Topline / Quick report

The first, short summary of the research results is called the topline. The most important impressions are already included in it, but not all analyzes and evaluations have been completed yet, so the statements there may still change frequently.

When someone conducts research, one of the most important practical considerations in the choice of methods and the investigation is the deadline. Assignments and contract signing can be delayed, even when preparing the questionnaire or organizing the groups, delays are common, as well as access to external databases can be hindered. Regardless of all this, the client (whether the executor is within the company or external) insists on the final date as delivery. Moreover, the reason for keeping the deadline tight is that market survey and analysis typically creates the background for further decisions and planning steps.

For the sake of faster delivery, the application of the topline appeared among research contractors decades earlier, the origin of which can be traced back to qualitative research. In these cases, the researchers usually provide results and first findings 1-2 days after the last interviews. 

The essence of the topline is that the researcher summarizes the impressions formed during the first review of the databases and interviews in a short extract of a maximum of 2-3 pages. This is formally not the same as the later research report or study, since in this case neither the final findings nor the graphs, quotations, and references supporting or illustrating the statements have been prepared. That is why the topline typically includes short main sentences and possibly a few basic divisions.

When a customer urgently needs a topline, he can help the researchers' work by indicating in advance, during the planning or during the data collection, that he is expecting such a summary, and that (and this is more important) it will be collected together with the researcher. what kinds of questions are waiting for substantive answers in this material, which will be prepared quickly in 1-2 days. By the way, in addition to faster work, the quality of this quick report can also be improved.

It is good to know that researchers usually have a regular schedule for the way and order in which they go through the research topics during the analysis. (It is not possible to establish a clear order, because everyone dictates the order themselves, but in the order, everyone typically starts with the demographic data, which also checks the database. This is followed by the distribution of the key questions, then the interpretive and explanatory variables of some chapters, and finally the smaller, more interesting answers.) If, on the other hand, he receives a list of which 4-5 questions or topics are the most important, he takes it in advance and is able to gather the most important findings for the client from it.