By Sam Ro - The Financial Times recently reported Morgan Stanley tapped a 15 year old summer intern for some insight into "How Teenagers Consume Media." The introduction reads, "Without claiming representation or statistical accuracy, his piece provides one of the clearest and most thought provoking insights we have seen."
So, as the requirement to provide independent third party research expires in the next few weeks (Global Research Analyst Settlement), is this a preview of research to come? It's cheap (Hello, cost savings!), it has no statistical basis (Nassim Taleb would be proud), and it's independent (How corrupt could a teenager be?).
Of course, I don't really expect research departments to be taken over by high school kids. However, I do expect to see an increasing use of unconventional research. Surely, statistical study will reveal that conventional research has made you very little, if any, money in recent years.
