An appropriate use of market research for service design or improvement.

The Griffiths Report said in 1983 that it was essential for authorities to ascertain how well the service was being delivered at local level by obtaining the experience and perceptions of patients and the community, and that the methods of doing this could include market research. Since then many authorities have tried market research, but if they interpret that as the use of questionnaires they may not get the information they really need.