We recently invited Katrina Noelle (founder of KNow Research) on usa mobile db to the DMI podcast with Will Francis to explain how market research works today.
" Technology is always evolving, and this affects how customers interact with brands. As the market changes, the marketing data changes too, and so do the insights. "
Understanding market research
Market research enables brands to gain a better understanding of their customers. However, this research has many facets:

Market research: Studying the market to find out what customers are doing
Marketing research: Carrying out research to enable the marketing department to better target their campaigns
User experience research: Finding out how users interact with your brand and products or services
Design thinking: Exploring what customers want and incorporating this into product or service design