regarding socioeconomic factors such as age, income, sex, occupation, education, family size, etc.
Demographic segmentation
Market segmentation strategy whereby the intended audience for a given product or service is divided into categories based on demographic variables (demographics).
Direct response
Promotions that permit or request consumers to directly respond to the advertiser, by mail, telephone, e-mail, or some other means of communication.
Disconnected number
A telephone number that is not longer in service. A term often used to refer to a unit of sample that does not represent an actual working phone number.
Display advertisement
In print media, any advertisement other than a classified ad.
Disproportionate sampling
The deliberate use of different sampling rates for various strata such as high income neighbourhoods. This can sometimes be used to reduce sampling error or to assure minimal numbers of respondents who might otherwise rarely appear in the sample.
Double truck/ Double page spread (DPS)
An advertisement that covers the entire surface of the left, the gutter and the right hand page of a publication.
Duplicated audience
That portion of an audience that is reached by more than one media vehicle.
Duplicated readership
Duplicated readership is derived through a cross tabulation of readership measures between two or more papers in a market, to determine the percentage of the market who read two or more newspapers.
E
Earlug
Space on either side of the masthead; the top corners of the front page or of a section or feature that is sold as advertising.
Earned rate
A discounted advertising rate, based on volume or frequency of media placement.
Effective reach
The number of people who will see an ad the most effective number of times. The most effective frequency.
Effective reach percent
The percentage of people who will see an ad the most effective number of times. The most effective frequency.
Enumeration
Counting all units of the population as a basis for drawing a sample of those units; typically applied to a sample of Canada Census areas included in a door-to-door survey.
Exclusive readership
See unduplicated readership. Extended market area (EMA) Geographical area comprised of a market and adjacent counties or census divisions, as defined by specific organization.
Eye tracking
A research method that determines what part of an advertisement consumers
look at, by tracking the pattern of their eye movements.
Exposure
Consumers who have seen a media vehicle, whether or not they paid attention to it.
F
Fieldwork
A general term that refers to any data gathering process.
Flat rate
A media rate not subject to any discounts.
Flexform
An advertisement that does not conform to the standard make up of a publication's page.
Focus group interview
A research method that brings together a small group of consumers to discuss the product or advertising, under the guidance of a trained interviewer. This is a qualitative research method.
Four-color process (FC4P)
A printing process that combines differing amounts of each of four colours (red, yellow, blue & black) to provide a full-colour print.
Full Process Colour
A full range of colours obtained by printing magenta, yellow, cyan and black.
Free publications
Publications that have no cost to the consumer.
Frequency
Number of times an average person or home is exposed to a media vehicle (or group of vehicles), within a given time
Frequency distribution
The number or percentage of individuals exposed to a newspaper’s advertising message, or an advertising campaign 1 time, 2 times, 3 times, etc.
Full coverage
Audience that encompasses a medium’s total reach.
G
Gatefold advertisement
A continuous piece of paper folded to conform to a publication’s page size. Often an extension of a page.
Gross audience
The audiences of all vehicles or media in a campaign, combined. Some or much of the gross audience may actually represent duplicated audience.
Gross impressions
The total number of exposures or opportunities to see the advertisement delivered by the media schedule. Net Reach x Average Frequency = Gross Impressions
Gross rating points
An aggregate of the total "ratings" of the schedule against the target group. % Reach x Average Frequency = GRP's
Guaranteed circulation
A media rate that comes with a guarantee that the publication will achieve a certain circulation.
Guaranteed position
Guarantee to place an ad in a specific position within a publication.
Gutter
The inside margins of two pages that face each other in a print publication.
H
Home language
Refers to the language spoken most often or on a regular basis at home by the individual at the time of the census. This is a Statistics Canada definition.
Hooker/Tag
In newspaper advertising, local dealers’ names appended to national advertising.
Household
An occupied housing unit. An individual or group of individuals occupying a house, apartment, group of rooms, or single room.
Household base
The total number of households to which the sample is projected to represent. The household behaviour, rather than individual behaviour, would be used as the base for specific questions pertaining to television, grocery shopping, household products and services have and plan to buy, long distance expenditure, computer brand ownership, home improvements, automotive and household structure
I
Incidence
The frequency of something occurring in the population. It usually refers to persons and is stated as a percentage (i.e., the percentage of people in the Canada, who eat visited a fast food restaurant in the past month). In marketing and opinion research, incidence is a measure of the level of effort needed to reach qualified or eligible respondents.
Index
The percentage above or below the population average. A comparative measure used to point the strengths or weaknesses in relation to a norm of 100%.
% in cell ÷ % in total population x 100
In house agency
An advertising agency owned and operated by an advertiser, which handles their advertising.
Initial refusal
This occurs when a respondent refuses to participate in a survey at the interviewer's initial introductory statement.
Insert front cover (IFC)
Position of an advertisement on the inside front cover of a publication.
Insert/Flyers
An advertisement, collection of advertisements, or other promotional matter published by an advertiser or group of advertisers, to be inserted in a newspaper.
It may be bound into the publication, or be inserted without binding.
Insertion
Refers to an ad in a print publication.
Insertion order
An agency or advertiser's authorization for a publisher to run a specific ad in a specific print publication on a certain date at a specified price.
Inside back cover (IBC)
Position of an advertisement on the inside back cover of a publication.
Institutional advertising
Advertising to promote an institution or organization, rather than a product or service, in order to create public support and goodwill.
Interactive interviewing
Asking questions and recording answers via computer.
Interview
The exchange of information between an interviewer and a respondent.
Interviewer
The person conducting the interviewing by asking questions.
Island position
A print ad that is completely surrounded by editorial material, surrounded by no
adjoining advertisements to compete for audience attention.
Issue
All the copies of a newspaper, magazine or publication distributed at the same time and with the same data (date of issue).
L
Layout
A drawing that indicates the relative positions of the elements (e.g., headline, photo, logo, body copy, etc.) of an ad.
Leave-behind
A premium or media presentation/kit left with customers by a sales person, to remind them of the product or service being sold.
Letterpress
A printing method that stamps ink onto paper, using raised lettering.
Lifestyle segmentation
Separating consumers into groups, based on their hobbies, interests, and other aspects of their lifestyles.
Line rate
Advertising rate charged for one agate line.
Linage
Refers to the size of an ad, based on the number of lines of type taken up by the ad.
Lithography
A printing method in which the printing and non-printing areas exist on the same plane, as opposed to a bi-levelled reproduction.
Local advertising
Advertising to a local merchant or business as opposed to regional or national advertising. Advertising placed at rates available to local merchants.
Local rate
An advertising rate charged to a local advertiser, typically a retailer, by local media and publications, as distinguished from a national rate that is charged to a national advertiser, typically a manufacturer.
M
Mailout rate
The volume of survey invitations sent out.
Mail/Postal survey
Respondents are asked to complete a questionnaire (unaided) and return it to the sender either by post or the Internet.
Make good
To present a commercial announcement after it’s scheduled time because of an error. Or to rerun a commercial announcement because of technical difficulties the previous time it was run. Or to rerun a print advertisement due to similar circumstances.
Marginal analysis
Technique of setting the advertising budget by assuming the point at which an additional dollar spent on advertising equals additional profit.
Margin of error
Margin of error is the + and – figure around the survey estimate that indicates the level of precision associated with that estimate. Margin of error is related to the size of the sample and to a lesser degree, the reach. The chance of error increases the closer the reported readership level is to 50%; the outcome one would expect from a yes/no question by chance alone (e.g. if you toss a coin in the air, 50% of the time it will turn up heads, 50% tails).
Market
The geographic area or areas in which a research project takes place. A market may be a census division (CMA, CA), a census subdivision (PMA, CSD), a province or territory or a sub-market.
Marketing mix
The levels and interplay of the elements of a product's or service's marketing efforts, including product features, pricing, packaging, advertising, merchandising, distribution, and marketing budget; especially as these elements affect sales results.
Market profile
A summary of the characteristics of a market, including information of typical purchasers and competitors, and often general information on the economy and retailing patterns of an area.
Market research
The systematic and objective identification, collection, analysis, and dissemination of information for the purpose of improving decision making related to the identification and solution of problems and opportunities in marketing.
Market share
The percentage of a product category's sales, in terms of dollars or units,
obtained by a brand, line, or company.
Masthead
Part of a page devoted to the official heading/name of the publication, usually positioned at the top of the page.
Mean
The sum of all items divided by the number of items. Also referred to as average.
Mechanical requirements
Information and instructions regarding the physical aspects of preparing advertising material.
Media buying service
Agency that specializes in the services of media buying.
Median
The middle number in a sequence of numbers. Also referred to as midpoint.
Media plan
A plan designed to select the proper demographics for an advertising campaign through proper media selection
Media quadmap
A two-dimensional graph profiling the media or product usage of demographic groups.
Medium (plural, Media)
A vehicle or group of vehicles used to convey information, news, entertainment, and advertising messages to an audience. These include daily newspapers, television, magazines, radio, etc.
Methodology
A description of the way in which data is collected for part or all of a research project.
Milline rate
Used to determine the cost effectiveness of advertising in a newspaper; reached by multiplying the cost per agate line by one million, then dividing by the circulation. Also referred to as Milline.
Motivation research
Used to investigate the psychological reasons why individuals buy specific types of merchandise, or why they respond to specific advertising appeals, to determine the base of brand choices and product preferences.
N
National advertising
Advertising which is aimed at a National Market, as opposed to Local Advertising.
Negative
Developed film that contains an image that has reversed shadows and light areas.
Net cost
The costs associated with services rendered by an advertising agency excluding the agency commission.
Net unduplicated audience
The combined cumulative audience exposed to an advertisement.
Newsprint
A soft, course wood pulp paper used in printing newspapers.
Non-Random
The occurrence of things wittingly or unwittingly by human design and procedure; not mathematically predictable on the basis of the classical theory of probability.
Non-Response error
A type of non-sampling error caused by some sub-groups of the sample responding less than the rest of the sample.
Normal distribution/curve
A symmetrical bell-shaped statistical distribution where most of the examples in a set of data are close to the mean or “average” while relatively few examples tend to be one extreme or the other.
O
Off-register
Blurred printing caused by out-of position printing plates.
Offset lithography /printing process
A photographic image from a printing plate is transferred to a rubber blanket, which, in turn, transfers or prints the image onto the paper.
Optimization
A computer analysis which generates an "optimal" media schedule given a specific set of parameters, i.e., budget level, reach goal, frequency goal, etc..
Outside back cover (OBC)
Position of an advertisement on the outside back cover of a publication.
Overrun
Additional numbers of a print vehicle that are produced in excess of those needed for distribution. Overruns may take place to meet unexpected needs or demands.
Over-sampling
Over-sampling is used in order to increase the representation in the sample of individuals belonging to a specific group.
P
Panel
A group of recruited survey respondents who have agreed to take part in surveys.
Pass-along readers
A reader who becomes familiar with a publication without the purchase of a publication. These readers are taken into account when calculating the total number of readers of a publication.
Penetration
The proportion, usually expressed as a percentage, of a population of interest that has accepted a product or an idea in some way.
Personal Interview (also known as Door-to-Door or Face-to-Face)
A direct, face-to-face conversation between a representative of the research organization (the interviewer) and a respondent or interviewee.
Pica
A unit of measurement for type specification and printing which measures width; 6 picas to one inch.
Poll
A study that collects views of the public on matters of broad interest.
Poly bag
When designated issues of a newspaper or magazine are inserted into a plastic bag. Usually to accompany advertiser‘s inserts/FSIs, etc. In some instances, advertising can be printed onto the outside of the bag.
Population (Pop)
The total number of people in a country or region or any geographic area.
Population base
The total number of people to which the sample has been projected.
Position charge
The surcharge is to ensure placement of an advertisement in a specific position in a publication.
Pretesting
Testing an advertisement/questionnaire on an audience sample prior to placing the ad in the media or before a full-scale study is launched.
Primary Market Area (PMA)
A newspaper or related publication's major area of editorial and advertising coverage. This represents a geographically defined area based on Statistics Canada boundaries.
Production
Process of physically preparing the advertising idea into a print advertisement.
Product-related segmentation
A method of identifying consumers by the amount of product usage, usually categorized demographically or psychographically.
Projected population
Percentage or number of a sample that represent the population.
Proof
An impression on paper of type, an engraving or the like, for the purpose of checking the correctness and quality of the material to be printed.
Proprietary questions
Customized questions that are ask in a research survey and are sponsored or paid for by the individual newspaper, advertiser or advertising agency. The answers to these questions are provided only to the individual newspaper, advertiser or advertising agency that paid for the questions.
Psychographics
A more sophisticated form of demographics that includes information about the psychological and sociological characteristics of media consumers, such as attitudes, values, emotional responses and ideological beliefs.
Psychographic segmentation
Psychographic segmentation is based on traits, attitudes, interests, or lifestyles of potential consumer groups.
Public service advertising (PSA)
Advertising with a central focus on public welfare, and is generally sponsored by a
non-profit institution, civic group, religious organization, trade association, or political group.
Q
Qualitative research
A method of research that emphasizes the quality of meaning in consumer perceptions and attitudes; for example, in-depth one to one interviews and focus groups.
Quantitative research
A method of advertising research that emphasizes measurement of incidence of consumer trends within a population.
Questionnaire
The printed or computer form or instrument used to ask specific questions in a survey.
Quintiles
Quintiles are established for the broadcast media (television and radio). In quintile analyses, respondents are ranked in descending order of total hours tuned. This list of respondents is then divided into equal fifths or quintiles. This analysis is provided separately for radio and television usage in each of the markets surveyed. All quintiles are calculated using weighted data. A quintile is calculated by multiplying each respondent’s yesterday's viewing/listening by 5 and adding last weekend's
viewing/listening to yield a total week's hours of viewing/listening. The total hours are listed in descending order and then divided into equal fifths or quintiles.
Quota sampling
A type of sampling where quotas are set for certain cells or demographics.
R
Random sample
A sample taken from any given population in which each person maintains equal chances of being selected.
Rate
The amount charged by a communications medium to an advertiser based on per unit of space or time purchased. The rate may vary from national to local campaigns, or may be a fixed rate. To estimate a particular medium's
audience size based on a research sample.
Rate card
Information cards, provided by print media, which contain information concerning advertising costs, mechanical requirements, issue dates, closing dates, cancellation dates, and circulation data, etc.
Rating point
In television, one percentage of all TV households who are viewing a particular station at a given time. In radio, one percentage of all listeners who are listening to a particular station at a given time.
Both instances vary depending on time of day.
RDD
Random digit dialling (RDD) is a method of selecting people for involvement in telephone statistical surveys by generating telephone numbers at random. Random digit dialling has the advantage that it includes unlisted numbers that would be missed if the numbers were selected from a phone book. In populations where there is a high telephone-ownership rate, it can be a cost efficient way to get complete coverage of a geographic area.
Reach or net reach
The total number of adults reached by the schedule one or more times. Gross Impressions / Average frequency = Reach, Net Reach Reach percent The percentage of the target group reached by the total number of insertions in the schedule. GRP's / Average Frequency = Reach %.
Readership
The number of readers of a publication. The percentage of people (audience) that indicate they read or looked into a specific daily newspaper based on the following metrics:
Read yesterday
Readers of yesterday's weekday paper. Also average issue audience. Read Monday through Friday (M-F).
Five day cume
The percentage or number of individuals having read at least one of the last five weekday issues of the newspaper.
Read Saturday/Sunday
Readers of last Saturday or Sunday’s paper(s).
Six/ seven day cume
The six/seven day cume incorporates two questions. The first is the estimate of the five day cume, those individuals having read at least one of the last five weekday issues and second is "read last Saturday or Sunday" measure. The combined readership represents the number of individuals reading at least one issue of a newspaper in the average week. Whether it is a 6 or 7 day cume will depend on the publishing schedule of the paper.
Weekly online readership
The percentage or number of adults having viewed or read an online edition of a newspaper in the past week.
Total weekly readership
The combined weekly readership of printed and online editions of daily newspapers.
Readership composition
The (demographic) profile of a publication readership.
Refusal rate
The percentage of contacted people who decline to cooperate with the research study or break off an interview. Rates may vary depending on how partial interviews are considered.
Representative sample
A sample that contains units in the same proportion as the population of interest.
Resident/Non-Resident newspapers
In each market the newspapers are classified as either resident or non-resident. Resident newspapers are the local daily newspapers in a particular market. Non-resident newspapers are newspapers from other markets that are available in the local market.
Respondent
The person who is interviewed. No matter what type of survey is being conducted, the person being interviewed is always called the respondent.
Respondent fatigue
When respondents are disinclined to continue participating in a research survey due to fatigue, which can lead to invalid responses.
Response rate
The number of completed interviews divided by the number of eligible units in a sample. Rates may vary depending on how partial interviews are considered and unknown eligibility is handled. The response rate for an online survey is usually the number of clicks on the URL divided by the number of invitations sent. For a mail or postal survey, it is the number of completed surveys returned divided by the number of deliverable pieces.
Retail advertising
Advertising which promotes local merchandisers' goods and services. Also referred to as Local Advertising.
Retail trading zone (RTZ)
The area beyond an urban area whose residents regularly trade with retail merchants within the urban area.
ROP colour
Process colour that is printed in a newspaper during the regular press run for that edition.
Run-of-press/ Run of paper (ROP)
A newspaper publisher's option to place an ad anywhere in the publication that they choose, as opposed to Preferred position. Also referred to as Run-of paper.
S
Sample
A subset of a population from which data is collected to be used in estimating parameters of the total population.
Sample size
The number of sample units to be included in the sample.
Sampling distribution
The probability distribution of sample estimates that is to be expected from a given probability sample design.
Schedule
The list/number of insertions to be published for an advertising campaign.
Screen
The fineness of the dot structure of a visual in a publication.
Screener/Screening
The portion of the interview that asks specific questions to determine the eligibility of the respondent.
Segmentation
The process of dividing markets into groups of consumers who are similar to each other, but different to the consumers in other groups.
Situation analysis
The gathering and evaluation of information to identify the target group and strategic direction of an advertising campaign.
Spec Ad
A preliminary layout showing the position of illustrations and text of a proposed ad.
Special colour
A specific colour or tone not possible through regular four-colour process, e.g., fluorescent or metallic.
Split run
Two or more different forms of an advertisement which are run simultaneously in different copies of the same publication, used to test the effectiveness of one advertisement over another.
Spot colour
The technique of colouring for emphasis some areas of basic black-and-white advertisements, usually with a single colour.
Starch scores
A result of a method used by Daniel Starch and staff in their studies of advertising readership which include noted, or the percent of readers who viewed the tested ad, associated, or the percent of readers who associated the ad with the advertiser, and read-most, or the percent of readers who read half or more of the copy.
Statistical significance
Refers to whether some research results genuinely reflect a population of interest in some way or whether the results could occur by chance. Statistical significance is determined by comparing the research results with the values defined by the confidence interval.
Sub-Markets
"Sub-Markets" are local markets or sub-divisions of a CMA. Sub-markets are weighted independently of the CMAs in which they are located. Sample size varies for each sub-market but is large enough to be analyzed on its own.
Sub-Sample
A sample of a sample, which may or may not be selected using the same approach as the original sample.
T
Tabloid
A size of newspaper that is roughly half the size of a broadsheet newspaper. A page size is approximately 12”-14" high by 10”-12" wide.
Tag-Ons
Elastics that wrap around the paper with an advertisement brochure.
Target audience
A specified audience or demographic group for which an advertising message is designed.
Target market
A group of individuals whom collectively, are intended recipients of an advertiser's message.
Tearsheet
A page cut from a magazine or newspaper that is sent to the advertiser as proof of the ad insertion. Also used to check colour reproduction of advertisements.
Telephone interview
Participants are asked survey questions over the telephone. Telephone interviewing is usually conducted from a central telephone interviewing facility.
Time spent reading: printed newspapers
The average time spent is based on the number of minutes spent reading yesterday's, Saturday’s or Sunday’s newspaper. Refused/Don't know/Not Stated are excluded from the calculation. The total time spent is based on respondents who read yesterday's issue or a weekend issue. It is calculated by multiplying each respondent's time spent reading yesterday's issue by the number of weekday issues read and adding the reading time for each weekend issue read.
TMC (Total Market Coverage)
100% household coverage within a given area.
Tracking studies
A type of research study that follows the same group of subjects over an extended period of time. These types of studies that tracks attitudes, awareness or buying habits.
Transparency
A positive, colour photographic image on clear film.
Typography
The designated setting of type for printing purposes.
U
Unaided recall
A research method in which a respondent is given no assistance in answering questions regarding a specific advertisement
Unduplicated readership or Exclusive readership
Unduplicated readership is derived through a cross tabulation between two or more papers in a market to determine the numbers of readers who read only a particular publication.
Universe
The population chosen for a research study. Universe estimates are the estimated number of actual households or adults from which the sample will be taken and to which data from the sample will be projected.
Unweighted count
The actual number of individuals interviewed in a survey. Also expressed as sample size.
V
Variability
The differences in the measurement of variables, thus the differences between sample and population values or among samples drawn from the same population.
Vehicle
A specific channel or publication displaying the advertising message to a target audience.
W
Wave
A wave is a fielding period for a project in which there will be multiple time points in the fielding. Often results are compared from wave to wave.
Web survey
A questionnaire that is displayed on a web site.
Weighted sample
A sample to which weighting has been applied.
Weighting
An adjustment made in a survey sample to correct/project demographic or geographic imbalances or to a specific universe.
White Space
The area left open in an ad that is not printed over with type or visual.
Working phone rate
The number of working or assigned residential telephone numbers as a proportion of the sample.
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