The world of the market researcher has been challenged by the social media phenomenon. That's the polite interpretation. "Turned upside down" is probably closer to the mark. The ability for more research to be done, more quickly and less expensively with willing online participants seems irresistible and often makes traditional research look, well, just irrelevant. So it is not surprising that we have seen traditional market researchers bunker down into a defensive position.
 

On the other hand, social media evangelists need to be very careful about exaggerated "research" claims. There are genuine issues of quality raised by sampling, respondent motivations and projectability in social media feedback. The insights that we glean from branded online communities, for example, are always qualified by a known and measurable bias.

Re-examining strengths across these polar positions turns out to be a far more productive exercise however; and as noted by Manila Austin: online, social, community-based research can actually strengthen validity and enhance quality. Austin proposes an integrative paradigm - a 21st Century model - in which research is:    
 

• Conducted in real time, so that it's relevant and actionable
• Participatory and engaging, which means adopting humanistic and consumer-centric methods
• Textured and nuanced, with the potential of getting rich detail on a really large scale
• Continually evolving to meet new marketplace demands from consumers, clients and competition
• More dynamic, where we will rethink and re-invent to drive innovation on an ongoing basis

This sort of talk can be threatening to researchers and Austin uses the following trade-off to understand what researchers are risking - and gaining - by shifting their focus and methods:
 

This is the best summary of the researchers dilema/opportunity that I have seen yet!