ESOMAR 25 Questions

1. Is it an actively managed panel (nurtured community) or just a database?

The Datatelligence ONLINE (DO for short) panel is an actively managed nationally representative online community. Members are monitored on their panel behavior and a variety of metrics are kept to insure that members are reliable. Panelists will have the opportunity to engage in a variety of research programs rarely available with other panels.

2. Truthfully how large is it?

Datatelligence ONLINE is over 420,000 members strong and grows between 8 and 12 thousand new members each month. Approximately 200,000 of these members have been recruited PERSONALLY FACE TO FACE; no other panel on the globe can make that statement.

3. What is the percentage of active members and how are they defined?

Ninety-nine percent of the panel is active at any given time. We define active as any interaction between the panel member and the panel within the past 6 months. At registration, any invalid e-mail address will be dropped immediately. Each month non-responders for 12 months or members exhibiting repeated “poor” behavior are quarantined from the active panel. Ongoing attempts are made to re-engage non responders; those tagged with poor behavior are permanently removed. To date, approximately 80,000 members have been removed from Datatelligence ONLINE.

4. Where are the respondents sourced from and how are they recruited?

DO members are recruited from several different sources. online, face to face, direct mail and telephone. Online recruitment accounts for less than 50% of our community. Face to face recruitment, direct mail and telephone is sourced from another of the CRG Global, Inc. subsidiary, Cunningham Research. Cunningham Research has 32 offices located in high traffic regional malls across the US including two sites on the Las Vegas strip.

5. Have members clearly been opted in? If so, was this a double opt in?

DO panelists have of all been required to double opt-in. Panelists recruited via face to face or telephone invitation are sent an invitation e-mail which confirms general information and begins the in-depth profile interview. Based on experience, we believe honest members will endure the double opt-in process.

6. What exactly have they been asked to opt in to?

We ask the potential member to commit and provide their opinions on a variety of products and services for a minimum of 4 times per year at their convenience.

7. What do panel members get in return for participating?

All panelists earn an entry into monthly drawings for any response to an invitation. Depending on the project additional drawings, cash incentives via check or Paypal, or data point can be earned. A data point is the Datatelligence Online currency.

8. Is the panel used solely for market research?

Yes

9. Is there a privacy policy in place? If so, what does it state?

Yes, please refer to http://www.datatelligence.net/privacy.html

10. What research industry standards are complied with?

DO follows the recommended guidelines of CASRO and MRA for online research.

11. Is the panel compliant with all regional, national, and local laws with respect to privacy, data protection and children e.g. EU Safe Harbour, and COPPA in the US?

Yes, we are TRUSTe certified. http://www.truste.org/ivalidate.php?url=www.datatelligence.net&sealid=101

12. What basic socio-demographic profile information, usership, interest data, etc., is kept on members?

Minimum information needed to become an active member: DOB, gender, income, marital status, household composition, area code, city, state and zip code (geography data cross referenced for validity). Over 80% of our panelists have completed the extended profile which has several hundred additional fields.

13. How often is it updated?

All members are sent periodic requests to update specific information as needed. At any time, at their convenience a member can login and update their profile. We often request that a member do so after completing a screener they have not qualified for. An update link is provided on the thank you page.

14. In what other ways can users be profiled?

Internally DO profiles members on origin of recruitment, activity, behavior, and types of research they respond to most frequently (e.g. IHUT, CLT’s, short interviews, longer interviews with additional incentive, etc.).

15. What is the (minimum and typical) turn-around time from initial request to first deployment?

This can vary greatly and is dependent on the level of programming needed, sampling requirements and interaction between the sponsor. Typically, once the program is approved, a “soft launch” is completed in 2 to 3 hours. In the soft launch, we will look to complete 10% to 20% of the quota for review the following day. The full launch follows.

16. What are the likely response rates and how is response rate calculated?

Response rates fall between 8% and 25% depending on length of survey and target group. Response rate is calculated as any termed screener, break offs, and completed interview.

17. Are or can panel members who have recently participated in a survey on the same subject be excluded from a new sample?

Yes, past participation history tracks the following information: category, sponsor, and date.

18. Is a response rate (over and above screening) guaranteed?

Yes, it is possible to accurately predict expected responses. Response rate history from past projects enables sample size and response rates to be calculated.

19. How often are individual members contacted for market research or anything else in a given time period?

The average member completes no more than 1 or 2 interviews in any given month; a maximum of 4 completed interviews is permitted. A maximum of 8 invitations per month are sent to members. Any member exceeding either of these thresholds is quarantined for the appropriate time period.

20. How is the sample selection process for a particular survey undertaken?

A review of the client’s sampling criteria is made by a member of the sampling team and a sampling plan is developed. The plan will consider the following: target audience(s) and expected response rates based on historical data for each group.

21. Can samples be deployed as batches/replicates, by time zone geography, etc?

Yes, Datatelligence ONLINE has developed proprietary applications that can deploy invitations not only by region but also can be managed by open rates of previous invitations sent.

22. Is the sample randomized before deployment?

Yes

23. Can the time of deployment be controlled and if so how?

Yes, the sample deployment can be designed to consider the following: time of day or by zone, a pre-stated preference from the panelist.

24. Can panel members be directed to specific sites for the survey questionnaire to be undertaken?

Yes, DO prefers to host whenever possible as we feel it provides a better experience for the member, but re-directs can be managed in a number of ways.

25. What guarantees are there to guard against bad data i.e. respondent cheating or not concentrating/caring in their responses (e.g. click happy)?

First and foremost, DO would not expect a client to use any respondent data that was mutually agreed to be questionable.

With that said, Datatelligence ONLINE believes the data quality begins at the recruitment level. Our unique recruitment methods have provided us a panel community that is recognized by our small but growing user base, as exceptional.

DO begin at the very onset in its panel development to incorporate the CRG Global Confidata Validation System to increase the overall quality of the data. This was started 2 years before the outcry from industry clients to address the quality issues, it was not something introduced grudgingly. DO focuses on eliminating potential satisficers at the screener level and concentrates on eliminating speeders by measuring time during at least two different intervals of the main body of the survey. These steps are quite simple and prevent respondents with poor behaviors from ever entering the data set. By monitoring this we can successfully eliminate that largest potential for poor data. Our belief is that each type of poor respondent behavior is not mutually exclusive of one another, eliminate the top two and you eliminate the overwhelming majority.

In addition to this, we attempt to design surveys that are more user friendly and more engaging. We prefer to use drag and drop over radio buttons, we avoid scrolling. We minimize the amount of screen real estate used by maximizing the number of questions per page. With client permission we will provide break points in longer surveys. DO is constantly looking to improve the respondent experience and listens to feedback from our panel.