To stay on the cutting edge, Burke conducts meta-research (research about how to do research). Recently, Burke was concerned as to whether the length of an online survey has an adverse impact on the completion rate. In an effort to find out, Burke fielded two Internet surveys. One was brief (10 questions taking an average of 5 minutes to complete), and the other was longer (20 questions taking about 20 minutes to complete). The completion rate for the short survey was 35 percent, whereas it was only 10 per-cent for the longer survey. Burke now designs shorter Internet surveys so as to reduce the proportion of people who drop off without completing the survey. How Burke Implements the Marketing Research Process We briefly describe Burke’s approach to defining the marketing research problem, developing an approach, research design, data collection and analysis, and report preparation and presentation. Define the Marketing The first step is to define the marketing research problem, and a lot of discovery takes place at this stage. The account executive will sit down with a client and try to determine whether what the client believes is the problem really is the problem, or whether Burke needs to change or broaden the scope of the problem. Discussions with the key decision makers might reveal that the company has been focusing on too narrow an issue or that it has been focusing on the wrong problem altogether. Burke believes that defining the marketing research problem is critical to a successful research project. The company finds out what the symptoms are and works with the client to identify the underlying causes. Considerable effort is devoted to examining the background or the environmental context of the problem. In at least half the cases, when they go through the process of exploring the problem, the problem will change. It will gain a new scope or direction. This process results in a precise definition of the marketing research problem, including an identification of its specific components. Once the problem has been defined, Burke develops a suitable approach.