I realize this one is a bit of a stretch, but with all this talk of energy conservation and being more responsible global citizens... Pound for pound, MROCs are the greenest methodology out there.

Let's say that 1 moderator and 2 clients depart on a domestic focus group project in 3 cities (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles). They conduct 3 groups in each city with an average of 10 people per group who drive about 22 miles roundtrip to get to the group... here is how the carbon footprint breaks down:

Flights (JFK - ORD - LAX) = 8,859 lbs of CO2

Driving to focus groups (mid size sedan) = 1,779 lbs of CO2

TOTAL = 10,638 lbs of CO2

You could run the same study in a market research online community with virtually no negative environmental impact. You could also invite many more people/clients into your study if you wanted to.  Now, I'm not sure that "impact on the environment" should be the key criteria in deciding what research methodology to pursue, but you can't argue that it is more environmentally responsible! Feel free to use this argument in your next proposal.

- Ben