Market Research Analyst

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Work Tasks

• Find out the latest prices for products, where they are most likely to sell, and what kinds of ads work best to sell products
• Do surveys and look at the data
• Tell their employer how to sell products, where they will sell best, and what they should cost
• Tell employers whether to add new products and open new store branches
• Work for research and advertising firms, banks, stock brokers, computer companies, insurance companies, the government, and colleges
• Work with surveys, questionnaires, sales records, product samples, statistics, research reports, advertising data, and computers

Salary, Size & Growth

• $67,000 average per year ($32.25 per hour)
• A large occupation (261,800 workers in 2010)
• Expected to grow rapidly (2.8% per year)

Education/Training

• Minimum for Entry: A 4-year degree in market research
• Employers Prefer: A master's degree for technical positions; A Ph.D. for college teaching
• Skills/Courses: College courses include business, marketing, consumer behavior, economics, psychology, English, sociology. math, statistics, sampling theory and survey design, and computer science.