I have been chipping away at a unique research project for quite a few months now. This particular project has me diving into a data set comprised of respondents who have taken our Technographics® mail surveys for the past four years. My plan is to examine the technology behaviors and attitudes of these individuals over time, exploring things like how they adopt technology and how their attitudes change (or don’t change). While the exercise is challenging, and at times utterly maddening, it got me thinking about the role of trending and other traditional research approaches in the world of “new” market research (MR). Referring to trend lines created in quantitative surveys has been a staple of traditional market research, and benchmarking one year’s numbers over another is a must-have in any report. But do these traditional research activities still fit into the world of new MR? And if so, how? For instance:

• What happens to trending? New methods such as social media monitoring don’t lend themselves to trend lines and cohort analysis very well yet. Does this mean we need to pivot our thinking away from leaning on trends to “normalize” our data? Or do we need to establish new benchmarks?

As my colleague Tamara Barber mentioned, we are in full countdown mode to our Marketing Forum 2011, to be held April 5 and 6 in San Francisco — only four weeks to go! For me, the weather isn’t quite the draw it is for Tamara (I’m based in Denver, and we’ve had some very nice spring weather as of late). But I’m very excited about two things. First, the ocean views (this is what I miss most about the East Coast, and I need to soak up the sight of the ocean any chance I get). Second, the content we’ll be unveiling over the course of the two days, three if you count the Market Insights Council sessions on Monday. These days are going to be jam-packed with fabulous speakers , so many that I’m glad I still have four weeks to figure out how I’m going to fit them all in!

Of course, I’m partial to the sessions that we’ve created just for Market Insight professionals. And even more partial to my session: “What Can Youth Research Teach Us About 21st-Century Market Insights?”Throughout our sessions, we’re exploring the future of market insights, and what better way to dive into the topic than to examine researching the very consumers who are companies’ futures?

Our post last week on consumers’ reported TV and Internet consumption has attracted a lot of attention.[i] The data behind the annual report we published on the topic is fascinating in the trends it reveals on how consumers perceive their interactions with media outlets.[ii] While this report is dedicated to understanding consumers’ changing online and mobile behaviors, the data behind this report also lends itself to a conversation centering around the changing landscape of consumers’ media behaviors.

Two weeks ago marked the annual IIR Market Research Event. TMRE, as it’s fondly called, has been my favorite MR event for a few years now, and this sentiment was echoed by almost every attendee I spoke with on-site and off. If you haven’t attended this event in the past, you should put it on your radar for next year (which happens to be at Disney World). Not only are there great presentations (like my own on aligning segmentations with newer research methodologies : )) but also tons of great people attend. My favorite part of the conference is sitting down with vendors and client-side MR professionals alike and hearing what’s on their minds at the moment. In fact, a lot of these conversations have served as great fodder for our annual MR predictions doc, which will be released next month; for last year’s, clients can click here. My only regret is not having enough time to connect with everyone! If you missed any of the content or goings-on of the event, TMRE has posted links to all the great blogging that was done over the course of the event.

Overall, I left with a few major impressions:

• We are a great group of professionals! Everyone at the conference was so passionate about MR, its current state, and what lies ahead. Every conversation I had was infused with excitement about the possibilities for MR and MR professionals in the near future. Whether it was those of you excited for the additional research you’ll be doing with new DIY tools or those of you embarking in startups for new methodologies, everyone is eagerly awaiting 2011.

Yes, we did it again: Hot off the presses, I’d like to present our annual State Of Consumers And Technology: Benchmark Data Overview report . If you need to know anything about consumers and technology, then you need to read this report!

As usual, we’ve analyzed the newest installment of our consumer benchmark survey and updated the numbers on everything from mobile Internet adoption to home network proliferation. In fact, most anything related to consumers and their use of and interest in technology can be found in these pages!

In this year’s report, we segmented consumers by generation, examining Gen Y, Gen X, Younger Boomers, Older Boomers, and Seniors. This view provides some very interesting and actionable consumer insights into how technology behaviors vary across generations. Which devices are Gen Xers more likely to own? Who’s spending the most money online? How are Boomers engaging with mobile? All these questions are addressed throughout the report. The graphic below shows, for example, how the generations compare across mobile adoption.

A few other interesting general insights we uncovered:

• Gen Yers live and breathe a digital social life. In almost every online or mobile behavior, Gen Yers lead the adoption curve. To these consumers, digital is the norm. About two-thirds update or maintain a profile on a social networking site, which for them is a way to facilitate all social aspects of their lives