# Starting a new study

How to choose a vertical, method and population in the New Research wizard, design your study, check and start it in Research Preview, return to drafts, and what happens when credits run short.

The **New Research** wizard lets you set up and start a study step by step. A study is a research method run on a population. A population is a saved, reusable group of synthetic consumers (personas). Open the wizard from the **New Research** item in the sidebar or from the SCL logo. The wizard's vertical screen is also the first thing that opens when you log in to SCL.

## Step bar

A six-step bar sits at the top of every page of the wizard. Completed steps show a check mark, and the step you're on is highlighted. Use the **Previous Step** and **Next Step** buttons at the bottom of the page to move back and forth between steps.

| Step | Name in the bar | In this step |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | The vertical you chose (e.g. **General Research**) | You choose the vertical |
| 2 | The method you chose; **Choose Type** before you choose one | You choose the method |
| 3 | **Population Mode** | You choose or create a population |
| 4 | **Design Survey** | You design the questions, prices or products |
| 5 | **Research Preview** | You check the summary and credits, then start |
| 6 | **Analytics** | You monitor progress and move on to the report |

## 1. Choose a vertical

On the **Choose a vertical** screen, select a card: **General Research**, **Fashion** or **Ad Testing**. In **General Research** and **Fashion**, the next screen is method selection. **Ad Testing** has only one method, so the method step is skipped and the population step opens directly.

Each population belongs to a single vertical; a population you create in one vertical isn't listed in another. For how the verticals differ, see [Verticals](/en/docs/research/verticals).

## 2. Choose a method

In **General Research**, the screen title is **Choose Your Research Type**. Click the card for the method you want to use. Each method's design step is covered on its own page:

| Card | Detailed page |
| --- | --- |
| **Price Analysis** | [Price Analysis (WTP)](/en/docs/research/price-analysis) |
| **Competitive Analysis** | [Competitive Analysis (Conjoint)](/en/docs/research/competitive-analysis) |
| **Comparison** | [Comparison](/en/docs/research/comparison) |
| **Priority Ranking** | [Priority Ranking (MaxDiff)](/en/docs/research/priority-ranking) |
| **Feature Price Impact** | [Feature Price Impact](/en/docs/research/feature-price-impact) |
| **Survey** | [Multiple-Choice Survey](/en/docs/research/multiple-choice-survey) |
| **Real-Time Focus Group** | [Real-Time Focus Group](/en/docs/research/focus-group) |

In **Fashion**, the title reads **Fashion** and the description reads **Select a research type.** Some card names differ from those in General Research; for example, the card reads **Multiple Choice** instead of **Survey**. If you're not sure which method fits your question, see [Choosing the right method](/en/docs/research/choosing-a-method).

## 3. Choose or create a population

In **General Research**, the **Choose Population Mode** screen opens. To use a saved population:

1. Click **Select Existing Population**. In the list, you can search with the **Search populations...** field, sort the list and filter it with **Favorites**.
2. Select a population.
3. Click **Continue with selected population**.

To create a new population:

1. Click **Create New Population**.
2. Fill in the form.
3. Click **Create population**.

In **Fashion** and **Ad Testing**, the screen title is **Choose a population**, and the cards read **Use existing population** and **Create a new population**. The list shows only populations that belong to this vertical, have finished generating and suit the method you chose. If there is no suitable population, the **Use existing population** card appears dimmed.

Whether you choose an existing population or create a new one, the study is created at this step and the design step opens. A new population is prepared in the background in the meantime. The population form's fields are covered in [Creating a population](/en/docs/populations/creating-a-population).

## 4. Design the study

The design form depends on the method; its fields are covered on the method pages linked in the table above. The behaviour below is the same for every method except Real-Time Focus Group and Comparison in General Research. For those two methods, see the "Methods without a preview step" section.

- The badge next to the page title shows the population's status and refreshes every few seconds.
- Until the population is ready, the forward button at the bottom of the page reads **Waiting...** and can't be clicked. Once the population is ready, the button changes to **Next Step**.
- In **General Research**, **Next Step** first opens the **Are you sure you want to continue?** dialog; **Continue** saves your design.
- **Previous Step** takes you back to the population step.

The badge shows these labels, depending on the vertical:

| Population status | General Research | Fashion and Ad Testing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Preparing | **Generating Personas...** | **Popülasyon oluşturuluyor** (Creating population) |
| Ready | **Personas Created** | **Popülasyon hazır** (Population ready) |
| Failed | **Generation Failed** | **Popülasyon oluşturulamadı** (Population could not be created) |

The Price Analysis (WTP), Competitive Analysis (Conjoint), Priority Ranking (MaxDiff) and Feature Price Impact design pages in Fashion have no failure badge; the badge keeps reading **Popülasyon oluşturuluyor**. In that case, check the population's detail page in the **Populations** library.

> [!TIP]
> You can start filling in the form while the population is being prepared. Only the **Next Step** button waits for the population to be ready.

## 5. Check the preview and start

On the **Research Preview** page, you review your settings before you start. The **Experiment Summary** card shows:

- the study's name (**Untitled** if it has none),
- method and vertical badges,
- **Person Count**, one or two method-specific values, and **Credit Usage**.

| Method | Method-specific values |
| --- | --- |
| Multiple-Choice Survey | **Question Count** |
| Price Analysis | **Price Point** |
| Feature Price Impact | **Price Point**, **Feature Count** |
| Priority Ranking | **Feature Count** |
| Competitive Analysis | **Price Point**, **Competitor Count** |

**Credit Usage** is shown as "balance/estimated credits". For example, **1.250/400** means your balance is 1,250 credits and this study's estimated cost is 400 credits.

1. Check the values. To change something, go back to the design step with **Previous Step**.
2. Click **Start**.
3. In the **Are you sure you want to continue?** dialog, click **Continue**. The button briefly reads **Starting...**, then the progress screen opens.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Once a study has started, there is no option to stop or cancel it. Credits are deducted after responses are saved; for details, see [Credits](/en/docs/account/credits).

## 6. Monitor progress and go to the report

The progress screen shows a status panel and a progress bar. The panel goes through these stages:

| Stage | Message in the panel |
| --- | --- |
| **PREPARING** | Preparing the experiment workspace... |
| **RUNNING** | Generating responses... |
| **SAVING** | Saving results... |
| **PROCESSING** | Processing... (in other states) |

The bar never moves backwards. No estimated time is shown on screen.

- **Leaving the page:** Clicking the round back button in the top left opens a confirmation dialog. If you click **Go Back**, you leave the screen; the study keeps running in the background.
- **If it succeeds:** The **Your analysis is ready** card and the **Go to Reports** button appear. Even if you don't click the button, the report opens automatically after 3 seconds. Completed studies are also listed on the [Reports](/en/docs/results/reports) page.
- **If it fails:** The **Experiment Failed** message appears; the screen doesn't say what caused the error. For General Research methods that have a preview step, click **Back to Preview** and restart the study with **Start**. If a Multiple-Choice Survey, Competitive Analysis or Priority Ranking study failed at the analysis step after its responses were saved, first send a support request in the **Billing** category; restarting it may deduct credits again. In Fashion and Ad Testing, click **Retry** to rerun the study with the same population and design; if you don't see the button, refresh the page. If the problem persists, write to the SCL team through **Support** and include the study's name.

## Methods without a preview step

- **Real-Time Focus Group:** In General Research, **Participant Selection** takes the place of the design step and the live **Focus Group Session** takes the place of the preview. There is no **Start** button; credits are deducted for each participant response during the session. In Fashion, if the population isn't ready, the **Odak Grubu Hazırlanıyor** (Preparing Focus Group) screen appears first. For details, see [Real-Time Focus Group](/en/docs/research/focus-group).
- **Comparison in General Research:** You start the study directly from the **New Comparison Study** design page; the estimated cost appears in the **Estimated cost: … credits** badge next to the title. Comparison in Fashion, by contrast, goes through the preview step. For details, see [Comparison](/en/docs/research/comparison).

## When you don't have enough credits

Creating a population doesn't use credits, but the wizard checks your balance at these steps:

- **Population step, General Research:** To create a study with an existing or a new population, you need at least 500 credits in your balance. If your balance falls short on the new population form, the **Insufficient Credits** dialog opens; **Buy Credits** takes you to the purchase page.
- **Population step, Fashion and Ad Testing:** To create a new population, you need at least 50 credits in your balance.
- **Preview:** If your balance is lower than the estimated credits, a red info icon appears next to the **Credit Usage** value; hovering over the icon shows the **Buy Credits** button. In Fashion and Ad Testing, **Start** can't be clicked in this case. In General Research, **Start** stays clickable, but your balance is checked again when the study starts generating responses; if the balance doesn't cover the estimate, the study fails without generating responses and no credits are deducted.

For balance checks and deduction rules, see [Credits](/en/docs/account/credits).

## Drafts and picking up where you left off

A study that was created at the population step but hasn't been started yet is a draft. On the method selection screen in General Research and Fashion, the **Drafts** list below the cards shows the 20 most recent drafts in that vertical. Each row shows the study's name, the number of personas, the creation date and a **Draft** badge.

1. Open **New Research**.
2. Choose the vertical.
3. In the **Drafts** list, click the study you want to continue. The study's design step opens.

In Ad Testing, the method selection screen is skipped, so this list doesn't appear. Drafts in this vertical are in the **Research** list covered in the next section.

## Renaming and deleting a study

To rename or delete a study, use the **Research** list. This list isn't in the sidebar; the "All studies: the Research list" section of [Interface tour](/en/docs/getting-started/interface-tour) explains how to open it.

In the list, open the three-dot (⋮) menu on the study's card, then:

- To change the name, choose **Rename**, type a new name of up to 255 characters in the **Study name** field and click **Save**.
- To delete the study, choose **Delete**, then click **Delete** in the **Delete Research** dialog. The dialog warns that this can't be undone.

Organisation members can rename and delete only the studies they created; the organisation admin can manage every study in the organisation. Renaming on the **Reports** page, by contrast, changes the report's title, not the study's. For details, see [Reports](/en/docs/results/reports).

## Related pages

- [Choosing the right method](/en/docs/research/choosing-a-method)
- [Creating a population](/en/docs/populations/creating-a-population)
- [Credits](/en/docs/account/credits)
- [Interface tour](/en/docs/getting-started/interface-tour)
- [Reading a report](/en/docs/results/reading-a-report)