science

Single-source data

Single-source data is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Single-source data rather than just read about it. In short: Single-source data (also single source) is the measurement of TV and/or other mass media's advertising exposure and purchase behavior, over time for the same individual or household. This measurement is gauged through the collection of data components supplied by one or more parties overlapped through a single integrated system of data collection matched to the person or household level.

Key takeaways

Single-source data belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Single-source data to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Single-source data from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Single-source data (also single source) is the measurement of TV and/or other mass media's advertising exposure and purchase behavior, over time for the same individual or household. This measurement is gauged through the collection of data components supplied by one or more parties overlapped through a single integrated system of data collection matched to the person or household level. How these data are stored is known as a single-source database. In TV advertising measurement, single-source data is used to explore how advertising exposure influences individuals or households' loyalty and buying behavior across different windows of time, e.g., year, quarter, month, and week. Single-source data is a compilation of 1, home-scanned sales records and/or loyalty card purchases from retail or grocery stores and other commercial operations. 2, ad exposure (or not) from TV tune-in data from cable set-top boxes or people meters (pushbutton or passive) or household tuning meters. Lastly, 3, Household demographic information. The significance of single-source data resides in its ability to provide a natural and controlled measurement of advertising effectiveness within the market, particularly through the comparison of exposed and non-exposed consumers. This data exhibits a longitudinal structure and offers a high level of dis-aggregation, both at the individual and temporal levels. Single-source data serves to illuminate variations in household exposure to a brand's advertisements and their corresponding purchasing patterns in the context of advertising fluctuations.

Companies

"Project Apollo" was designed to be a single source, national market research service based on Nielsen's Home Scan technology for measuring consumer purchase behavior, combined with Arbitron's Portable People Meter system, measuring electronic media exposure. In January 2006, The Nielsen Company and Arbitron Inc. completed the deployment of a national pilot panel of more than 11,000 persons in 5,000 households. Seven advertisers (Kraft, Pepsi, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, S.C. Johnson, Unilever, and Walmart) signed on as members of the Project Apollo Steering Committee. The Committee worked with Arbitron and Nielsen to evaluate the utility of multimedia and purchase information from a common sample of consumers. Individuals within the sample were given incentives to voluntarily carry Arbitron's Portable People Meter, a small, pager-sized device that collects the person's exposure to electronic media sources: broadcast television networks, cable networks, and network radio as well as audio-based commercials broadcast on these platforms. Consumer exposure to other media such as newspapers, magazines, and circulars was collected through additional survey instruments. The project was shuttered in February 2008 due to sample size, cost, and insufficient client commitment. Prior to Apollo, there were other attempts to provide single-source measurement in the U.S., including Arbitron's Scan America, which used pushbutton people meters; IRI's use of household tuning meters in its Behavior Scan markets; ADTEL; and ERIM. Outside the U.S. there have also been such efforts that have been discontinued except in England and in France where small single-source panels survive. In Germany and the Netherlands, the research agency GfK is currently running single-source panels under the name "Media Efficiency Panel" (MEP). In MEP online behavior and advertising contacts are measured in detail using a NURAGO browser plug-in. Off-line media consumption is measured using validated media consumption questionnaires. FMCG purchases are captured using a household scanner and durable purchases using an online system asking respondents to check in and register what goods they bought, where they bought them, and for what price. The German panel was launched in 2008 and is currently experimenting with the audio measurement using a mobile phone to capture advertising contacts on TV. More than 70 studies have currently been done in this panel by a large variety of advertisers. The Dutch panel was launched in July 2010. To circumvent the problem of unsustainable costs which brought down Project Apollo, cross-media analytics company All Media Count uses survey data from a longitudinal panel and behavioral modeling to generate individual panelists' daily media contact data for more than 10,000 media vehicles across eleven media types in China. The term “single source” is often credited to Colin McDonald who while at BMRB in England in 1966 used to purchase and view diaries rather than electronic means to conduct the first quasi-single source measurement. Although electronic means of data capture are preferred for accuracy and to minimize respondent fatigue, cost-effective methods for doing this do not yet exist for several media (magazines, newspapers, subway, transport, ambient). Also, many markets - such as China - do not have the universal electronic measurement, even for TV. Services such as MRI, Roy Morgan, Simmons, TGI, and others around the world that collect such information by non-electronic or hybrid means are sometimes considered to be single source, where the data are obtained from a single panel of respondents. Despite the enthusiasm and the success of such data, single source has been plagued by high costs and small sample sizes.

See also Audience measurement Media market

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Single-source data

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Single-source data claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Single-source data before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Single-source data ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Single-source data

In research: Single-source data appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Single-source data in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Single-source data is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Broadcasting, Television advertising, Television technology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Single-source data outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Single-source data in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Single-source data means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Single-source data out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Single-source data in simple terms?

Why does Single-source data matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Single-source data?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Single-source data.