This is an overview of the principles of good research practice that all EHA projects adhere to in order to create the best possible picture of the various European hardware markets.
The EHA funds and carries out extensive research in order to better understand patterns relating to the editorial needs and interests of our audience(s), while at the same time sharing that knowledge – complete with expert insight – with technology companies across the continent. Our main survey is the Pan-European Hardware Purchase Intention Report, which gives the most comprehensive breakdown available for up-coming PC-related spending.
Historical Context
The EHA’s member sites have published hundreds of thousands of expert articles for many years. During that time, various localised research has taken place. When the EHA was formed in 2015, it was decided to combine our resources to allow for large-scale, coherent research – utilising our aggregated audience of more than 20 million technology enthusiasts, early adopters and influencers.
Planning
In the first quarter of every year, the founders of all the publications meet together to analyse previous projects and to plan new research for the year to come – including the EHA Annual Editorial Awards and the EHA Hardware Purchase Intentions Survey.
Psychology
The technology market is constantly changing, so new categories are always being considered – while older products can be retired if demand has died. Where possible, the EHA retails the same ‘categories’ and ‘reply options’ from one year to the next, so intelligent year-on-year analysis can be calculated.
Methodology
At the Q1 General Meeting of the European Hardware Association, the previous year’s survey is analysed with a view to making improvements. After removing any categories that are no longer relevant and adding in any new suggestions (both accomplished by a majority vote of the attendees), the survey is studied in detail.
The final list of questions is agreed and the Steering Committee prepares the necessary pages online – including loading the survey database with the queries and responses. This is all done in English.
After the final survey has been agreed by all members, the localised translations are prepared.
The survey will typically run for up to 4 weeks, starting early in Q2.
Once the survey is shut, responses will be checked and samples verified.
Verification and Reporting
The final data is compiled into a single spreadsheet and weighted according to population, before the summary data (Europe as a whole) is used to create a presentation.
This data is studied in detail, to extract as many useful insights as possible.
At the same time, the full/final data is used to create an extensive, in-depth report on the state of the European market and to establish (through extrapolation), the hardware purchase intentions of the >20 million technology enthusiasts, early adopters and influencers who read the EHA publications over the course of a year.