How to use online jury research

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By Richard Gabriel,
Dolan Media

Web-based methods offer alternatives but have limits

Online jury research isn’t a standalone tool, but it can be a valuable complement to more traditional research.

To maximize the efficiency and productivity of online methods, it is important to first sort through three criteria: cost, type of case and limitations.

Weigh the cost

Phil Anthony, CEO of DecisionQuest, a national trial consulting firm, said online jury research is typically about one-tenth of the cost of traditional methods and reduces the need for travel.

“There’s a considerable amount of money to be saved by conducting research online,” he said. “But like everything, there are tradeoffs.”

One downside, said Dan Wolfe, director of jury consulting at Kroll Ontrack/TrialGraphix in Chicago, is the lack of person-to-person contact.

“People can assess nonverbal reactions more easily in person than via the Internet, although that’s getting better,” he said. “We know from social science studies that there is a dynamic that occurs when you have that face-to-face interaction.

“There’s something to be said about doing it in person that you can never replicate fully on the Internet.”

Pick your case carefully

There are three ideal case types for online research, said Richard Gabriel, president of Decision Analysis, a trial consulting firm with offices in Chicago and Los Angeles.

The first is a case where you need some juror feedback, but budgetary limitations prevent you from doing a full-scale project. Online research can give you the largest jury pool, and thus, the most statistical value, he said.

The second is a case with severe time limitations that prevent you from arranging for a research facility, Gabriel said.

“(In a case like that) I can preload videotaped attorney presentations, deposition clips, witness presentations and documents onto a website,” he said. “A juror can log on with a user ID, view the evidence and presentations and answer polling, survey and verdict preference questions online, all after a day of work.”

The third case is when you want to use fewer resources gathering your survey responses. Online surveys take less time and human labor than phone surveys, and can reach more participants, Gabriel said.

“People just don’t like being on the phone these days,” he said. “But I can do the same survey online and people will pretty much hang with it for the duration.”

Know the limitations

Online data collection excludes some populations, said Wolfe, such as elderly people, who are less likely to own computers with Internet access that accommodates multimedia video.

And even if you could stream video to all populations, he said, you can’t guarantee user attentiveness.

“They may turn it on and start something cooking on the stove or go to the bathroom, and you don’t know that they’re watching it,” he said.

As a result of those limitations, Wolfe said, online jury research is most useful for smaller, less complicated cases.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a substitute,” he said, “for face-to-face jury research in the more complex cases.”