He can take a topic like economic news and break it down in a way that people can understand what is important. . . Since 1991, CBER has received funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce to help minority entrepreneurs start or expand businesses in the Dayton area. The future of the national program is in peril because of proposed budget cuts, but few can dismiss its success in Dayton. Market researchers use focus groups, a qualitative research technique, primarily to test ideas and products. One of the most sophisticated in the country, CBER's facility features four remotely controlled video cameras that allow researchers to capture verbal and nonverbal interactions in the group throughout the discussion and display them simultaneously on a quad split screen.
Clients can view the group discussion from behind a one-way mirror.
Since it opened in 1988, UD's focus group facility has played host to hundreds of market research studies, including concept testing, new product testing and logo design. In Weiler's spare time, he can be found in the community raising CBER's visibility and selling its expertise. Weiler and his staff are proposing that CBER help city officials start a business incubator to grow small businesses. State Senator Chuck Horn has tapped Weiler as an adviser to his Regional Economic Strategies Forum, a group of planners and economic development experts. An economics professor at UD since 1967, Weiler says the most enjoyable part of his job is working with college students, who staff CBER's phone bank and conduct telephone surveys.