A research community, defined
A research community is a private online space where a group of people you recruit answer questions over weeks or months, instead of once. Members take part in surveys, polls, discussions and interviews, and the team running it can go back to the same people whenever a new question comes up, for qualitative and quantitative work alike.
The rest of this guide covers the names you will meet, how a community compares with other methods, what runs inside one, who uses one and how long one lasts.
The terms, defined once
You will see several names for the same idea. This guide uses "research community" throughout.
- Research community. The general term: a recruited group, a private space, and questions asked over time.
- Insight community. The same thing, under the name many in-house teams use, often for a community that runs for a long time and feeds the business's decisions.
- MROC. Short for market research online community. It is an older name, and you will still find it in agency proposals and briefs.
Whatever the name, three things make it a community: the members were recruited for it, they can be asked again, and the space is private to the people running the research.
How a community differs from a panel, a survey and a focus group
Each method answers a different kind of question. A community works alongside the others, and it changes what you can do between them.
| Method | Who takes part | How often | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-off survey | A sample, recruited for this study | Once | A measurement at one point in time |
| Panel | A large pool of people who agreed to be invited to surveys | Now and then, for many different studies | Numbers, usually from surveys only |
| Focus group | A small group, in a room or on a call | One session of an hour or two | Discussion, reactions and the reasons behind them |
| Research community | Members recruited for this community | As often as you have questions, over weeks or months | Numbers and reasons, from the same people |
Against a one-off survey. A survey measures well, but once it closes, the chance to ask why has gone. In a community, the people who answered are still there next week, so a surprising result can become a discussion or an interview with the same members.
Against a panel. A panel is a pool of people who have agreed to receive survey invitations, often for many organisations at once. Members are often unaware of who is asking, and the relationship is mostly a stream of surveys. A community has a name and a look, usually the brand of whoever runs it, and members can talk to the researchers and to each other.
Against a focus group. A focus group gives each person a few minutes to speak during one session. A discussion in a community can run for days, so people answer when they have had time to think, and quieter members get as much room as louder ones. You lose some of the energy of a live room, which is why many communities also run live sessions.
What runs in a research community
A community is a set of ways to ask, used on the same members. The usual mix is:
- Surveys with routing, screen-outs and quotas, for the measured answer.
- Polls for a quick count, such as which of two ideas people prefer.
- Discussions that stay open for days, for the reasons behind a number.
- Live interviews and groups on video, for the stories people tell in their own words.
- Video answers, where a member answers a single question on camera.
- Short repeated tasks, such as a weekly check-in on the same topic.
In Survizo, a survey can use twenty-one question types, with logic that runs as people answer and quotas held in real time. Polls sit in the community feed and move live as votes come in. Discussion rooms are private and invite-only. Live sessions run in the browser for up to fifty invitees, everyone accepts the session's notice before joining, and you can have a recorded session transcribed with timestamps, in eleven spoken languages. A video answer is a survey question members answer on camera. The platform overview has every part on one page, and surveys and logic and community and conversation go into detail.
Qualitative and quantitative work, side by side
Because the members stay, one question can move between methods. Take an illustrative study at a baby-care brand that wants to know how often nappies leak overnight, and what parents do about it:
- A poll in the feed gives a quick count of how many parents had a leak last week.
- A survey with screen-outs and quotas gives the measured answer, by age of child and type of nappy.
- A discussion that runs for a few days collects the reasons and the workarounds.
- A recorded video interview lets one parent describe a whole night.
Each step is easy to add, because the people are already there and have already agreed to take part.
Who uses a research community
- Research agencies run a community for each client, usually under the client's brand, so members meet a name they know. Our guide to white-label research communities for agency clients covers how.
- In-house insight teams run their own, often across several markets and languages, and send results to the people who make decisions.
- Brand, marketing and product teams use one to test ideas, packs, messages and early designs with the same people over time.
How long a research community runs
There are two common shapes.
- Short-term communities run for a few weeks around one project, such as a launch or a concept test. They suit a single, well-defined question.
- Ongoing communities run for months or years, with a steady rhythm of activities. They suit a team that has questions every month and wants to see how answers change.
What decides the length is how often you will have something to ask, and how much of members' time you can fairly use. Members stay engaged when tasks are short, when they are not asked too often, and when they hear what happened because of what they said.
In Survizo, a community can have start and end dates. Before the start, or after the end, members who open it see a notice instead, and your team keeps full access throughout.
What a community needs before it starts
- Members you can invite. Most communities start from a list the organisation already holds, with details such as age or region carried in.
- Joining rules. Decide how people on your list get in: invitation only, with approval, up to a member limit, or only from certain email domains.
- Consent. Members should know what is collected, what it is used for and whether their answers are anonymous to your team, and you should be able to show what they agreed to.
- A way out. Members should be able to see what is held about them and ask for it to be erased.
In Survizo, you upload a CSV or Excel file of members and invite them by email, or from your own WhatsApp Business number to people who have opted in. You set up to four joining rules, and each member's consent is stored with a fingerprint of the exact wording they saw. Members can download what their community holds about them, or ask for it to be erased after seeing what will be deleted, anonymised or kept.
The next step
If you are deciding whether a community suits your next study, book a fit call. In thirty minutes you will know whether Survizo fits your kind of study and how soon you could launch.
Frequently asked questions
Is a research community the same as an MROC?
Yes. MROC stands for market research online community, and it is an older name for the same thing. "Insight community" is a third name, used most often by in-house teams. All three mean a recruited group in a private space, asked questions over time.
How is a research community different from a panel?
A panel is a pool of people who have agreed to receive survey invitations, often for many organisations, and it mostly runs surveys. A community is private to the people running it, usually carries their brand, and mixes surveys with polls, discussions and interviews on the same members.
Can a research community replace focus groups?
It changes them more than it replaces them. Discussions in a community run for days, so people answer when they have had time to think and everyone gets room to speak. Many communities also run live video groups when a study needs a conversation in real time.
How long should a research community run?
As long as you have questions to ask. A short-term community runs for a few weeks around one project. An ongoing one runs for months or years with a steady rhythm of activities. Ask only as often as members' time allows.
Are members' answers anonymous?
Not usually to the team running the research, and members should be told so. In Survizo, the join notice tells members plainly that their answers are not anonymous to your team. When the AI writes up a recorded interview, speakers are numbered and never named.