# Choosing the right method

How to pick the right one of SCL's eight research methods from your business question, what determines the credits in each method, and how to use methods together.

SCL has eight research methods, and each one answers a different question. The quickest way to find the right method is to start from the decision you need to make, not from the cards on the screen. Every method runs on a population, a saved group of synthetic consumers (personas).

You choose the method in **New Research**, from the cards that appear after you choose a vertical. Seven of them have method cards in General Research. The eighth is Ad Test; it has no method card, and the **Ad Testing** vertical card opens this method directly. All the steps are on the [Starting a new study](/en/docs/research/new-study) page.

## From question to method

Write the decision you need to make in one sentence, then find the closest question below.

- "What price should I put on this product?" To price a single product without taking competitors into account, use [Price Analysis (WTP)](/en/docs/research/price-analysis). The method measures willingness to pay (WTP): the highest price at which a persona would still buy the product.
- "If I change my price, will customers switch to a competitor?" To put your product on the same shelf as up to 5 competitors, use [Competitive Analysis (Conjoint)](/en/docs/research/competitive-analysis).
- "Which feature matters more?" Use [Priority Ranking (MaxDiff)](/en/docs/research/priority-ranking). MaxDiff (best–worst scaling) ranks features by weighing them against each other.
- "How many lira does this feature add to the price?" Use [Feature Price Impact](/en/docs/research/feature-price-impact). On the design and report screens, the method appears as **Feature Value Analysis**.
- "Which of these two options?" To choose between two products, packs or designs, use [Comparison](/en/docs/research/comparison).
- "What do consumers think, and what share of them picks each option?" To measure perception, usage or message preference with closed-ended questions, use [Multiple-Choice Survey](/en/docs/research/multiple-choice-survey).
- "Why?" To explore the reasons behind preferences and the language consumers use, use [Real-Time Focus Group](/en/docs/research/focus-group).
- "Is my ad working?" To test a video ad, use [Ad Testing](/en/docs/research/ad-testing).

## Methods at a glance

| Method | Question it answers | What you provide | What you get in the report | What determines the credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price Analysis (WTP) | How much will they pay? | Product name (description optional); a price ladder (the list of prices to test) with 3–16 price points | **Acceptance Rate** at each price (the share of personas willing to buy the product), plus the demand curve, revenue curve, **Optimal Price** and optimal price by segment | Price point × persona |
| Competitive Analysis (Conjoint) | Which product is chosen among competitors? | Your product, 1–5 competitors and their current prices, a price ladder with 3–16 price points | Preference shares at each price between your product, the competitors and **Neither**, plus the revenue curve, **Optimal Price** and segment breakdowns | Price point × persona |
| Priority Ranking (MaxDiff) | Which feature matters more? | Product name and at least 4 features | An importance ranking of the features, scored from 0 to 100 | Question set × persona |
| Feature Price Impact | Which feature raises the price, and by how much? | Product, price ladder and 1–5 features | How much each feature changes WTP, in lira, relative to the base product; demand curves with and without the feature | Price points and number of features × persona |
| Comparison | Which of two products is preferred? | Two products: a product page link, or brand, name, category, description and images | Which product comes out ahead, indicators such as purchase likelihood and perceived value, reasons for choosing and not choosing, preference by group | Persona (10 credits per persona) |
| Multiple-Choice Survey | What do consumers think? | 1–50 questions with 2–15 options each; optional images and conditional questions | Response distribution for each question, demographic breakdown, crosstab | Question × persona (persona only in Fashion) |
| Real-Time Focus Group | What are the reasons behind preferences? | Up to 20 participants; you write the questions live during the session | Transcript; in the analysis, a summary, sentiment, themes and opinion clusters | Participant response (10 credits per response) |
| Ad Test | How is the ad received? | An ad video of up to 3 minutes; optional placement and context note | **Erişim** (Reach), **Beğeni** (Liking), **Alınabilir talep** (Reachable demand), **Ayrışma** (Distinctiveness) and **Kalıcılık** (Memorability) metrics; scene-by-scene reactions | Video minute × persona |

The last column shows what the credits are calculated from; in most methods, this measure is multiplied by the number of personas. For example, a Price Analysis with 6 price points on 200 personas costs 6 × 200 = 1,200 credits. All the formulas and examples are on the [Credits](/en/docs/account/credits) page.

The same method can appear under a different card name in General Research and Fashion; for example, Priority Ranking is the **Özellik Tercihi (MaxDiff)** (Feature Preference) card in Fashion. All the card names are on the [Verticals](/en/docs/research/verticals) page.

In most methods, the estimated credits appear before you start, on the **Research Preview** screen, as **Credit Usage** in the form balance/estimate (e.g. 1.250/400). The focus group has no preview: credits are spent as you send questions, and the estimated credits for the next question appear next to the message box.

> [!WARNING]
> Comparison in General Research has no preview step. The study starts when you click **Next Step** on the design screen, so check the cost on the **Estimated cost** badge on that same screen.

## Example questions

### "What if I raise the price by 10%?"

Use Price Analysis. The price ladder is the list of prices the personas are asked about; each price on the list is a price point, and each persona answers separately, at every price point, whether they would buy the product. The app builds the ladder from the **Minimum Price (₺)**, **Maximum Price (₺)** and **Price Step (₺)** values you enter on the design screen; for example, ₺500–₺1,000 with a ₺100 step gives 6 price points. If your current price or the price 10% above it is not on the ladder, add them with **Add Custom Price**.

Extend the range both below and above your current shelf price. If all the prices are far above the market, the personas reject them all; if they are far below it, the personas accept them all. Either way, the report tells you nothing about price.

On the report's **Price Table** tab, compare the **Acceptance Rate** of the two prices, that is, the share of personas willing to buy the product at that price; then look at the revenue curve on the **Demand & Revenue** tab. **Optimal Price** is the price that maximises price × number of buyers within the range you tested; it does not take your costs or profit margin into account. If the Optimal Price falls on the lowest or highest price of the ladder, the real revenue peak may lie outside the range; widen the range in that direction and test again. Revenue is a relative value calculated across the personas in the population, not a sales forecast.

To see which competitor the lost demand goes to, use Competitive Analysis: competitor prices stay fixed, only your price changes, and personas who buy nothing show up in the **Neither** share. Before high-stakes pricing decisions, read the [Accuracy and limitations](/en/docs/getting-started/accuracy-and-limitations) page.

### "Which feature should I highlight?"

Start with Priority Ranking and enter at least 4 features. Each persona sees the features in groups of four (question sets) and ranks them from most to least important. The scores are relative: the most important feature always scores 100 and the least important 0, and adding a feature to the list or removing one changes all the scores. To find out what the top features add to the price, test up to 5 of them with Feature Price Impact; this method adds each feature to the base product on its own and does not show what the features add together.

### "Which of these two packs?"

Use Comparison. Add the two packs as two products; on the **Detailed Entry** tab, you can upload up to 2 images for each product. Each persona evaluates the two products with their images, scores them and chooses A, B or "no difference". Personas who see no difference are left out of the preference percentages.

To compare more than two designs, add up to 4 images to a question in a Multiple-Choice Survey; the survey records the choice but does not collect the reason for it.

### "Is my ad working?"

When you choose the vertical, choose the **Ad Testing** card; this vertical has only one method, so the method step is skipped. If you choose a placement, the personas watch the ad as they would in that setting. **Erişim** (the share of personas who watch to the end) is measured only on skippable placements, that is, when **Sosyal dikey video** (Social vertical video) or **YouTube video reklamı** (YouTube video ad) is selected; if you don't choose a placement, the ad is watched from start to finish.

**Alınabilir talep** compares the likelihood of choosing the brand before and after the ad; **Ayrışma** counts the personas who know which brand the ad belongs to while the brand is hidden. Credits are charged for every minute started, so trim the ad to the final cut you will run before you test it. Compare the results with other ads you have tested on the same population.

### "Why is it preferred?"

Use Real-Time Focus Group. You run a live conversation with up to 20 participants, write your own questions, add images if needed and ask follow-up questions. Participants reply in a few sentences; once at least 5 responses have come in, use **Generate Analysis** to produce a summary, themes and opinion clusters. If your question is about the preference between two specific products, the Comparison report also gives the reasons of the personas who chose each product and of those who did not.

## Combining methods

A single method often shows only one side of a decision. Common combinations are:

- Explore, then measure: turn the reasons and phrases that come up in the focus group into Multiple-Choice Survey options and run the survey on a larger population; the survey shows how widespread these findings are.
- Rank, then price: rank a large number of features with Priority Ranking, then put a lira value on up to 5 of the top features with Feature Price Impact. Each feature adds the number of price points plus 5 to the estimated credits for each persona: on a ladder with 6 price points, that is 11 credits per feature per persona. So shortening the list lowers the cost directly.
- See your own price and the competition together: Price Analysis shows your product's price threshold on its own, and Competitive Analysis shows which competitor the share moves to after the same price change.
- Choose, then price: use Price Analysis to price the product that comes out ahead in Comparison. The **Price objection** indicator in Comparison is not a price measurement; it is the share of all participants who raised a price concern in their reasons.

Run the studies you combine on the same population: at the population step, choose the existing population. That way, the results describe the same personas. Each population belongs to a single vertical; you cannot use a population you created for Fashion or Ad Testing in General Research (see [Verticals](/en/docs/research/verticals)). To run a saved survey again on another population, use [Quick Research](/en/docs/research/quick-research).

> [!TIP]
> If you're not sure which method fits, put your question to **Argus**. Argus can suggest and set up a suitable study; unless you turn on **Autopilot**, steps that spend credits do not start without your approval. For details, see [What is Argus?](/en/docs/argus/what-is-argus).

## Next step

Once you've chosen your method, go to its page; each method page walks you through the setup step by step, and the links are in the "From question to method" list above. For your first price test, start with Price Analysis: in General Research, it asks only for a product name and a price ladder. Competitive Analysis also asks for 1–5 competitor products and their current prices. To set up the price test, go to the [Price Analysis (WTP)](/en/docs/research/price-analysis) page.

## Related pages

- [Price Analysis (WTP)](/en/docs/research/price-analysis)
- [Starting a new study](/en/docs/research/new-study)
- [Verticals: General Research, Fashion, Ad Testing](/en/docs/research/verticals)
- [Credits](/en/docs/account/credits)
- [Accuracy and limitations](/en/docs/getting-started/accuracy-and-limitations)