What are some of the best types of marketing research?

it all depends on your objective. its not about the tool ; its about when to use it.

for example:

you are seeking to have an opinion or develop something new; you would with qualitative research (e.g. focus groups).

however if you are seeking to validate to go with certain design or campaign; you will go with quantitative research to build statistics.

I advise you to read more about when to use the tools.

• Primary research

• Secondary research

• Testing

• Qualitative

• Quantitative

• Descriptive

Thank you for your invite. The two basic components that comprise of the marketing research are 

1. Qualitative

2. Quantitative

The process of researching would be unique for every product / service industry. At these times I find digital media is best explored for collecting inputs from the prospective consumers efficiently and cost effectively.

Market research as being a complex process, includes SWOT analyses, research of market trends, market segmentation... techniques may vary from collecting information,  data collections about customer habits , surveys...