And by pew, I mean the Pew Research Center.
Each semester, our students start developing their capstone business plans and begin the hunt for data on hot topics – like new media, internet use, mobile apps (to name just a very few). Often we subscribe to useful vendor products that aggregate in-depth market research reports that students find very helpful in supporting their plans. But sometimes, it just seems like the data isn’t out there. It must not have been published, because I can’t find it, right?! Maybe. Or maybe you just haven’t discovered the right source yet.
In performing these sorts of searches, I counsel students to think about “Who Cares?” – as in, who cares about that data… maybe an industry association tracking data for their members’ benefit, maybe a government agency with programs for individuals in particular demographics, or maybe a non-profit or watchdog group (someone who might see educating the public – that’s you – as part of their mission and would send you that report for free.)
The point is, finding information isn’t always easy. Especially if the potential interest in that information is small or the topic is esoteric. But if you can figure out who cares, you have a much better shot.
And now I’ll tell you who cares about a lot of really interesting stuff – The Pew Center, and their special projects - like the Internet & American Life Project (swoon), Social & Demographic Trends (sigh) and the Center for People & the Press (wow). Pew describes itself as a “fact tank” rather than a think tank. And I think that’s wise, because they really are focused on the facts and not persuasion on any given issue. I wish more students and faculty knew about Pew as a quality information source, so here’s my latest attempt at spreading the word (I also bookmark them on my delicious account, jenna1870, RSS their press releases to my feed reader, which I then publish to my Business Information Guide with other market research sources).
So – get in the Pew already.
