How to Run a Survey of Life Science Researchers in Japan

For companies selling research instruments, reagents, consumables and contract services, the voice of the researchers who use them is where product development and marketing start. This guide is for anyone planning a survey of life science researchers in Japan for the first time: how to run one, and what to get right.

What is a researcher survey?

A researcher survey asks life science researchers at universities and public research institutes (academia) and at pharmaceutical and biotech companies how they do their research, how they use products, and how they decide what to buy. It is the core method of market research in the life science field.

The big difference from a consumer survey is that the respondents are specialists. Researchers in different fields and using different methods use different products and care about different things, so the quality of the results depends on screening the right respondents and writing questions in the language of the lab.

What a researcher survey can tell you

• Demand and market size: estimate the market bottom-up from current use and purchase plans.
• Selection criteria: learn whether researchers choose on performance, price, support, brand or something else.
• Brand awareness and image: compare brand recall and image for your company and your competitors.
• Competitors' users: find out what users of competing products like, dislike, and would need in order to switch.
• Unmet needs: uncover problems in the lab that current products and services do not solve.
• Concept testing: check the appeal, usability and acceptable price range of a product in development.
• Information and purchasing channels: see where researchers learn about products and how they buy them.

Six steps to a researcher survey

Step 1: Decide the objective and the decision the results will inform

Start by deciding what the results will be used to decide, for example "which specifications of the new product come first" or "which research fields to focus sales on". The more specific the decision, the easier it is to narrow down the questions and the respondents you need.

Step 2: Turn hypotheses into survey items

Collect the views your sales and development teams already hold, write them down as hypotheses, and break them into items that will test them. Hypotheses also tell you in advance which comparisons to make when you analyze the data.

Step 3: Define the respondents

Set the criteria for the researchers you want to hear from: research field, academia or industry, the methods and instruments they use, and how involved they are in purchasing. Design the screening questions that filter out everyone else at the same time.

Step 4: Design the questionnaire

Build the order of questions and the answer options. Check that respondents can move through it without confusion and that the options neither overlap nor leave gaps. The next section covers the main points.

Step 5: Fieldwork

Invite researchers who meet the criteria and collect their answers. The stricter the criteria, the more it matters to have a respondent panel that reaches researchers directly. Where useful, follow-up interviews explore the reasons behind the answers.

Step 6: Analyze and act

Beyond overall results, cross-tabulate by research field, by organization type, by users of competing products and so on. Finally, set out what the results mean for the decision you defined in Step 1.

Questionnaire design: key points

• Use the language of the lab: name products and methods the way researchers do, not with internal jargon. For Japan, this means questions written in natural Japanese with correct scientific terminology.
• Respect researchers' time: cut questions that do not serve the objective and put the rest in an easy order.
• Branch by field: when what you need to ask depends on the methods or instruments a researcher uses, add branching.
• Leave no gaps in the options: include "Other (please specify)" and "Don't know" so nobody is forced into an answer.
• Do not lead: avoid wording that favors your product, and do not name the sponsor, so answers are free of bias.
• Use open-ended questions: asking for reasons and complaints in free text often reveals needs the options did not cover.

Choosing respondents

Who you ask changes what you learn.

• Ask working researchers: decide whether to include students (including graduate students) according to the objective. For purchasing questions, focus on researchers who actually choose products.
• Check purchasing involvement: use screening questions to confirm how involved each respondent is in selecting and buying products.
• Cover both academia and industry: universities and public institutes may budget and choose products differently from pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
• Do not rely on your own customer list: your own customers tend to answer in your favor. You need a balanced group that includes users of competing products.

Common mistakes

• Adding questions without a clear objective: every "while we're at it" question lowers answer quality and makes the results harder to use.
• Naming your company: when respondents know who is asking, they hold back their real opinions.
• Using a general consumer panel for a specialist survey: qualified researchers are hard to recruit and answers are less reliable.
• Stopping at the tables: unless the results are tied back to the decision, the survey ends as a report on a shelf.

What drives cost and timing

The cost and timing of a researcher survey depend mainly on:

• How strict the respondent criteria are (research field, instruments used)
• How many respondents you need
• The number and complexity of questions
• Whether interviews are added
• The scope of analysis and reporting

The same objective can be met in different ways at different costs. After a free consultation, we propose a scope that fits your budget and goals.

Researcher surveys in Japan with BioSurvey

BioSurvey is a market research service dedicated to surveys and interviews of life science researchers in Japan. From our own database of researchers in academia and at pharmaceutical and biotech companies, we invite only those who fit your theme. Consultants and our in-house AI, BioSurvey Assistant, support questionnaire design, and surveys run without naming the client, so you hear researchers' candid opinions. Overseas market research firms can also use BioSurvey for fieldwork in Japan.

See also marketing research and UX research with BioSurvey.

Researcher survey FAQ

This is our first researcher survey. Where do we start?

Start by writing down what you want the results to decide. The questionnaire and the respondent criteria can be built with us from there. BioSurvey begins with a free video consultation about your goals, followed by a draft research plan.

Can we survey only users of a specific field or instrument?

Yes. We narrow respondents by research field, organization type, instruments and methods used, and purchasing involvement, and invite only researchers who fit the theme.

When should we use a survey and when an interview?

Surveys (quantitative) show trends and proportions; interviews (qualitative) explain reasons and context. A common approach is to run the survey first and then interview researchers whose answers stood out.

Do we receive respondents' personal information?

No. To protect personal information and avoid conflicts of interest, we remove anything that identifies individuals and deliver the results only. Respondents' organization names can be provided as a separate list, unlinked from their answers.

Talk to us about a researcher survey

You do not need a finished brief. Tell us what you want to learn.