University of Georgia’s Master of Marketing Research

BACKGROUND

The University of Georgia’s Master of Marketing Research (MMR) program at the Terry College of Business gives graduate students an immersive, real-world understanding of how insights drive business decisions. Each summer, students in the Research Design and Data Collection course work in teams to complete a full research project, from proposal and survey design to fielding, analysis, and presentation.To give students an authentic experience with professional-grade tools, the program partnered with Rep Data to provide live access to survey panel data through its Research Desk platform. The collaboration introduced students to the same field management processes, data quality controls, and respondent vetting used by leading research organizations.

CHALLENGE

Before partnering with Rep Data, the program used other panels under limited academic agreements. These partnerships often required surveys to be built within proprietary systems, restricting flexibility and integration with Qualtrics, the industry-standard platform used in the course.

Faculty wanted a solution that could:

• Seamlessly integrate with Qualtrics
• Provide reliable, high-quality respondent data
• Offer transparent control over incidence, LOI, and completes
• Fit academic timelines and budgets

Equally important, they sought a partner that could support students through the complexities of live data collection, from soft launch to full deployment, so they could build confidence in executing real-world research.

solution

Rep Data’s Research Desk platform provided the flexibility and oversight the program needed. Students designed and tested their surveys in Qualtrics, while Research Desk managed panel sourcing, targeting, and field execution behind the scenes.

Rep Data’s team also provided onboarding and training for faculty and students. During the first year, live training sessions and group reviews conducted by Rep Data experts ensured a smooth execution before launch. This guided approach helped students learn the fundamentals of field management, including tracking survey starts, managing quotas, and monitoring feasibility in real time.The partnership has since served as a model for how academic institutions can leverage professional tools responsibly and affordably, inspiring Rep Data’s development of ResearchU, a self-service platform designed specifically for universities to access nationally representative samples with built-in fraud prevention.

results

Across two summer cohorts, 67 students successfully completed their projects using Research Desk. Integration with Qualtrics was seamless, data quality was strong, and students valued the professional experience of working with live panel data. Minor challenges became practical lessons in field control and real-time monitoring. 

By combining academic rigor with professional-grade research tools, the University of Georgia’s MMR program continues to prepare the next generation of insights leaders and to demonstrate how platforms like Research Desk can bring industry-level data collection into the classroom.

“Rep Data has been a great resource. The students really enjoy using Research Desk, and it gives them valuable experience with actual panel data.”

Dr. John Wurst, Principal Lecturer, University of Georgia Master of Marketing Research Program