This classification includes establishments primarily engaged in performing commercial business, marketing, and other economic, sociological, and educational research on a contract or fee basis. Noncommercial economic, sociological, and educational research establishments funded from endowments, grants, or contributions are classified in SIC 8733 Noncommercial Research Organizations.
541730 (Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities)
541910 (Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling)
Members of this classification gather and interpret data in the areas of business and economic research, educational research, market research, public opinion, and sociological research. Utilized to track such varied phenomena as product launches, television viewing habits, and political popularity, this industry has become an increasingly integral part of the sociological landscape of the United States. Demographic surveys and poll results are used to determine everything from a publication's advertising focus to the popularity of legislative initiatives under consideration. Indeed, the plethora of polls and surveys in the 1990s came under increased criticism from observers who charged that such polls, particularly with regard to politics, were in themselves forces that influenced public opinion.
Market research, routinely utilized by companies involved in myriad industries nationwide, grew and changed rapidly between the 1930s and the 1990s. The philosophical underpinnings of this growth were based on a consumer, market-driven orientation. Thus the emphasis was on discovering the needs and wants of the consumer and creating a product that fulfilled those needs and wants, as opposed to a product-driven philosophy centered on creating a product and trying to sell it without first consulting the marketplace to determine the appetite for the product.
In order to systematically gather such information and analyze it, larger corporations support marketing departments. Through a variety of means—mostly surveys—these departments evaluate a product's acceptance in the marketplace and track its sales. Many other corporations, large and small, contract with commercial research companies that specialize in such demographic studies.
Though some critics claim that the "scientific method" cannot be applied to inexact sciences such as anthropology, economics, geography, political science, psychology, and sociology, sociologists continue to use advanced mathematical statistics and other quantitative methods, as well as computer technology, to evaluate and interpret data. Much of their information is derived from a variety of sources such as census reports, government studies, and questionnaires from large samples of people. Commercial nonphysical research firms also employ qualitative methods such as direct observation and historical research.
As surveys and polls have become widely used tools for gathering demographic and other pertinent information, some of the best known firms in this industry — AC Nielsen, Gallup, and Harris — have become familiar names to the average consumer. By the end of the 1990s, in fact, Nielsen had become the unquestioned leader. According to Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies, other industry leaders included IMS International Inc., Gartner Group Inc., and Moody's Investors Service.
In 1998, there were an estimated 5,595 establishments in this industry, billing $9 billion, a 2 percent increase from the previous year. In 1999, 149,500 workers were employed, working just over 30 hours per week for average wages of $14.78 per hour.
Bradway, Bruce M., Mary Anne Frenzel, and Robert E. Pritchard. Strategic Marketing: A Handbook for Entrepreneurs and Managers. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.
Darnay, Arsen J. Service Industries, USA. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 1999.
Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Economic Census 1997, 2000. Available from http://www.census.gov .
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Statistics, 2000. Available from http://www.bls.gov .
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