April 28th, 2014, Joao Neves
Throughout July 2014, Muslims worldwide will fast from dawn until dusk, whilst embracing a time of prayer, spiritual reflection and charity, to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan.
In 2013, we surveyed our online panel to gain insight into how behavioural patterns shift during Ramadan, a time when eating, sleeping, social and working hours are hugely modified for both Muslims and non-Muslims across the MENA region.
To help you meet your research objectives over the summer months, we've brought you key highlights from our findings and insightful tips on how and when to conduct your research, in the form of a Ramadan Research Master Plan.
Ramadan Research Master Plan
Panel Highlight: 87% spend more time at home than usual during Ramadan
Headline Tip: Consider your research methodology carefully
- When conducting focus groups, over-recruit, expect no-shows, offer bigger incentives, and be patient.
- Expect offline fieldwork to take longer than it would outside of Ramadan.
- Online research has far greater opportunities - our proprietary online panel reaches out to 235,000 highly responsive panelists in the MENA region.
Panel Highlight: 31% said their lifestyle changes completely during Ramadan
Headline Tip: Be aware of atypical results
- Vastly different behavioral patterns could produce comparatively skewed results during Ramadan.
- Avoid starting benchmark studies during Ramadan, as baselines are likely to be inaccurate.
- Unless you're investigating Ramadan-specific eating patterns, avoid food & beverage studies, as results are likely to be atypical.
Planning research before Ramadan? Make sure you book before the end of May.
Panel Highlight: 92% said they have shorter working hours during Ramadan
Headline Tip: Fieldwork timing is key
- Avoid research in the first and last weeks of Ramadan, when people are adjusting to the fasting process at the beginning, and during the most sacred period at the end.
- Conduct fieldwork either in the morning at 11am (mainly housewives) or late evening after Iftar, at 10pm or 11pm. Realistically don't schedule more than 1-2 focus groups a day.
- Recognise the challenge not only from a respondent's perspective but also for many interviewers who might be fasting too.
Planning research during Ramadan? Please share your requriements by 15 June.
Contact YouGov MENA
To discuss your research requirements please contact us on +971 4 367 0340 or email us.
Full 2013 Ramadan Survey Results
1,520 Muslim online panelists were surveyed between 19 - 23 June 2013 in MENA, Pakistan and India.
View the full survey results »
455 non-Muslim online panelists were surveyed between 25 June - 7 July 2013 in MENA.
View the full survey results »
The YouGov online panel is broadly representative of the online population within these areas.