The Scarborough Local Market dataset lets you select data from any Scarborough local market survey you license. It includes local TV and radio data (see below for more information).
When you select a market from the Scarborough Local Market dataset, you get the latest PRIME Lingo® release of the survey for the market.
You can use both top-tier and mid-tier markets in Rhiza presentations (depending on which markets you license), making for a more robust story about a geographic area that might encompass both a top-tier and a mid-tier market.
Scarborough Local TV and Radio Data
The Scarborough Local Market dataset contains local TV and radio data. The local TV data is diary-based, which means it has individual timeparts, but no pre-calculated dayparts. The local radio data is pre-aggregated to defined dayparts.
You can find the local TV and radio attributes on the Dataset-based tab when defining a target series:
For an example of how to use the local TV data, see Example: Create A TV daypart for a station, then see what cars those viewers drive.
Why Use Scarborough Local Research?
Scarborough's Local Market Studies help local media sales and research professionals analyze opportunities in their markets. Using Scarborough information, sales people can become valued marketing consultants to their clients. Marketers can foster local co-branding and sponsorship opportunities, increase market penetration, analyze local media opportunities, and keep their finger on the pulse of local competition.
Nielsen Scarborough Research measures consumers where they live. Local market research studies cover adults ages 18+ in both the top- and mid-tier DMAs across the United States. Surveys are conducted directly in these markets - talking with consumers in their communities to deliver insights about their lives.
It is important to remember that the survey methodology and the questions differ depending on the market. For more information, consult your Scarborough sales or training representative.
Frequently Asked questions
What's the sample size and method of data collection?
Nielsen Scarborough surveys more than 200,000 adults across the country to capture local consumer trends and behaviors. This robust sample size enables you to take a deep dive into the information and uncover new strategic possibilities.
Our methodologies vary by local market and are highly regarded in the market research industry. Scarborough measurement modes may include phone interviews, survey booklets, television diaries and/or internet surveys.
For more detailed information on the data collection methodology overall and in each market, contact your Scarborough sales or training representative.
What guidelines would you recommend for adequate sample size when creating a presentation?
Nielsen Scarborough advises that any results with fewer than 35 respondents are too small for reliability. Results with 36 - 70 respondents are considered relatively unstable. Results with 70 or more respondents are considered reliable.
To quickly find the size of a sample for a target series in Rhiza, use a table visualization with a Net Total row, and look at the Respondent column.
What do measurements like Target Persons and Target Household mean?
When you look at the data in your presentation, particularly in a table visualization, you'll see columns for Target Persons and Target Households, as well as calculated values for those Target Persons and Target Household numbers.
Scarborough's questionnaire is designed to ask questions among either adults or households based on the characteristic of the question. For questions denoted by (HHLD), the Target Household measurement should be used. Otherwise, use the Target Persons measurement.
Which local markets does Scarborough measure?
Nielsen Scarborough currently measures more than 150 local markets and will expand measurement to all 210 DMAs in 2018. For a complete list of markets, see the Scarborough Local Market Releases page.
Where can I find the Scarborough Local TV and radio data?
If you want to look at detailed information about Scarborough Local Market TV or radio measurements, use the target attributes on the Dataset-based tab. TV data is diary-based and is not aggregated to a predefined daypart; you can define a custom daypart. Radio data is pre-aggregated to defined dayparts.
For an example of using local TV data, see Example: Create A TV daypart for a station, then see what cars those viewers drive.
Do I need to set my base?
Rhiza doesn't require you to explicitly set a base. As a result, you do not get an index or percentage calculation by default. Instead, you define a target series that looks at a specific slice of the entire population, but does not compare it to the whole population.
If you want to compare that target series to the entire population (the base) and thus see the index and percentage calculation, you can do that by creating a context series (a special target series that is scoped to a larger population than the original target series) and using that to perform the comparison.
See Context series and Indexes and Create an Index with a context series.
Where do I set my market and release?
Rhiza offers the full Scarborough Local Market dataset, which contains the latest PRIME Lingo® release of a survey for each market. The markets that are available to you depend on your contract with Nielsen.
If you are using a template, specify your market as an input to the template.
If you are creating a new presentation, you specify your market when you define your target series. If you do not specify a market in a target series, data is returned for all markets that you have access to. If you specify a market you do not have access to, no data is returned. You can use either the Scarborough Market attribute (on the Dataset-based tab) or the DMA attribute (on the Map-based tab).
While the DMA attribute will allow you to map your market, the Scarborough Market attribute does not have any geographic shape data associated with it; therefore, it cannot be mapped.
You could also use more granular or specialized markets, such as the Nielsen Radio Metro Area attribute. but it's most common to set the market by using the DMA attribute.
What data does the Rhiza Radio Station attribute return?
The Radio Station attribute is part of the local radio banner data in Scarborough Local Market. It is available on the Dataset-based tab when you are defining a target series. It represents all of the unique listeners of a station from 6AM to midnight, Monday through Saturday.
Do you have any tips for searching the Scarborough data?
To find items in the Scarborough Local Market Survey tree, you can browse, or you can use the search bar at the top to find all of the questions and answers that contain that word. One important caveat: you must start typing the word you want to match from the first letter in order to find a match. For example, if you want to find questions or answers that contain the word vehicle, you can type veh, but not ehicle. As you type, the system begins to match everything to the current string. The more precise your search string is, the more precise your results are.
The same is true when you are searching the Scarborough local TV and radio information on the Dataset-Based tab. uses type-ahead functionality to filter the results in a field; the more you type, the smaller the list of possible results you have to choose from. Again, you must make sure you start typing from the beginning of the term (for example, KDKA for a station, not DKA).
For more information, see Search and browse survey-style datasets.
Where can I learn more about Scarborough data?
Nielsen offers a number of resources to assist you in learning more about the Scarborough dataset, including instructor-led and self-paced classes. Contact your Scarborough sales or training representative for more information.
Release Schedule
To determine which Scarborough release Rhiza uses in your report, refer to the table below.