The most common reason a research project runs over budget or misses its deadline isn't bad fieldwork - it's skipping the feasibility check that would have flagged the problem before fieldwork started.
What does a feasibility study actually check?
- •Incidence rate - what percentage of the general population actually qualifies for your target criteria?
- •Panel availability - does the provider have enough qualifying, un-fatigued respondents in your target country?
- •Realistic timeline - based on incidence and panel size, how long will fieldwork actually take?
- •Cost implications - low incidence rates mean more screening, which raises cost per completed response
Why this matters more in MENA than in saturated markets
Panel sizes in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Oman are smaller than in the US or UK, and niche B2B or healthcare-professional audiences are proportionally rarer. A 2% incidence rate that's manageable in a market of 50 million online panelists can make a study effectively unfeasible in a market of 2 million - unless you know that going in.
| Incidence rate | Fieldwork impact |
| 25%+ | Standard timeline and cost |
| 10-25% | Moderate screening overhead, timeline extends |
| 5-10% | Significant screening cost, consider a blended or longer-field approach |
| Under 5% | Run a feasibility check before quoting a timeline at all |
What to ask a research partner before committing budget
- Can you run a short feasibility check before I commit to the full study?
- What incidence rate do you expect for my target country and criteria?
- What happens to my timeline and cost if actual incidence is lower than expected?
A quote without a feasibility check is a guess
Any partner who gives you a fixed price and timeline for a niche audience without first checking feasibility is pricing on assumption, not data. Ask them to show their work.
Feasibility checks are especially useful before B2B and healthcare-professional studies, where incidence rates are inherently lower than general consumer research.