Welcome to the First Edition of The American Living Survey (TALS) Online

For those who know TALS, you know it is an ongoing survey of American Lifestyles run by Design Research as a service to our friends and clients.  We are taking it online here, as a blog, in order to get  the word out and to share information from this rich resource.  Each issue will focus on some aspect of American lifestyles.  And, since TALS is based on survey research, you know our words are fact based, not theories or guesses. 

So what is TALS exactly?  Two to four times per year we conduct a national survey of at least 600 households.  Each of the TALS surveys has a theme.   Waves can be compared and trended over time.  Our latest wave is in the field right now and it is focused on life in the kitchen.  It asks questions about how often meals are prepared at home, how cooks rate their own expertise and love of cooking, what brands of cookware are owned, attitudes toward cooking and questions about kitchen design.  The design questions are repeated from last year’s wave, so we have year over year comparison to share  – we’re hoping to see interesting changes over time.

Most importantly, we hope you will come to think of TALS as a convenient, low-cost resource for your questions about American homes and lifestyles.  You can purchase the TALS reports and you can participate in TALS by purchasing a single question or as many questions as you like in the survey.  The answers, of course, belong only to you.

Rick

 Catch Janine and Rick presenting TALS:  Life in the Kitchen at the Chicago Housewares Show on March 16th at 10:30AM in the Innovation Theatre.