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In the fast-paced world of business, a lead researcher is a crucial figure who plays a vital role. Their primary responsibility is to identify and analyze potential leads that can aid in the growth and success of businesses. 

Let’s delve into why lead research is important, the definition of a lead researcher, their significance and marketing and how they can help scale your teams.

Why is lead research important?

As you know it is crucial to find and connect with potential customers to achieve success. To achieve this, businesses need to engage in lead research, gathering comprehensive and valuable insights about potential customers. This empowers sales and marketing teams to effectively target and convert contacts. By pinpointing and comprehending the target audience, and delving into the characteristics, preferences, and behaviors of leads, businesses can customize their marketing strategies to effectively resonate with their audience.

This personalized approach increases the chances of converting leads into loyal customers.

Research helps businesses allocate their resources, time, and efforts more efficiently. For instance, Instead of sales or marketers trying to reach everyone and wasting time on contacts that may not convert, having research helps to identify which contacts are closest to the ICP which in turn means they can focus on the most promising prospects. Prioritizing leads that align with their products or services allows businesses to optimize their return on investment.

Personalization is a key driver of customer engagement and conversion. Through lead research, businesses gain valuable insights into their leads’ pain points, challenges, and desires. Armed with this knowledge, they can engage in more meaningful conversations and offer tailored solutions that resonate with potential customers on a deeper level.

A well-executed lead research strategy also helps businesses reduce wastage by preventing them from squandering resources on ineffective marketing campaigns or products that do not resonate with their target audience. By focusing on activities with higher chances of success, businesses can optimize their efforts and budget allocation.

In today’s competitive market, understanding leads better than competitors can be a game-changer. By investing in lead research, businesses can craft unique value propositions . This competitive edge can translate into increased market share and brand loyalty.

What is the role of a Lead Researcher?

A lead researcher is an expert who specializes in the process of finding and evaluating these high potential customers for a business. By searching through copious amounts of information, their task is to locate and assess leads that meet the ICP criteria. Additionally, they conduct data enrichment to ensure that sales and marketing teams have all the necessary information to target their prospects effectively. 

Ultimately the main responsibility of a lead researcher is to speed up and create efficiency within the sales and marketing process. Once a lead is qualified, the lead researcher works with the sales and marketing team to develop targeted strategies to convert the lead into a customer. This research is often carried out by sales reps, which can take up valuable selling time.

Researchers pay great attention to detail, have strong analytical skills, and communication and interpersonal skills. Attention to detail is critical for identifying and analyzing potential leads, while  analytical skills are necessary for interpreting data and making informed decisions. Communication and interpersonal skills are essential for building relationships with potential customers and working effectively with team members.

Should you integrate lead research into your sales & marketing processes?

Unequivocally yes. Being able to accelerate the sales and become more efficient in campaign targeting will not only improve ROI for the business, but drive higher conversion rates. Not only that, but ensuring that more contacts meet the ICP can actually also reduce overall churn rates for businesses. However, whilst they play a crucial role in identifying and analyzing potential leads to accelerate the sales pipeline, sometimes businesses do not have the bandwidth or the resources to allocate this task to an employee. 

This is where outsourcing can really help businesses solve this challenge. Find an outsource partner who can not only improve ROI, but scale your sales efforts by providing contact data that meets your ICP and converts.

Don’t waste time.

To find out more about how a dedicated lead research team could help your business – Get in touch today!

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How to Do Lead Research: Solid Tips for SDRs and Marketers

Ojesvi Singh

Table of Contents

Your marketing efforts do their magic when you can pinpoint the promising leads. But, to reach the right prospects, you must master your lead research efforts. It may involve better ideal customer profiling, social intelligence, and more. 

Where 67% of B2B marketers already focus on quality lead gains, you can compete ahead by refining your research strategies. So, explore this guide on the best tips to improve your capabilities as a lead researcher. We'll also check out select best practices and possible challenges. 

6 Tips for a Thorough Lead Research Process

Your competitors might be trying hard to get the best lead data. But the tips given below for your research practices will help you get the upper hand. These are as follows:

1. Find Your Exact Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) 

When researching leads, identifying your ICP is a significant step. It serves as a strategic compass, ensuring your outreach resonates with the right audience. 

To craft a robust ICP, delve into its key components:

• Demographics: Understand the characteristics of your ideal customers. It includes age, gender, location, and other relevant personal details.
• Industry: Specify the industries that align with your product or service. 
• Company Size: Define the ideal size of the companies you want to target, whether small businesses, mid-sized enterprises, or large corporations.
• Geographic Location: Pinpoint the geographic areas where your ideal customers reside. 
• Challenges: Identify your ideal customers' major and minor difficulties and pain points.  
• Buying Behavior: Analyze the typical buying behavior of your ideal customers. It involves understanding their decision-making process and preferences.
• Budget Considerations: Determine the lead's budget range. Check if it aligns with your product or service. 
• Tech Stack: Explore the technologies and tools your ideal customers use. Check for integration possibilities and compatibility.
• Decision-Making Authority: Define the roles and positions within the target organization that hold decision-making authority.  
• Cultural Fit: Consider the cultural values and preferences that resonate with your ideal customers. 

An accurate ICP plays a pivotal role in finding high-value leads faster. Plus, you can allocate resources wisely once you know whom to target. To ensure the best outcome of your research efforts: 

• Employ reliable sales lead research platforms that help you build a lead list . 
• Cross-reference collected data with your existing client base to eliminate overlaps. 
• Maximize potential by A/B testing ideal client profiles.

2. Conduct Preliminary Research

The next tip is to run thorough and strategic lead research across various databases and resources. Here are a few great ways to do it:

Pick Prominent Sources for Research

Select reliable and authoritative sources for gathering lead information. Prominent sources may include:

• Well-established websites
• Academic journals
• Reputable publications
• Government databases

Explore Advanced Search Techniques

Go beyond basic search engine queries and use more effective search techniques. It involves using specific search operators or modifiers to refine your results. 

For example: 

• "Artificial intelligence in healthcare"
• "Best practices for project management"
• Renewable energy -solar
• Web development -JavaScript
• site:nytimes.com "latest technology trends"
• site:stackoverflow.com "Python programming tips"

These techniques help retrieve more targeted and relevant information. Besides it, you can also try: 

• Deep Web Search: It lets you access information not indexed by traditional search engines. 
• Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT): They allow you to search for more complex and precise search queries. 
• Niche Platforms: These refer to specialized websites or databases tailored to specific industries or topics. 

Check Out Lesser-Known Search Databases

Access sources that may not be commonly used but can provide valuable insights. These could include:

• Industry-specific databases
• Research repositories
• Platforms that cater to niche areas

Collect the information in a unified sales lead database for easy access. 

Identify Where to Find Decision-Makers

You must understand where and how to find information about executives, managers, or prospects with decision-making authority. It includes exploring: 

• Company websites
• Professional networking platforms
• Industry directories

3. Harness Social Media Intelligence Insights

Social media platforms are valuable sources for filling up your lead generation database.

89% of marketers are already on platforms like LinkedIn to find and generate leads.

So, you only need to recognize and tap into the vast data on social media platforms. Here, you can find details about individuals, companies, and industries. You can also get insights into people's interests, activities, connections, and professional backgrounds. 

NOTE: For B2B lead research, LinkedIn and Twitter are the best sites. 

However, beyond basic social media browsing, you should use advanced techniques. These include:

• Using social media analytics tools like Hootsuite Analytics , Google Analytics , etc. 
• Monitoring relevant hashtags or keywords
• Employing advanced search functionalities on social platforms
• Leveraging social listening tools to track decision-makers discussing issues, topics, and solutions your business relates to.
• Participating in discussions, joining groups, or leveraging paid advertising features. 

Remember : When you gather information about prospects through third-party or built-in social media analytics, address ethical considerations and respect privacy. Avoid intrusive methods to collect data, and be transparent about data usage. 

4. Perform Competitive Analysis for Lead Insights

56% of executives actively monitor potential competitors and strategize to expand into new markets. So, why should you be left behind? 

Study and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors in the market. It's a goldmine for lead research because competitors often target similar audiences. Thus, you must analyze your competing businesses:

• Customer interactions
• Market positioning

It gives insights into potential leads, market trends, and customer preferences. Here's how you can do competitor analysis: 

• Examine your competitors' existing customer base to identify potential leads and understand their characteristics. 
• Analyze customer reviews.
• Monitor social media interactions.
• Study public testimonials

You can tailor your approach to attract similar leads by identifying who is engaging with your competitors. Additionally, you can modify your targeting and messaging strategies.

5. Implement Collaborative Research Efforts

Your sales and marketing teams should collaborate well for a unified and practical approach to lead research. These two departments must align their goals, share insights, and create a cohesive strategy. 

Discuss ways both teams can share data, tools, or expertise resources. Strategies may include:

• Establishing a centralized database
• Conducting regular team meetings to share findings
• Utilizing collaborative tools that facilitate information exchange

By pooling resources and sharing research findings, teams can ensure everyone accesses valuable insights. Here's how you can make your collaborative lead research more effective:

• Set clear communication channels between sales and marketing
• Establish a shared understanding of the target audience
• Create a feedback loop to improve research strategies continuously

6. Leverage Connection-building Psychology

B2B prospects mainly focus on tangible and rational considerations. But they also exhibit universal human characteristics. These include experiencing:

• Frustrations

Thus, they prioritize consistent quality, safety, reliability, and excellent customer service while buying. It shows the impact of emotion-driven decision-making in business.

So, while building a prospecting list , focus on the sentiments of decision-makers and organizations that your solution can satisfy. Besides emotions, also recognizing their: 

• Distinctive viewpoints
• Mutual interests
• Shared experiences 

It will help you search for leads likely to be loyal due to shared values.

Best Practices for Error-Free Lead Research

While finding leads, your lead database's quality, completeness, and correctness are essential. Here's how you can make it happen:

1. Fill in Missing Lead Data

Actively seek additional information about your leads to fill in gaps in your created database. Conduct interviews or surveys with your target audience to get exclusive insights that may not be readily available through other means. 

2. Replace the Old Database with Up-to-Date Information

Over time, contact information and other details about your leads can change. It's essential to update your database with the most current information available by using various methods like data enrichment and email scrubbing . It may include recent contact numbers, email addresses, job titles, and other relevant details.

This way, you can verify lead data, removing errors while reaching out. 

Here are some ways to do it:

• Cross-reference available information with multiple sources
• Use data validation tools like Webbula , Astera , etc.
• Reach out directly to leads for confirmation.

Common Challenges and Solutions

Here are the top challenges while searching for the right business leads . You can also find their provided solutions:  

1. Lengthy Manual Entry and Routine Tasks

Challenge: Conducting thorough lead research involves sifting through large volumes of data. When your team does it manually, it can be time-consuming and prone to errors. 

Solution: Incorporate automation tools and technologies like:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems ( HubSpot , Salesforce , etc)
• Data enrichment tools ( Clearbit ,  Enricher.io , etc.)
• Lead generation platforms ( Zendesk Sell, Revnew , etc.)

These tools can automate data entry, update information in real-time, and handle routine tasks.

2. Unclear ROI Feasibility for ICP

Challenge: You need to invest significant resources in researching and pursuing leads. However, it's challenging to tell whether the leads align with your expected return on investment (ROI). 

Solution: Regularly reassess and refine the ICP based on performance metrics. It ensures your resources reach leads with the highest ROI feasibility.

3. Scenarios Where No Leads Match Your ICP

Challenge- In some cases, no leads may precisely match your selected ICP. It causes a considerable loss of money and time. 

Solution: Have contingency plans in place. It could involve:

• Broadening the criteria of your ICP to capture a wider audience.
• Exploring adjacent markets that may share similarities with the target audience.
• Investing in market research to identify emerging trends and potential new segments that align with their offerings. 

Advanced B2B lead research hinges on a data-driven, collaborative, and industry-specific methodology. You must emphasize these principles for a successful lead generation campaign. 

Integrate these strategies into your existing practices for a holistic and practical approach that maximizes superior lead research results.

Make the process easier with expert-recommended specialized strategies at Revnew. We have proven expertise to help you reach high-value B2B leads. Contact us today to know more. 

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Sales Leads Researcher

A lead researcher is a person who delivers curated, highly-targeted, and accurate lead lists for your company. The goal of a lead researcher is to enhance the work of your sales team and fill your pipeline with potential clients.

The quality of your contact lists defines the effectiveness of your outbound prospecting. Bought contact lists miss a lot of things a researcher doesn’t. At CIENCE, every lead researcher’s work is based on a client’s buyer persona and ICP . This is how our team knows what companies need your product, as well as which decision-maker will be the most suitable contact point.

Key Responsibilities

• Research contact information for sales leads;
• Work with various online tools and databases to enrich leads;
• Record all lead details in a database.

Read about Data Researcher's daily activities at CIENCE.

How Do I Improve My Lead Researchers’ Performance?

• Craft your buyer persona and ICP carefully You should compose these profiles for each sales and marketing campaign you conduct. One mistake in crafting your ICP can result in a failed campaign. At first sight, your leads may seem totally fine. But if one of the main requirements of your ICP is set wrong, it will lead your campaign in the wrong direction. Unsorted contact lists will waste your money because your SDRs will spend colossal amounts of time knocking on doors that will never open.
• Set Key Performance Indicator (KPI) criteria clearly The accuracy of leads is the KPI for lead researchers. Each inaccurate lead allows you to pinpoint the mistakes your researchers make, why they make it, and how it can be fixed.
• Reward your lead researchers for perfect contact lists Lead research is hard work that requires people to be attentive and tedium-resistant. To lift up the spirits and boost the productivity of your workers, implement a bonus system. This will reward lead researchers that composed lists free of inaccurate contacts.
• Outsource Outsourcing is an efficient option to increase your team’s productivity. Adding another pair of hands to your team won’t hurt, plus it’s cheaper than the in-house option. For instance, the average salary of a lead researcher per year is almost twice as high as hiring CIENCE as an outsource option.

A lead researcher delivers accurate and highly-targeted lead lists for your company. This work is the starting point of the lead generation process. Your lead researchers’ work should be based on a buyer persona and an ICP.

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What They Do

What does a Research Scientist Lead do?

A research scientist lead is a professional who oversees and conducts scientific research. They are responsible for developing and applying advanced bioinformatics tools, inventing new technologies, and managing DNA sequencing facilities. They also play a crucial role in product development, statistical analysis, and designing experiments. Additionally, they are involved in business development, software development, and cost savings measures. Uniquely, they may also be responsible for managing clinical trials and prototyping, as well as contributing to the creation of technical reports and contracts.

• Responsibilities
• Skills And Traits
• Comparisions
• Types of Research Scientist Lead

Research scientist lead responsibilities

A research scientist lead plays a crucial role in managing and conducting research projects. They develop and apply advanced bioinformatics tools, conduct analysis for regulatory compliance, and elucidate the structure of drug degradants. Lisa Cuchara Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Quinnipiac University, emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and communication skills for a research scientist lead. She states, "Critical thinking is timeless and priceless. Also being a good steward towards science and being willing and able to communicate not just with peers. but also with the public. is important."

Here are examples of responsibilities from real research scientist lead resumes:

• Manage pediatric dose development project, technology transfer project and alternate API supplier qualification project on budget and on schedule
• Develop, validate and implement robust methods for pharmacokinetic, immunogenicity (ADA) and immunodepletion ELISAs, and cell based-bioassays.

Research scientist lead skills and personality traits

We calculated that 18 % of Research Scientist Leads are proficient in Research Projects , R , and Artificial Intelligence .

We break down the percentage of Research Scientist Leads that have these skills listed on their resume here:

Involved extensively with AFRL program management in the planning, execution, and completion of research projects/programs.

Identified systematic errors in electronic medical record using a combination of SQL queries and R visualizations.

Team Leader and Technical Leader for conducting Research on Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Service Robotics.

Worked extensively with data analysis/interpretation and presentation.

Design of experiments and statistical analysis to assess products and results.

Demonstrated our technologies to potential customers, understanding their requirements and ultimately proposed solutions as a part of business development team.

Common skills that a research scientist lead uses to do their job include "research projects," "r," and "artificial intelligence." You can find details on the most important research scientist lead responsibilities below.

Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a research scientist lead to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "medical scientists must be able to explain their research in nontechnical ways." Research scientist leads often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "facilitated communication and interaction amongst functional representatives as delegated by the principal investigator for research projects. "

Observation skills. Many research scientist lead duties rely on observation skills. "medical scientists conduct experiments that require monitoring samples and other health-related data.," so a research scientist lead will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways research scientist lead responsibilities rely on observation skills: "monitored field of expertise, including literature and technology development, and communicates relevant observations regarding cell culture and technology advantages. "

All research scientist lead skills

The three companies that hire the most research scientist leads are:

• Google 5 research scientist leads jobs
• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital 4 research scientist leads jobs
• Kimberly-Clark 3 research scientist leads jobs

Choose from 10+ customizable research scientist lead resume templates

Compare different research scientist leads

Research scientist lead vs. doctoral fellow.

A doctoral fellow is a physician that has completed studies and receives a fellowship to cover his/her or her expenses while completing his/her or her medical dissertation. A doctor fellow undergoes this fellowship to get additional training for their chosen sub-specialty. During the fellowship period, a fellow can act as an attending physician or consultant physician with other physicians' direct supervision in the sub-specialty field.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between research scientist leads and doctoral fellow. For instance, research scientist lead responsibilities require skills such as "artificial intelligence," "business development," "clinical studies," and "fda." Whereas a doctoral fellow is skilled in "patients," "cell culture," "cell biology," and "immunology." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Research scientist lead vs. Fellow

A fellow's responsibility will depend on the organization or industry where one belongs. However, most of the time, a fellow's duty will revolve around conducting research and analysis, presiding discussions and attending dialogues, handle lectures while complying with the guidelines or tasks set by supervisors, and assist in various projects and activities. Furthermore, a fellow must adhere to the institution or organization's policies and regulations at all times, meet all the requirements and outputs involved, and coordinate with every person in the workforce.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that research scientist lead responsibilities requires skills like "artificial intelligence," "business development," "clinical studies," and "technical guidance." But a fellow might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "patients," "professional development," "veterans," and "mathematics."

Research scientist lead vs. Postdoctoral associate

A postdoctoral associate is responsible for researching to support scientific claims and theories by collecting evidence and information to answer scientific questions. Postdoctoral associates must have excellent communication skills , both oral and written, to interact with people and document investigation findings. They also utilize laboratory tools and equipment for scientific researches, conduct field investigations, and interview participants. A postdoctoral associate designs comprehensive research models to discuss results with the panel and the team efficiently and accurately.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from research scientist lead resumes include skills like "artificial intelligence," "business development," "clinical studies," and "fda," whereas a postdoctoral associate is more likely to list skills in "patients," "tip," "biomedical," and "crispr. "

Research scientist lead vs. Postdoctoral scholar

A Postdoctoral Scholar is responsible for supporting an educational research group to conduct studies and gather relevant data to support study claims and scientific evidence. They review initial findings, perform field investigations, and interview the target respondents for data and statistical analysis. They also coordinate with the whole team for efficient research methods, ensuring adherence to budget limitations and required timetables. A Postdoctoral Scholar must have excellent communication skills , both oral and written, to document reports and discuss results with the research team.

Types of research scientist lead

• Research Scientist
• Doctoral Fellow
• PHD Researcher
• Research And Development Scientist

Staff Scientist

Updated April 25, 2024

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

What Similar Roles Do

• What an Assistant Research Scientist Does
• What an Associate Scientist Does
• What a Doctoral Fellow Does
• What a Fellow Does
• What a Laboratory Researcher Does
• What a Medical Science Liaison Does
• What an PHD Researcher Does
• What a Postdoctoral Associate Does
• What a Postdoctoral Research Associate Does
• What a Postdoctoral Scholar Does
• What a Research And Development Scientist Does
• What a Research Associate Does
• What a Research Fellow Does
• What a Research Scientist Does
• What a Researcher Does

Research Scientist Lead Related Careers

• Assistant Research Scientist
• Associate Scientist
• Laboratory Researcher
• Medical Science Liaison
• Postdoctoral Associate
• Postdoctoral Research Associate
• Postdoctoral Scholar
• Research Associate
• Research Fellow

Research Scientist Lead Related Jobs

Resume for related jobs.

• Assistant Research Scientist Resume
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• Doctoral Fellow Resume
• Fellow Resume
• Laboratory Researcher Resume
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• PHD Researcher Resume
• Postdoctoral Associate Resume
• Postdoctoral Research Associate Resume
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What Is a Sales Lead?

• How It Works
• Internet Sales Leads

Social Media Marketing

• Other Ways to Find Leads

The Bottom Line

• Marketing Essentials

What Is a Sales Lead? How It Works and Factors Affecting Quality

Yarilet Perez is an experienced multimedia journalist and fact-checker with a Master of Science in Journalism. She has worked in multiple cities covering breaking news, politics, education, and more. Her expertise is in personal finance and investing, and real estate.

A sales lead is a person or business who may eventually become a client. Sales lead also refers to the data that identifies an entity as a potential buyer of a product or service. Businesses gain access to sales leads through advertising, trade shows, direct mailings, third parties, and other marketing efforts . A sales lead is not really a sales "prospect" per se because a business would need to examine and qualify the potential new client further to determine their intent and interest.

Key Takeaways

• A sales lead refers to a person or business entity that is currently not a client but may eventually become one.
• Sales leads can also be the data that identifies someone as a potential buyer of a service or product.
• Several factors determine the quality of the sales lead, such as the accuracy of the contact information, the incentive used to motivate the prospect, and whether the prospect was aware of the sales opportunity at the time they responded.
• Companies use a variety of marketing methods to generate sales leads, such as direct response marketing, advertising, sales calls, email marketing, and social media.

How a Sales Lead Works

The sales process begins when a sales professional generates, qualifies, and places the sales lead data into a company's sales pipeline . Salesmen use the lead's contact information to send sales-pitch emails, direct marketing materials, and to make outbound sales calls.

Several factors determine the quality of sales leads, such as:

• Whether the individual or business had the incentive to offer contact information
• The accuracy of the data provided
• The validity of the sales lead

A sales lead's validity depends on whether the targeted person was aware of the sales opportunity when they responded.

The Age of Internet Sales Leads

As of 2023, 91.8% of Americans regularly access the internet. Because of this high level of access, the Internet provides ample opportunities to obtain sales leads. However, acquiring sales leads is a strategic process that requires skill and effort.

Businesses gain quality sales leads by using the internet to inform themselves about consumers' unmet needs or problems and then offer solutions to them. For example, technology sector businesses may provide e-books, hold webinars, and broadcast podcasts to enlighten consumers about using a product or software. Sales professionals could hold interactive online sessions and publish question-and-answer (Q&A) materials for a similar purpose.

The internet allows sales professionals to extend their reach globally. However, many internet users are wary of providing their personal information online. Increasingly, consumers are demanding that the information they submit online is kept private.

Social media marketing is a type of digital marketing that uses popular social media platforms—such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Pinterest, and Instagram—to reach potential customers and share a company's message. Effective social media marketing campaigns try to engage social media users by encouraging comments, likes, and sharing of the company's messages and posts.

Some social media campaigns are primarily to develop brand awareness of a company's products or services. Others develop sales leads by encouraging viewers to signup or provide their contact details in exchange for a free product, discount, or download.

The "freebie" that the company entices the viewer with is called a lead magnet . Lead magnets can take many forms. Popular ones include trial subscriptions, free consultations, special reports, tip sheets, white papers, and sample products. The marketer will then use the provided contact information to send the prospect additional messages that will entice the person to make an actual purchase.

Alternative Ways to Find Sales Leads

The type of business you have, and the customers you are trying to reach, will impact how you look for and acquire sales leads.

Traditional in-person networking tends to be quite effective. Industry trade shows and networking events provide a wealth of sales leads for businesses, as does your local chamber of commerce. Disseminating information about products or services through advertising in local media also is useful.

Social responsibility can foster sales leads as well. By being socially responsible , businesses that give also receive. When a company or its employees donate time, effort, or supplies to local public service and nonprofit organizations, they don't just get to feel good about helping others. They also put their company's name in front of many viewers, sometimes through media coverage, which can generate numerous contacts including sales leads.

What Is a Sales Qualified Lead?

A qualified lead, or sometimes a sales-qualified lead, is a potential customer who has moved through the sales pipeline. Their information has been acquired as a sales lead, and they have demonstrated enough interest that the sales team can work to turn them into an active customer.

How Do Businesses Protect Against Losing Leads's Private Information?

As companies store more data from sales leads and customers, the impact of a privacy breach becomes more serious. Businesses can spend significant money dealing with the fallout of a data breach. Some companies concerned about potential losses they could suffer from privacy breaches of their customers' confidential information will opt to buy cyber and privacy insurance .

How Long Does It Take for Sales Leads to Turn Into Customers?

How long it takes to turn leads into active customers will depend on your business model, type of products or services, ideal customer, and the cost of a purchase. It will be easier, for example, to turn a lead into a customer for a $5 product than for a $500 product because most consumers take longer to make big purchasing decisions. Leads may need to be exposed to your brand or product seven or more times before they are ready to become an active customer.

A sales lead is a person or business entity that may become a client or customer but isn't one now. It can also refer to the data that a company holds which identifies potential buyers. Companies use many methods to acquire leads, including advertising, direct response marketing, email marketing, social media, and cold calls.

The quality of a sales lead is determined by the accuracy of the contact information you have for them, the incentive used to motivate them to become a prospective buyer, and whether they are aware of the sales opportunity. A qualified sales lead is one that is ready to be passed to the sales team and converted into a customer.

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Definition of lead

 (Entry 1 of 5)

transitive verb

intransitive verb

Definition of lead  (Entry 2 of 5)

Definition of lead  (Entry 3 of 5)

Definition of lead  (Entry 4 of 5)

Definition of lead  (Entry 5 of 5)

Did you know?

When to Use Lead or Led

There is some persistent confusion about lead and led . Or, we should say, there is confusion about the leads and led . Lead is both a noun and a verb, as most people know. There are several unrelated nouns spelled lead : one most commonly refers to a metal (as in, "The paint was made with lead"), and the other most commonly refers to a position of advantage (as in, "Our team was in the lead"). The verb lead is pronounced /LEED/, with a long e ; the noun that refers to a position or advantage is also pronounced /LEED/, with a long e ; the noun that refers to the metal, however, is pronounced /LED/, with a short e . To this moderately convoluted situation, add the past tense and past participle of the verb lead , which is led and pronounced like the metal noun lead with a short e . The homophonic confusion leads to homographic confusion, and you will therefore occasionally see lead in constructions where led is called for (as in, “She lead the ducklings to safety” instead of “She led the ducklings to safety”). The correct past and past participle of lead is spelled led . If you aren’t sure whether to use led or lead as the verb in your sentence, try reading it aloud to yourself. If the verb is pronounced /LED/, use led .

• marshall
• supereminent

guide , lead , steer , pilot , engineer mean to direct in a course or show the way to be followed.

guide implies intimate knowledge of the way and of all its difficulties and dangers.

lead implies showing the way and often keeping those that follow under control and in order.

steer implies an ability to keep to a course and stresses the capacity of maneuvering correctly.

pilot suggests guidance over a dangerous or complicated course.

engineer implies finding ways to avoid or overcome difficulties in achieving an end or carrying out a plan.

Examples of lead in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lead.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Verb (1), Noun (1), and Adjective

Middle English leden , from Old English lǣdan ; akin to Old High German leiten to lead, Old English līthan to go

Noun (2) and Verb (2)

Middle English leed , from Old English lēad ; akin to Middle High German lōt lead

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

1828, in the meaning defined above

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing lead

• extension lead
• follow someone's lead
• gain the lead
• get the lead out
• go down like a lead balloon
• go over like a lead balloon
• have / hold the lead
• in the lead

lead acetate

• lead a charmed life
• lead a double life
• lead anywhere
• lead arsenate
• lead by example
• lead carbonate
• lead chromate
• lead dioxide
• lead - free
• lead monoxide
• lead nowhere
• lead one down the garden path
• lead one's own life
• lead one up the garden path
• lead pencil
• lead - pipe
• lead poisoning
• lead (someone) a merry chase
• lead (someone) a (merry) dance
• lead someone (around) by the nose
• lead (someone) down / up the garden path
• lead sulfide
• lead the / one's eye to
• lead the pack / field
• lead the way
• lead the world
• lead to believe
• lead to the altar
• sing / play lead
• take the lead
• tetraethyl lead

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Cite this entry.

“Lead.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lead. Accessed 17 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of lead.

Kids Definition of lead  (Entry 2 of 5)

Kids Definition of lead  (Entry 3 of 5)

Kids Definition of lead  (Entry 4 of 5)

Kids Definition of lead  (Entry 5 of 5)

Old English lǣdan "to lead"

Old English lēad "the metal lead"

Medical Definition

Medical definition of lead.

 (Entry 1 of 2)

Medical Definition of lead  (Entry 2 of 2)

Legal Definition

Legal definition of lead.

Legal Definition of lead  (Entry 2 of 2)

More from Merriam-Webster on lead

Nglish: Translation of lead for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of lead for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about lead

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What is research-led teaching and why it matters

“I think we tend to say that we are research-led or research-based without necessarily reflecting on what that means in our particular discipline.” – Professor Ford  

ANU has a global reputation for research and prides itself on its research-led teaching. Yet as a student myself, I’ve often realised I am not fully aware of what this looks like in practice. It raises all sorts of questions: How do I know when research and teaching intersect? If the academics follow a teaching curriculum, does it make much of a difference if they are experts in a certain field of law? Does their external research really have any impact on one’s learning – and why does it matter?  

I conducted a series of interviews with four ANU College of Law academics on what research-led teaching looks like, hoping to contextualise and reflect on my own learning experiences as a law student. Through their insights and experiences, I saw the value of such pedagogy and the impact it has on student learning. 

What is research-led teaching and what does it look like at the ANU College of Law? 

According to Associate Professor Wayne Morgan – who is also the Associate Dean for the ANU College of Law:  “[T]he whole ethos of the ANU as a research-led institution … [is that] all of our teaching should be research-led. That applies throughout the programs, whether they be compulsory courses within the programs, or elective courses in the programs, or indeed even in the more work integrated learning aspects of the program.”   

At its core, research-led teaching is apparent when an academic teaches subject matter that aligns with their expertise, allowing them to bring insights from their research into their teaching. 

Academics practice this in multiple ways. While there is less scope for course design in a compulsory course, they require an element of research as the academic needs to be up to date with any changes in the legislation or new cases. Research can also be incorporated through illustrations and asides that demonstrate the core concepts in a different context more familiar to the academic. Professor Jo Ford describes this as: “…sprinkling or weaving through [the compulsory course] some of your own experiences and insights from your research area in ways that give your teaching more authenticity and authority.”  

In addition, the law program offers a plethora of electives, allowing students to engage with more specialised or niche aspects of the law that interest them. Wayne recommends this as a great platform for academics to design a course purely based on their research areas. A recent example of this is Dr Cassandra Steer’s new elective, Space Law and Governance, which was based entirely on her specialisation in space law, space policy and space security. By incorporating research in this way, academics are able to offer “expertise that doesn’t exist anywhere else, and a perspective on the subject matter that doesn’t exist anywhere else.” (Dr Steer)  

The ANU College of Law also offers experiential learning based on an academic’s research field. For instance, students recently had the opportunity to contribute to Jo’s research in modern slavery by analysing companies across a sector and how they have been responding to the risk of modern slavery. This project provided students with an opportunity to engage in research topics using less conventional and more collaborative and independently research-driven methods. 

Why does it matter?

Research-led teaching undoubtedly shapes the student learning experience. Foremost, research-led teaching develops critical thinking. This may sound rather obvious, but the impact it has on students’ learning should not be overlooked. While scientific and mathematical courses are generally about testing and applying a proven formula or ‘truth’, research-led teaching in the context of law usurps the assumption that what you are learning is hard truth. An academic’s research offers different perspectives, which inspires investigation, triggers debate and invites alternative ways of questioning the material being taught. For example, as well as discussing her own research on current issues, Cassandra was able to bring in an Aboriginal astronomer who offered insight into Indigenous perspectives in the realm of space law. In this way, she was able to use interdisciplinary research as a medium to enrich her students’ critical thinking skills.  

Moreover, research-led teaching produces an inspired and motivated academic, and as such directly influences the learning environment for students. While academics do not always teach their specialisation, especially within the compulsory subjects, it often interests and inspires them if they are able to incorporate their research. Jo notes the impact of this in the classroom:  “In my own experience, you feel a lot more alive and motivated and the students can tell. They’re like, ‘Wow, this person is very passionate about this subject that they know a lot about. They research it, and they’re sharing it with me… This person is letting me into the world that they know so well, which can create quite a good, intimate learning experience.”   

Finally, research-led teaching helps students see the relevance of the subject, whether it be through current affairs or everyday life. This shows students that what they are learning is not only confined to the classroom but also is relevant to the world in action. For instance, Associate Professor Vivien Holmes used her research on sexual harassment and bullying in the legal profession in the Laws, Justice and Ethics course. She found that when students can see a connection between research and an issue in real life, it not only enriches their learning but also empowers them to act and consider how they can practically put into action what they have learnt. Even for courses that may not have an immediate practical application, seeing the relevance can encourage students to consider how they can use their studies in the long run to address such issues.  

Conclusion 

My chats with these academics have helped me identify the ways in which specialised research has been incorporated in the courses I have taken, which has also enriched my appreciation of its ‘capillary effects’ on my learning. Students are fortunate that ANU invests in education driven by leading research, and I am confident that as students progress through their degree, they will continually see how ANU lives up to its reputation. 

View or download the video transcript

February 2022

Rebecca Gibson is a student in the ANU College of Law and a part-time Education Technologist at the Centre for Learning and Teaching. 

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• What is a Lead?

In simple terms, a lead is an individual or organization with an interest in what you are selling . The interest is expressed by sharing contact information, like an email ID, a phone number, or even a social media handle.

The definition seems so simple, that “what is a lead” doesn’t seem like a question worth answering.

But, that’s not true.

The single biggest debate between marketing and sales arises from the question “what is a lead.” And it’s no small debate!

It’s what causes a marketer’s myopia. Marketers revel in the number of leads they have generated, closing their eyes to continuous sales complaints about lead quality.

It’s also what causes sales to dismiss marketing leads as low-quality, without cross-verifying. They end up delaying follow-ups, losing opportunities that might have converted. In the end, the blame lies with marketing for not generating quality leads.

The biases are well-documented:

• Only 25% leads are legitimate and should advance to sales – Gleanster Research.
• Sales reps make 1.3 (average) call attempts before giving up on a lead.

So are the consequences the company faces:

• Companies with poor sales and marketing alignment have a 4% revenue decline year on year.

The marketing – sales conflict

So, there’s a continuous conflict between marketing and sales about leads. Marketers spend countless hours and dollars generating leads , but most of those leads are junked by sales.

This is devastating for the business. Because, no matter how one defines a lead, the business aim is the same – to increase the revenue. Therefore, it is really important to have both your marketing and sales team in sync with each other.

The need for marketing-sales sync

• Companies with strong sales and marketing alignment achieve 20% annual growth rate. Whereas, companies with a poor sales – marketing alignment have a 4% revenue decline.
• Companies with aligned sales and marketing generated 208% more revenue from marketing (MarketingProfs)

So, as a marketer, you should not think about just generating leads , but about generating high quality leads . And as a salesperson, you should share constant feedback with the marketing team, about the quality of leads.

To put this debate to rest…

The teams working together (sales and marketing) must agree on what a lead is. And then, work towards generating them.

This description that you agree on is your ideal customer persona. The leads that you generate matching this description are your ideal leads.

So, what is a lead?

Someone fills up a form on your website , calls your company landline requesting info, initiates a chat on your website, or interacts with you on social media .

Is it a lead?

By a marketer’s definition..

This would be a lead. Because, for a marketer, lead is someone they can trail. You have captured their contact information – like a phone number, email or a social media account. If marketing can nurture them, and get them interested in a sales conversation later, it’s a lead.

By a salesperson’s definition..

They have just expressed a vague interest, and it can turn out to be the best deal of the quarter or just flat out junk. These leads are not qualified . So, sales would not consider this inquiry a “lead” yet.

It makes sense, because chasing every lead is a waste of salespersons’ time. Time that they’d rather use doing followups, generating outbound leads and calling opportunities. For them, the definition of lead is limited just to sales-ready leads, or the ideal lead that we discussed above.

So, where’s the middle-ground?

Hence, if someone making an inquiry matches your ideal customer persona , it qualifies as an ideal sales lead. These leads become even more important, when they take a further action after their initial inquiry. For instance, if they specifically ask for a demo of your product, or take a free trial, they are sales-ready.

[ Also read : MQL vs. SQL – How to Turn Marketing Qualified Leads to Sales Qualified Ones ]

Should we stop generating leads that aren’t sales-qualified?

No, that’s plain stupid. And unrealistic. You cannot and *should* not stop leads from entering your sales funnel .

Someone interested enough in a freebie related to what you sell, will have a buying intent in future, if not now.

However, you need proper processes in place to assign leads to sales only when they are sales-ready. This qualifying point  can be defined by their lead score or any activity that indicates buying intent.

In conclusion

Here’s how to agree on a common definition of a lead, and ensure marketing-sales alignment.

A) Define an ideal lead 

According to your historic data , what kind of leads close more often? There must be specific demographics, geographies and behaviors common to your ideal lead persona . In addition, lead generation channels can also be an important part of it. For instance, LinkedIn might get you more leads matching your customer persona .

B) Have a proper qualification system in place

The leads should progress to sales only when they match the ideal lead persona + take an sales-specific action. You can monitor this, by using tools like lead scoring and lead tracking .

We’ll discuss in further detail about marketing-sales alignment, and lead qualification in upcoming chapters. I hope for now, the definition of a lead is clear to you, from both marketing and sales perspective.

Let’s summarize with an infographic..

It shows the problems that occur from marketing-sales misalignment. Almost always, the first step in addressing these problems is to have a definition of “lead” that marketing and sales agree with.

There are some other terms you must have heard, like prospects, contact etc. They might be used interchangeably in different industries, or even in different organizations. What’s the difference. Let’s find out in the next chapter

Go to Chapter two

Qualifying leads saves time and resources. Here’s how to approach it: 1. Lead scoring:  Develop a lead scoring system that assigns points based on criteria like budget, industry, and pain points. Leads exceeding a certain score are considered qualified and prioritized for sales outreach. 2. BANT qualification framework:  This framework uses criteria like Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline to assess a lead’s qualification. Leads that meet all or most criteria are considered promising prospects. 3. Discovery calls:  Schedule calls with leads to delve deeper into their needs, challenges, and decision-making process. This allows you to determine if their needs align with your offerings and if they have the budget and authority to make a purchase.

Nurturing keeps them engaged. Here are some strategies: 1. Targeted email marketing campaigns:  Develop email drip campaigns with educational content addressing the lead’s specific pain points and showcasing how your product or service can help them in the future. 2. Lead nurturing software:  Utilize marketing automation tools to personalize communication, deliver relevant content based on the lead’s interests, and nurture them until they become sales-qualified. 3. Webinars or educational content:  Offer free webinars or downloadable resources that address the lead’s challenges and position your company as a thought leader in the industry.

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Here are some factors to consider: 1 . Industry and sales cycle:  The typical sales cycle for your industry might influence how long you keep a lead in that stage. Complex B2B sales cycles might allow for longer nurturing periods compared to simpler B2C transactions. 2. Lead activity and engagement:  If a lead hasn’t shown any recent activity or engagement with your marketing efforts, it might be time to disqualify them. 3. Internal lead qualification criteria:  Establish clear lead qualification criteria within your sales team. Leads that don’t meet these criteria after a reasonable timeframe can be disqualified.

Rajat is VP - Sales & Marketing at LeadSquared. A designer at heart, he is a truss bridge for sales and marketing teams. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn or write to him at [email protected].

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• Published: 12 June 2023

Reflections on patient engagement by patient partners: how it can go wrong

• Dawn P. Richards 1 , 2 , 3   na1 ,
• Sabrina Poirier 4   na1 ,
• Vina Mohabir 5 ,
• Laurie Proulx 6 , 7 ,
• Sue Robins 8 &
• Jeffery Smith 9  

Research Involvement and Engagement volume  9 , Article number:  41 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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As six patient partners in Canada, we aim to contribute to learning and to provide an opportunity to reflect on patient engagement (PE) in research and healthcare environments. Patient engagement refers to “meaningful and active collaboration in governance, priority setting, conducting research and knowledge translation” with patient partners as members of teams, rather than participants in research or clinical care. While much has been written about the benefits of patient engagement, it is important to accurately document and share what we term ‘patient engagement gone wrong.’ These examples have been anonymized and presented as four statements: patient partners as a check mark, unconscious bias towards patient partners, lack of support to fully include patient partners, and lack of recognizing the vulnerability of patient partners. The examples provided are intended to demonstrate that patient engagement gone wrong is more common than discussed openly, and to simply bring this to light. This article is not intending to lay blame, rather to evolve and improve patient engagement initiatives. We ask those who interact with patient partners to reflect so we can all work towards improving patient engagement. Lean into the discomfort with these conversations as that is the only way to change these all too recognizable examples, and which will lead to better project outcomes and experiences for all team members.

Plain English summary

We are six patient partners in Canada who aim to contribute to learning and to provide an opportunity to reflect on patient engagement (PE) in research and healthcare environments. Patient engagement refers to “meaningful and active collaboration in governance, priority setting, conducting research and knowledge translation,” where patient partners are members of the teams, rather than participants in research or those seeking clinical care. It appears more has been written on the benefits rather than the risks of patient engagement and we feel it is important to document and share what we call ‘patient engagement gone wrong.’ We have anonymized these examples and sorted them into four statements: patient partners as a check mark, unconscious bias towards patient partners, lack of support to fully include patient partners, and lack of recognizing the vulnerability of patient partners. These statements and their examples are meant to show that patient engagement gone wrong is more common than discussed openly, and to simply bring this to light. With this commentary, we do not mean to lay blame, and instead wish to evolve and improve patient engagement initiatives. We ask those who interact with patient partners to reflect so we can all work towards improving patient engagement. Lean into the discomfort with these examples, as that is the only way to change these all too recognizable statements, and which will lead to better project outcomes and experiences for all team members.

Peer Review reports

This article aims to contribute to the growth and evolution of patient engagement (PE) in research and healthcare, sometimes also called patient and public involvement or PPI. We hope this creates an opportunity for those reading to reflect on the lived experiences of patient partners involved in engagement activities. The term patient partner includes people with their own health issues and experiences and includes caregivers, family members, and friends, who actively contribute to research or quality improvement teams [ 1 ]. Patient partners in the context of this article does not refer to participants in research studies or patients seeking clinical care. Further, we use the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s (CIHR’s) definition of patient engagement in research which is “[m]eaningful and active collaboration in governance, priority setting, conducting research and knowledge translation” [ 2 ]. This definition is similar to the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s definition of patient and public involvement in research which is “an active partnership between members of the public and researchers. This means that members of the public work alongside the research team and are actively involved in contributing to the research process as advisers and possibly as co-researchers” [ 3 ]. We see the aim of patient engagement being true partnership with patients, where they are equal partners on teams.

Much has been written on the benefits of patient engagement including: facilitating recruitment to and maintaining participation in research studies and clinical trials; leveraging patient partners’ own experiences and insights to provide additional context to goals of and treatments under study; helping knowledge translation (e.g. through making and sharing results that are more relevant and credible to study populations); and potentially even contributing to better and/or different outcomes [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. As the practice of patient engagement continues to evolve and grow, it is equally important to be aware of some of patient engagement’s potential risks or challenges to patients. To name a few, these include the risks of tokenism [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ], power imbalances and dynamics [ 10 , 13 ], not having the tools for equitable engagement [ 7 ], questioning reasons for engagement [ 8 ], lack of accessible and patient-friendly training for patient partners, and a lack of training for other team members [ 14 ]. Despite these potential risks and harms due to patient engagement in research and healthcare, patient partners continue to remain involved as: “ It is our lives that are at stake, after all ….”[ 5 ]. Many patient partners engage to prevent others from dealing with what they have; to help meet unmet needs of under resourced communities; to develop, and to have a voice in research [ 15 ], policy, and clinical care. While much has been written about the benefits and challenges to patient engagement by research teams that may include patient partners, there appears to be little that is written solely from the perspective of patient partners.

We are six patient partners in Canada choosing to bring to light and discuss the difficult situations when patient engagement does not work well for patient partners and may even cause harm. Having done work in Canada and internationally, these experiences are not unique to the Canadian context. These real examples are based on our own experiences, and are presented here in an anonymous, composite way. Anyone is capable of making these mistakes unconsciously. We ask readers to reflect on the examples with a growth mindset, and on their potential to be a partner who lessens the power imbalances that exist in patient engagement. This approach to partnership will change the research team dynamic and may improve the situation and project for all involved. This authorship team has all experienced these examples or variations of them, and we ask readers to think of the patient partners who do not feel safe enough to bring up these experiences. These examples are common and well known within the patient partner community. We provide readers the necessary content to constructively reflect and consider how their own power and privilege may be able to change these scenarios. As a patient engagement community, we are all learning together and are invested in the goals of better research results, outcomes, and partnership, which will result from improving our approaches.

As authors of this paper, we came together as a team after two of us (SP, DPR), brainstormed the original concept for this paper based on our experiences, and realized that others may benefit from them. We invited others to the team based on different experiences and backgrounds (e.g., the conditions a number of us live/lived with, caregiver experiences, location, and other intersectionality-related factors). We have 78 years of combined experience as patient partners in a variety of settings. Yet, even we continue to struggle to be meaningfully engaged from concept initiation or design to dissemination, we have often been the sole patient partner included on a team, and we still have to advocate and educate for full support and accommodations to be on research teams. We are among the patient partners who have had the privilege to be invited and included thus far while many potential patient partners are still excluded from these spaces or opportunities. Much more work is needed in these spaces to increase inclusion and safety for patient partners. Lastly, while we have all had positive experiences in patient engagement, the negative experiences take a deep toll on us. Even with our collective experience these situations leave us wondering about the value we bring or if we should continue given the risks posed to us. We hope to help other patient partners and research teams recognize and mitigate these risks in their own work.

Four statements of patient engagement gone wrong

Below we have identified four problem statements that describe situations in patient engagement that we have all faced (see Fig.  1 ). We provide anonymous examples for reflection along with how these examples impacted our work, emotions, and even our future work as patient partners. As you read the situations, we ask you to reflect: Have you seen these situations in your own work? Have you spoken to someone with lived experience? What have you done or would you do to prevent them or to negate these situations? How could you aim to avoid the situation altogether in the future? Who has the power and privilege in this situation?

Statements and their explanations of patient engagement gone wrong, along with questions for the research team members to ask about how they could improve or prevent these situations

1. Patient partners as a check mark

This statement can also be called tokenism. Tokenism is essentially inviting someone to participate but not wanting them there or listening to their perspectives and not acknowledging their insights, contributions, or ideas [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Some real examples in which patient partners may feel tokenized:

Being invited to grant application teams close to deadline, not being able influence the application, or not being told of the grant competition results.

Being invited to meetings or conferences that promote but do not embody the #PatientsIncluded designation [ 16 ].

Being co-chairs of meetings or committees without full support to create or influence the agenda or to participate fully.

Not being invited to speak or share thoughts on a team or at meetings, having feedback and contributions minimized or dismissed, or seeing decisions made when patient partners are absent.

Being dropped or ignored (i.e., ‘ghosted’[ 17 ]) by a team when difficult questions are asked.

Meetings scheduled when convenient for everyone except patient partners or inviting patient partners to select meetings without providing an opportunity for input on the best approach for them.

No opportunities for feedback about the engagement experience during the engagement or when it formally ends, or seeing defensive responses to feedback or no effort to understand and acknowledge the patient partner’s experiences.

Taking credit for working with patient partners while not providing them knowledge translation opportunities (e.g., preparing publications or speaking at conferences).

Being involved in poorly conducted meetings with little consideration for the importance of introductions and relationship building, discussions, safe spaces, exploring areas of disagreement.

Being involved or excluded based on age, ability, race, diagnosis, and other components of an intersectional identity.

These situations set patient partners up as an after-thought—not really integral or ‘important enough’ members of the team, and who are meant to agree with what is said at meetings. These situations do not support patient partners bringing up tough questions that might challenge thoughts and beliefs, and in some cases, discourage them from asking for supports that enable full participation. If the team has no other like-minded patient partners or a safe contact for a discussion about the engagement experience, it leaves patient partners feeling gaslit [ 18 ], and questioning the validity of their emotions (e.g., being ‘overly sensitive’).

2. Unconscious bias towards patient partners

Unconscious bias is defined by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research as “an implicit, unintentional attitude or assumption that affects the way you think and act” [ 19 ]. Patient partners on a team are becoming more common, but is not the norm. Research and healthcare can be hierarchal, where patient partners are not as high on that hierarchy as those who have titled, formal credentials. Lived experiences are often given less credence and respect and are not viewed as true expertise. There are often experiences related to ableism, which is defined as “a set of beliefs that guide cultural and institutional practices ascribing negative values to individuals with disabilities whilst deeming able-bodied and able-minded individuals as normal, therefore superior to their disabled counterparts”[ 20 ] (which may also be experienced by academics who are disabled [ 21 ]). Ableism is made more challenging within the context of intersectionality where other identities, such as sex, gender, and ethnicity, compound to create additional barriers for patient partners. Unconscious bias sets a power dynamic even if unintended, and examples experienced here include:

The mostly able-bodied and healthy team members not fully understanding patient perspectives, feedback and ideas, given their differences in experiences which may be compounded by a lack of listening or empathy.

Inviting patient partners who mirror the team’s demographics or who have the privilege and time to be engaged and who do not require additional resources or supports.

Preconceived judgements or stereotypes that lead to underestimating the capabilities and intellect of patient partners and that fail to recognize that many patient partners have full lives, skills, experiences and education [ 22 ].

Being told that patient partners need a specific graduate level education to undertake certain types of roles or excluding patient partners who have intellectual or developmental disabilities.

Team members insisting on being called by their formal academic titles.

Racist and ableist language, and gaslighting patient partners when they share the harm and impact of these words (e.g., dark horse, crazy).

Unconscious homophobic, transphobic, ableist and racist behaviour is still commonplace when interacting with patient partners who have experienced a large amount of trauma from health systems.

Experiences like these leave patient partners feeling that they are unimportant, not worth the time or effort or resources to be engaged, ‘lesser’ than individuals who are not disabled or who do not identify as patients, and even not as smart as other team members. Patient partners often deal with unconscious bias in the healthcare system and in their everyday lives so having these biases reinforced is demoralizing and leaves patient partners questioning their motivations. Patient partners can have traumatic health care experiences, like neglect and medical gaslighting, exacerbated by systemic inequities in health care systems like scarcity of funding, lack of clinical care, and denial or lack of research. Experiencing these biases as part of research and health care teams compounds these issues, and can contribute to further medical trauma as part of research teams.

3. Lack of support to fully include patient partners

Support to fully engage and include patient partners on teams may range from something as seemingly simple as the time of day at which meetings are hosted, to having a budget to pay upfront or to reimburse expenses to participate on the team (should be a given), compensation if patient partners wish to receive it (viewed as a best practice), training for patient partners and other team members, technology supports, salary for a person on the team or at the institute/hospital to support patient engagement, and more. While engaging patient partners may require more time and resources, not everyone engaging patient partners is fully aware of this. From our own experiences, we have seen the following:

Meetings or conferences organized without flexibility in setting (e.g., outside of healthcare facilities), time, or options to catch up with a point person if the date/time does not work. Many options outside of traditional meetings or conferences that might work best for patient partners are often not offered (e.g., for meetings: separate calls, the opportunity to provide written or verbal feedback, etc.)

Assuming that everyone on the team can process information and keep up the same way. Patient partners who live with cognitive issues or intellectual or developmental disabilities are at a disadvantage when meeting formats are hosted with heavy agendas that have an overabundance of information or without breaks.

Pushing back on or not offering compensation (monetary or nonmonetary) to patient partners. Rationale ranges from not having considered compensation to conflict of interest that will impact objectivity and impartiality [ 23 , 24 ].

Expecting patient partners to work alongside senior academics without compensation commensurate with role expectations or support in understanding the complexities of working within an institution. For example, being a patient partner principal or co-principal investigator while being provided a gift card or paid minimum wage adds to the power imbalance.

Failing to ‘do the work’ around reimbursement of expenses or compensation and passing the work off to patient partners (i.e., unfamiliar and tedious forms and processes, long expense reimbursement times that may have significant impact on their personal finances, etc.) [ 25 ].

Lack of leadership support for meaningful inclusion, such as having team members understand patient partners’ conditions and offering support that individuals may need to do their work.

No time dedicated to building relationships with patient partners, instead ‘hitting the ground running’ without fully knowing or understanding the dynamics of the research team.

Assuming everyone has access to equipment, software, and expertise related to this work (not everyone has access to the Microsoft suite or to a technology support person!).

Expecting patient partners to personally finance or find their own supports to attend meetings or conferences to which they have been invited.

Terms of reference, codes of conduct or policies that are rooted in ableism (e.g., attendance requirements).

These examples may leave patient partners in need of asking for these (and other) supports. As people invited to the team, to a meeting, or to a conference, it is strange that these supports have not been anticipated, given thought, and taken care of so that the engagement can focus on the project. Many patient partners feel they are putting teams ‘out of their way’ when they ask for supports or other items that they had expected for their engagement but are not there. Often they will not speak up and ask given their fear of being seen as demanding, difficult, or even ungrateful.

4. Lack of recognizing the vulnerability of patient partners

Trained professionals who are on research or healthcare teams may not live with the condition under study or have experienced healthcare in the same ways that patient partners have (though sometimes they do and have, and do not always choose to disclose this). Professionals are often invited to the team because their skills, training and expertise are immediately recognized and valued. Patient partners usually have to work much harder to have their personal and professional skills and lived experiences valued, the latter of which are often not tangibly measured via a degree, diploma, or certificate. Not to mention that patient partners often re-live or re-experience very emotional or even traumatic parts of their lives for the sake of a project. This means being extremely vulnerable, sometimes in spaces with people with whom they are not very familiar. Examples we have seen here include:

Being told that patient partners’ perspectives are biased and emotional, especially when professionals on the team do not share the same opinion. This can be further experienced as patient partners simply ‘whining’ about their experiences and being tuned out by other team members.

Non-patient team members using ‘professionalism’ as an excuse to avoid connecting with other team members as individuals, not just as work colleagues. Expecting only patient partners to share personal information about themselves adds to their vulnerability.

Meetings and interactions facilitated without creating a safe space or via a trauma informed lens. Some patient partners may be re-traumatized simply by being asked to meet at the hospital in which they had specific experiences.

Using patient partners and their stories and their experiences to provide inspiration or data rather than meaningfully leveraging those stories and experiences to inform projects [ 26 , 27 ].

Having a single patient partner or not having a range of patient partners and their experiences on the team.

A lack of recognition about how invested patient partners are in creating a better health care world, and a lack of honouring the importance of their stories and experiences and the fact that being engaged can sometimes trigger trauma.

Patient partners feeling pressured to overshare components of their stories and experiences at the behest of the research team and feeling regret.

These experiences can further solidify an unspoken team hierarchy where only patient partners are expected to share very personal types of information and experiences. Using divisive terms such as ‘biased,’ ‘not objective,’ ‘subjective,’ and ‘emotional’ to describe patient partners’ experiences and expertise, while others on the team are ‘unbiased’ and ‘objective,’ is not appropriate or helpful. Patient partners bring their experiences (sometimes very painful or traumatic) to the team and expecting them to remain objective and unemotional is not right or fair. Being the only person on a team sharing raw experiences can be extremely alienating, especially if a safe space has not been created.

Impact on patient partners (and others)

There is a power imbalance in research and quality improvement teams that include patient partners [ 10 , 11 ]. Patient partners are invited into unknown or unfamiliar spaces in which they may be intimidated by the knowledge and expertise of others. Patient partners often feel concerned about the need to strike a balance between asking for supports and raising conflicting perspectives without appearing to be asking for too much and rocking the boat. The situations we have described contribute to widening this power imbalance and patient partners bear the brunt of this deepening divide.

The experiences we describe are unfortunately a little discussed part of patient engagement [ 28 ]. They leave mostly invisible impacts on patient partners: mental and physical exhaustion, worsened health, questions about the worth of engagement, and a feeling of failure (e.g., failed the team, failed patient communities, and failed overall to achieve personal goals or motivations). It may feel like the burden is on patient partners to educate a team on how to do engagement well and with that, a heavy responsibility to represent the entire patient community. It brings us right back to all the vulnerable health care situations we have experienced and reminds us of where we are in the hierarchy—at the bottom. It calls us to question if it is really worth doing this work so others do not experience the same as us.

Patient partners’ work in research and healthcare is very personal, and we can only deal with so much before it breaks us, our spirit and our desires to create change. These situations compound over time, especially if experienced by the same person or if patient partners exchange stories with other patient partners about similar experiences and feelings about them. Eventually, our fire goes out and the spark may not always be re-ignited. Some patient partners have suggested and created on-line support groups [ 29 ] and initiatives to provide peer support for negative patient engagement experiences.

So, what is the cost to society, to research and to healthcare, when we burn through patient partners? What do we collectively miss out on? These experiences do not just impact patient partners—they also affect others on the team. If patient partners do not feel supported, heard, or that they are equal to others on the team, there is a real possibility that they will leave an engagement or the engagement space altogether (other than for specific health purposes related to the conditions we or our loved ones are dealing with). Patient partners may not invest in developing the next generation of patient partners who will continue the momentum to change health care for others. When these spaces lose our lived expertise and skills, there is a potential for teams to gain a reputation for ‘using’ or not fully respecting patient partners when or if patient partners share these poor experiences with others in their communities.

For reflection

We have had a number of positive patient engagement experiences, which may also help for reflection. These have been experiences where: we have been supported to share our experiences and thoughts openly and safely with the team; there has been more than one patient partner; there have been open and transparent communications, including what can or cannot be changed in a project; there have been a variety of options to engage (e.g., virtually, in-person); disability accommodations have been provided; and we have been offered compensation for our time, expertise and efforts. Further, we have felt like equal members of the team. It is these experiences that motivate us to share both our positive and negative experiences in hopes that others can learn from them.

We realize that engaging patients as partners is still relatively new for many people, and there is an opportunity to reflect on and learn from what does not work so well. While many individuals would rather not discuss these experiences, we feel compelled to share them so that we can grow as an engagement community. Without relying on or pressuring individual patient partners to vulnerably and painfully bring these experiences to attention, we have put these collective experiences out in the open.

Take-away action for readers

We ask you to consider how and why these examples happen. How do you, in your own work related to patient engagement, accept feedback (if you are open to it) from patient partners and integrate it into your work? How can you ask more thoughtful questions of patient partners about their lived experiences? How can you create safer and more inclusive spaces for real and meaningful discussions? And how can you share your power and privilege with patient partners to move the field of patient engagement forward?

Based on our experiences as patient partners in Canada, we present here a number of examples we have experienced where patient engagement has been ineffective, demoralizing and harmful. We provide four statements of experiences and anonymous examples to illustrate these: patient partners as a check mark, unconscious bias, lack of support to fully include patient partners, and lack of recognizing the vulnerability of patient partners. Our ask of readers is to reflect on these situations to see how they may best recognize these, learn from these, and strive to avoid these in their own work, so we can collectively move the field of patient engagement forward.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Karim Khan for encouraging DPR and SP to develop the central concept and for supporting writing this paper; and Dr. Hetty Mulhall for developing the figure.

All authors were offered an honorarium by Five02 Labs Inc. for their involvement in developing and writing this paper.

Author information

Dawn P. Richards and Sabrina Poirier: Shared first authorship.

Authors and Affiliations

Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Dawn P. Richards

Five02 Labs Inc., Toronto, ON, Canada

Patient Partner, Toronto, ON, Canada

Patient Partner for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research, Halifax, NS, Canada

Sabrina Poirier

Child Health Evaluative Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada

Vina Mohabir

Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Laurie Proulx

Patient Partner, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Bird Communications, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Patient Partner for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research, Toronto, ON, Canada

Jeffery Smith

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Contributions

DPR and SP led the conception of the work, DPR convened the original writing group and discussions (LP, SP, DPR, SR, JS). DPR led writing of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the design, analysis of the work and in writing and revising the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Authors’ Information

We have not filled in the GRIPP2 for this commentary as all individuals who are on the authorship team identify as patient partners. All author contributions are noted above. Authors can be found and tagged on twitter: @TO_dpr (DPR), @Sabrina_Poirier, @VinaMohabir, @ProulxLaurie, @suerobinsyvr, @JefferySmithME.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dawn P. Richards .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate, consent for publication, competing interests.

DPR is a full-time employee of Five02 Labs, Inc., and is under contract to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis to support its patient engagement efforts. She also works for a number of organizations tailoring and facilitating their patient and public engagement work. SR is the co-owner of Bird Communications, a health communications company that runs the Give a Duck Community that is referenced in the paper.

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Richards, D.P., Poirier, S., Mohabir, V. et al. Reflections on patient engagement by patient partners: how it can go wrong. Res Involv Engagem 9 , 41 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-023-00454-1

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(Split A) Abortion [IF NEEDED: Regardless of how you might vote, tell me whether you trust Joe Biden or Donald Trump to do a better job on...]

(If Pennsylvania voter) Crime [IF NEEDED: Regardless of how you might vote, tell me whether you trust Joe Biden or Donald Trump to do a better job on...]

(If Pennsylvania voter) How would you describe the problem of crime in Pennsylvania? [READ LIST]

(If Pennsylvania voter) How would you describe the problem of crime in your local area? [READ LIST]

(If Pennsylvania voter) How confident are you that your community will be relatively safe in the future? [READ LIST]

Who do you think is most responsible for the Supreme Court ending the constitutional right to an abortion: Joe Biden or Donald Trump? FOLLOW UP: Does he have a lot of responsibility or some responsibility?

Which comes closest to your view about the political and economic system in America, even if none are exactly right? [READ LIST]

If Donald Trump won the election, do you think nothing would change, there would be minor changes to how things work, there would be major changes to how things work, or he would tear down the system completely?

If Joe Biden won the election, do you think nothing would change, there would be minor changes to how things work, there would be major changes to how things work, or he would tear down the system completely?

(If Trump major/minor change or tear down the system) Do you think the changes that Donald Trump would make would be good for the country or bad for the country, or neither good nor bad? IF GOOD/BAD: Is that very or somewhat?

(Without combination) (If Trump major/minor change or tear down the system) Do you think the changes that Donald Trump would make would be good for the country or bad for the country, or neither good nor bad? IF GOOD/BAD: Is that very or somewhat?

(If Biden major/minor change or tear down the system) Do you think the changes that Joe Biden would make would be good for the country or bad for the country, or neither good nor bad? IF GOOD/BAD: Is that very or somewhat?

(Without combination) (If Biden major/minor change or tear down the system) Do you think the changes that Joe Biden would make would be good for the country or bad for the country, or neither good nor bad? IF GOOD/BAD: Is that very or somewhat?

Which comes closer to your view, even if neither is exactly right? [READ LIST]

I’m going to describe two kinds of presidential candidates. Regardless of who you support, tell me which kind of candidate you’d prefer as president: [READ LIST]

(Split B) How much attention would you say you are paying to news about the legal cases against Donald Trump? [READ LIST]

(Split B) Thinking about the trial of Donald Trump in New York related to hush money payments made to the porn star Stormy Daniels, do you think that it is likely or unlikely that he will be convicted? FOLLOW UP: Is that very or somewhat?

(Split B) Thinking about Donald Trump’s trial in New York related to hush money payments, do you think he will be able to get a fair and impartial trial?

In the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians [pah-luh-stin-ians], which side do you sympathize with more: Israel or the Palestinians [pah-luh-stin-ians]?

What single news source do you turn to most often? This could include a social media site or a news site. [IF NEEDED: If you had to pick just one.]

How often, if ever, do you use social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or others? [READ LIST]

(If social media user) How often, if ever, do you use TikTok? [READ LIST]

(Without combination) (If social media user) How often, if ever, do you use TikTok? [READ LIST]

How many hours per day do you spend playing video games? [READ LIST]

Have you yourself ever invested in, traded or used a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or Ether [ee-ther]?

Have you gotten any doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, including boosters? IF YES: Were you vaccinated just once or have you gotten a Covid-19 vaccine or booster multiple times?

Are you, or is any member of your household, a member of a labor union? [IF YES: Is that you, another household member, or both you and another household member?]

And just a few more questions for demographic purposes... Do you consider yourself politically liberal, moderate or conservative? [FOLLOW UP: (If liberal or conservative) Is that very or somewhat?]

Which of the following general income categories is your total household income before taxes? [IF NEEDED: I just want to remind you that you are completely anonymous. We only use this information in aggregate form to ensure we have a representative group of people.]

Do you consider yourself Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, Jewish, Muslim, some other religion, or do you have no religious affiliation?

(If Protestant, Christian, Mormon, Greek/Russian Orthodox or some other religion) Do you consider yourself an evangelical or born-again Christian?

(Without combination) (If Protestant, Christian, Mormon, Greek/Russian Orthodox or some other religion) Do you consider yourself an evangelical or born-again Christian?

(If independent, another party or not sure) And as of today, do you lean more to: [READ LIST]

Combined: Party identification and leaners

Would you be open to commenting on the issues in this survey and be interested in being contacted by a reporter?

Methodology

How These Polls Were Conducted

Here are the key things to know about this set of polls from The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College:

• We spoke with 4,097 registered voters from April 28 to May 9, 2024.

• Our polls are conducted by telephone, using live interviewers, in both English and Spanish. Nearly 95 percent of respondents were contacted on a cellphone for this poll.

• Voters are selected for the survey from a list of registered voters. The list contains information on the demographic characteristics of every registered voter, allowing us to make sure we reach the right number of voters of each party, race and region. For this set of polls, we placed nearly 500,000 calls to about 410,000 voters.

• To further ensure that the results reflect the entire voting population, not just those willing to take a poll, we give more weight to respondents from demographic groups underrepresented among survey respondents, like people without a college degree. You can see more information about the characteristics of our respondents and the weighted sample at the bottom of the page, under “Composition of the Sample.”

• When the states are joined together, the margin of sampling error among registered voters is plus or minus 1.8 percentage points. Each state poll has a margin of error ranging from plus or minus 3.6 points in Pennsylvania to plus or minus 4.6 points in Georgia. In theory, this means that the results should reflect the views of the overall population most of the time, though many other challenges create additional sources of error. When computing the difference between two values — such as a candidate’s lead in a race — the margin of error is twice as large.

If you want to read more about how and why we conduct our polls, you can see answers to frequently asked questions and submit your own questions here .

The New York Times/Philadelphia Inquirer/Siena College poll in Pennsylvania and the Times/Siena polls in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Nevada were conducted in English and Spanish on cellular and landline telephones from April 28 to May 9, 2024. In all, 4,097 registered voters were interviewed. When all states are joined together, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 1.8 percentage points for all registered voters and plus or minus 1.9 percentage points for the likely electorate.

The margin of sampling error for each state poll is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points in Pennsylvania, plus or minus 4.2 points in Arizona, plus or minus 4.5 points in Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin, and plus or minus 4.6 percentage points in Georgia.

The Pennsylvania poll was funded by a grant from the Lenfest Institute for Journalism. The poll, which was designed and conducted independently from the institute, includes a deep look at voters in the Philadelphia suburbs using a statistical technique called an oversample. The results are weighted so that in the end, the poll properly reflects the attributes of the entire state and is not biased toward those voters.

The survey is a response-rate-adjusted stratified sample of registered voters on the L2 voter file. The sample was selected by The New York Times in multiple steps to account for the oversample of the Philadelphia suburbs, differential telephone coverage, nonresponse and significant variation in the productivity of telephone numbers by state.

The L2 voter file for each state was stratified by statehouse district, party, race, gender, marital status, household size, turnout history, age and homeownership. The proportion of registrants with a telephone number and the mean expected response rate, based on prior Times/Siena polls, were calculated for each stratum. The initial selection weight was equal to the reciprocal of a stratum’s mean telephone coverage and modeled response rate. For respondents with multiple telephone numbers on the L2 file, the number with the highest modeled response rate was selected.

The samples for each state were stratified by party, race and region and fielded by the Siena College Research Institute, with additional field work by ReconMR, the Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida, the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at Roanoke College, and the Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at Winthrop University in South Carolina. Interviewers asked for the person named on the voter file and ended the interview if the intended respondent was not available. Overall, 94 percent of respondents were reached on a cellular telephone.

The instrument was translated into Spanish by ReconMR, and Spanish-speaking interviewers were assigned to the modeled Hispanic sample. Bilingual interviewers began the interview in English and were instructed to follow the lead of the respondent in determining whether to conduct the survey in English or Spanish. Monolingual Spanish-speaking respondents who were initially contacted by English-speaking interviewers were recontacted by Spanish-speaking interviewers. Overall, 19 percent of interviews among self-reported Hispanics were conducted in Spanish, including 21 percent in Nevada and 17 percent in Arizona.

An interview was determined to be complete for the purposes of inclusion in the ballot test questions if the respondent did not drop out of the survey by the end of the two self-reported variables used in weighting — age and education — and answered at least one of the age, education, race or presidential election ballot test questions.

Weighting — registered voters

The survey was weighted by The Times using the R survey package in multiple steps.

First, the samples were adjusted for unequal probability of selection by stratum.

Second, the five state samples and the samples of the the Philadelphia suburbs and the rest of Pennsylvania were weighted separately to match voter-file-based parameters for the characteristics of registered voters by state.

The following targets were used:

• Party (party registration if available, else classification based on a model of vote choice in prior Times/Siena polls) by modeled L2 race (except Wisconsin)

• Age by gender (self-reported age, or voter file age if the respondent refuses)

• Race or ethnicity (L2 model)

• Education (four categories of self-reported education, weighted to match NYT-based targets derived from Times/Siena polls, census data and the L2 voter file)

• White/nonwhite by education (L2 model of race by self-reported education, weighted to match NYT-based targets derived from Times/Siena polls, census data and the L2 voter file)

• Marital status (L2 model)

• Homeownership (L2 model)

• State regions (NYT classifications by county or city)

• Turnout history (NYT classifications based on L2 data)

• Vote method in the 2020 elections (NYT classifications based on L2 data)

• History of voting in the 2020 presidential primary (Pennsylvania and Wisconsin only, NYT classifications based on L2 data)

• Census block group density (Arizona only, based on American Community Survey five-year census block-group data)

• Census tract educational attainment

In Pennsylvania, the samples from the Philadelphia suburbs and the rest of the state were combined and adjusted to account for the oversample of the Philadelphia suburbs.

Finally, the six state samples were balanced to each represent one-sixth of the sum of the weights.

The sample of respondents who completed all questions in the survey was weighted identically, as well as to the result for the general election horse race question (including leaners) on the full sample.

Weighting — likely electorate

Second, the first-stage weight was adjusted to account for the probability that a registrant would vote in the 2024 election, based on a model of turnout in the 2020 election.

Third, the five state samples and the samples of the Philadelphia suburbs and the rest of Pennsylvania were weighted separately to match targets for the composition of the likely electorate. The targets for the composition of the likely electorate were derived by aggregating the individual-level turnout estimates described in the previous step for registrants on the L2 voter file. The categories used in weighting were the same as those previously mentioned for registered voters.

Fourth, the initial likely electorate weight was adjusted to incorporate self-reported vote intention. The final probability that a registrant would vote in the 2024 election was four-fifths based on their ex ante modeled turnout score and one-fifth based on their self-reported intention, based on prior Times/Siena polls, including a penalty to account for the tendency of survey respondents to turn out at higher rates than nonrespondents. The final likely electorate weight was equal to the modeled electorate rake weight, multiplied by the final turnout probability and divided by the ex ante modeled turnout probability.

The margin of error accounts for the survey’s design effect, a measure of the loss of statistical power due to survey design and weighting. The design effect for the full sample is 1.33 for registered voters and 1.5 for the likely electorate. The design effect for the sample of completed interviews is 1.38 for registered voters and 1.53 for the likely electorate.

Historically, The Times/Siena Poll’s error at the 95th percentile has been plus or minus 5.1 percentage points in surveys taken over the final three weeks before an election. Real-world error includes sources of error beyond sampling error, such as nonresponse bias, coverage error, late shifts among undecided voters and error in estimating the composition of the electorate.

Composition of the Sample

Staff Council

Lab week at the state hygienic lab.

The State Hygienic lab (SHL) celebrated Medical Laboratory Professionals Week or Lab week on April 15-19 th 2024, to show appreciation to its hardworking staff. It is a week where laboratorians and all lab staff take a break from the demands of the job to participate in fun activities and events. The SHL is Iowa’s official public health lab, and its work directly impacts the life of every Iowan. 

Did you know? In 1956, the SHL was one of 40 nuclear surveillance systems chosen to measure radioactivity in the air and rivers in Iowa. SHL fulfilled this role again in 1986 in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster.

Established in 1904 by the Iowa code in response to the typhoid and smallpox epidemics, the SHL started as the Bacteriological Laboratory (part of the UI College of Medicine). The lab would continually expand in both scope and locality. The SHL currently has 3 sites: Coralville, Ankeny and Lakeside (Milford). Consistent with the core functions of a public health lab, the SHL performs testing for food safety, lead levels in blood, drinking water and air quality (Environmental health), newborn screening (NBS), maternal prenatal screening, disease control (monitoring and testing), emergency preparedness and response (chemical and biological threats), training and research.

Did you know? During the HIV/ AIDS epidemic in the 80’s the SHL received national recognition for its work in developing HIV testing standards.  

Though a national celebration, Lab week at SHL has a distinct flair and is organized annually by volunteers from SHL HR and the SHL staff council. This year saw various activities for staff to participate in, such as a wellness walk, virtual bingo, Wordle, informative SHL-related presentations and food & clothing drives. There was a significant increase in prizes and giveaways compared to previous years. Staff were treated to pizza for lunch on the penultimate day of lab week and a ‘snack of the day’, with goodies on offer such as: granola bars, donuts, cookies, cupcakes, and popcorn.

Did you know? The SHL was at the forefront of flood water surveillance during the great Iowa flood of 1993.

Another event called ‘SHL Field trips’, was born from staff suggestions and occurred at the Ankeny lab. Participants were able to meet their colleagues from different sections. They learned about the 50 disorders screened for by newborn screening (NBS); the water, air quality and blood lead testing done by the Environmental section; and were shown fascinating examples of the organisms found in rivers and lakes by the Limnology section. These tours elicited so much interest and questions from attendees, that they ran twice as long as originally scheduled. 

Did you know? After Hurricane Katrina devastated LA in 2005, the NBS lab in Ankeny began testing samples from LA newborns and continued doing so for 3 years? Also, the lab is currently contracted to perform NBS testing for AK, ND and SD babies.

However, the highlight of SHL’s lab week was the annual Bags/ Cornhole tournament, which was moved indoors owing to rain. The Coralville lab had a very genteel tournament that saw the ‘ Kornholers’ beat ‘ The Big Bag Theory ’ to clinch the trophy in a nailbiter of a final. In the Ankeny lab however, Bags mean war! Team ‘ Hold my Drinks ’ entertained the crowd with their trash-talk and showed off their prowess in the art of psychological warfare. This was followed by a thrilling semifinal that saw the reigning champs suffer a shock defeat at the hands of the opposing team. The final however, set up yet another Environmental vs NBS showdown. In the end, Team ‘ Bags of steel ’ showed their mettle and defeated team ‘ Baggin’ & Braggin ’ to clinch the trophy for the Environmental section. However, NBS will be seeking redemption, so next year’s tournament will be a can’t miss event. 

Did you know? The SHL played a critical role in identifying biological threats in Iowa during the West Nile virus epidemic, the SARS, H1N1 and anthrax scares and the COVID-19 pandemic? 

As SHL looks forward to next year’s Lab week, the important work does not stop. From the air you breathe, to the water you drink, to saving the lives of Iowa’s babies, rest assured that the SHL will be working 365 days a year to ensure the safety and health of the Iowans they serve. Learn more about the SHL  here .