Category: Research

Here’s a common conundrum: say you have a product that you’re trying to sell — a milk chocolate bar, for instance — and you want to sell it at a price that will make it an attractive option to the general public. How would you go about determining that price? In 1976, Dutch economist Peter Van Westendorp unveiled his Price Sensitivity Meter (PSM) to do just that, and in the following decades, it has become a common tool in the market researcher’s arsenal for determining consumer price preferences.

On August 10th, a Times/Siena poll found that Kamala Harris was leading Donald Trump in three key “swing states” for the presidency, generating significant attention online. However, as polling becomes a centrepiece of political discussions, it's essential to think critically about the elements of a survey to understand how reliable its results – and reporting – really are. To help us navigate this complex landscape, DS Account Manager Gabriel Helfant sat down with Rosalie Nadeau, our VP of Insights at DS. Rosalie has run hundreds of research polls in over 50 countries, including during elections at multiple levels of government. She shared her expertise on how we can better understand and interpret polls during this high-stakes election year.

At Data Sciences, when we interview, we want to get to know the real you, who you genuinely are with all your quirks and talents. Our interview process can be long but we don’t want to make it hard, which is why we’ve built this guide to help you know what to expect and how to prepare – so that you can put your best foot forward!  Interviews at Data Sciences typically span 30 days from application to signed offer but could be longer for leadership roles. This guide is focused on individual contributor roles. While we've highlighted the usual interview formats, it's worth noting that the process may shift based on the specific role, time of year, and team you're applying to join.

The 2023 wildfire season in Canada was the worst in recorded history, with all provinces and territories affected and the wildfire smoke drifting as far as Western Europe, garnering widespread attention from both national and international media outlets. Last year’s wildfire season in Canada resulted in more than double the area burned this year compared to the last 40 years. Between May and August, authorities had to issue multiple evacuation orders due to wildfires across the country. Heat waves were also a challenge in 2023, feeding wildfires and posing risks to vulnerable groups. After Canada grappled with such an intense wildfire and heat wave season, we conducted a national study among 1,000 Canadians in October 2023 to track their opinions about these extreme weather events, our level of preparedness, and the future impact of these events on local communities.

It started with Sean and Tom meeting outside some event for the Liberal party of Canada; a grad student in genetics, and a serial entrepreneur with a Masters in Political Philosophy.  “You know, we’re collecting a decent amount of data here, I bet we can optimize this stuff,” said Sean. “Funny you should say that,” said Tom, “I was thinking the same thing, and I happen to know the riding president.” Both, thinking: “I don’t know why, but I have a good feeling about this”...

In the first part of our two-part series on big tech and AI, we found that while Canadians recognize the positive economic and employment contributions of big tech companies, their trust in big tech companies remains precarious. As we conclude our series on big tech and AI, our attention turns to how Canadians engage with AI tools. This final part presents 6 top findings about AI, its uses, and its future!

In a short period of time, AI has already become a driver for emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) as well as generative AI. This led to tools such as ChatGPT, which broke the record of the fastest-growing user base in 2022 and currently has around 180 million users. As artificial intelligence tools increasingly permeate our daily and professional lives, with businesses incorporating AI into their operations, Data Sciences surveyed Canadians about their feelings towards big tech’s growing influence and the changes that come with it. In the inaugural part of our two-part series on big tech and AI, we present 5 top findings about public sentiment towards major tech companies. 

February 11th marked the International Day for Women and Girls in STEM, and we're thrilled to showcase some remarkable women in STEM at Data Sciences. We sat down with Jenn, Tayrine, Fatima, and Yujie to delve into their experiences in the world of science. Jenn holds a Ph.D. in Human Genetics from McGill University. She is our Vice President of Data and Analytics at Data Sciences. Tayrine holds a Ph.D. in Information and Knowledge Society from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya in Spain. She is a Research Analyst on the Insights team at Data Sciences. Fatima Smaili holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia) and is a Data Scientist at DS. Yujie, a Data Scientist at DS holds a Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from Western University.

As we may start to feel the impact of climate change at home, we investigated public sentiment in Canada towards climate change and flagship policies discussed during COP28, to understand how Canadians position themselves towards these global negotiations. Data shown in this memo was collected among a representative sample of 1,000 Canadians surveyed online in October 2023, before the start of COP28.