With so many tools promising instant insight, it’s easy to confuse data collection with research that actually informs decisions.
But if you’re only skimming Reddit, pulling stats from AI summaries, or repeating what your competitors are saying—you’re probably stuck in surface-level mode.
Here’s a quick audit to help you assess how your team approaches research—and whether you’re getting real insight or just the illusion of it.
Ask your team these questions. Answer honestly. No judgment—just clarity.
1. Clear Objective Defined: Do we start with a specific research question or hypothesis, or are we just gathering info to “see what comes up”?
2. Credible Sources & Data: Are we relying on verified, relevant data—or defaulting to whatever’s easiest to find?
3. Customer or User Involvement: Have we talked directly to customers through interviews, surveys, or feedback sessions? Or are we guessing based on internal assumptions?
4. Bias Awareness: Are we actively checking for bias—in how we ask, interpret, or cherry-pick data?
5. Triangulation (Multiple Methods/Sources): Are we verifying insights across more than one method or source (e.g., combining quant + qual)?
6. Context Considered: Are we considering when, where, and for whom the insight applies? Or are we treating everything as universally true?
7. Critical Thinking Applied: Are we asking “why?” and “how do we know?” Or just accepting summaries and search results at face value?
8. Documentation & Rigour: Is our research process documented and repeatable—or does it disappear once the slide deck is done?
9. Actionable Insights: Do our findings lead to clear next steps—or just more content with no direction?
10. Insight Validation: Before making a big decision, do we test or pilot our conclusions to confirm they hold?
If you’re unsure where your team falls, here’s a quick side-by-side:
| Surface Research | Strategic Research |
|---|---|
| Fast, tool-driven | Structured, question-driven |
| Based on secondary data | Includes direct customer input |
| Confirms what the team already believes | Challenges assumptions |
| Skims patterns | Looks for outliers and contradictions |
| Creates summaries | Leads to decisions |
| Assumes insight is obvious | Uncovers what’s not being said |
If you answered “No” to a lot of these questions—you're not alone. Many teams operate in fast, reactive mode. But speed without structure usually leads to shallow insights.
The goal isn’t to slow everything down. It’s to make sure the time you do spend on research leads to decisions you can trust.