About Opinion and Marketing Research

Opinion and marketing research is the function which links the consumer, customer, and public to the business which offers products or services through information -- information used to identify and define the consumer market: opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate actions; monitor performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process.

Opinion and marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues; designs the method of collecting information; manages and implements the data collection process; analyzes the results; and communicates the findings, recommendations and their implications.

People like you are the lifeblood of the research industry

Researchers are truly concerned about maintaining goodwill with the public. Our priority includes maintaining respondent confidentiality, accurately reporting your opinions, and respecting your privacy, your time, and your right to decline.

• Researchers' Commitment to Maintaining Respondent Confidentiality
  Information obtained through opinion and marketing research is provided to clients in aggregate without being individually identifiable. Researchers should never divulge your identity or individual answers unless you specifically give the researcher permission to do so.
• Researchers' Commitment to Accurately Reporting Your Opinions
  Most research companies are members of one or more professional associations established for the research industry. These associations have developed Codes of Ethics, Standards and Best Practices to insure that the data collected are accurate and representative. Very specific scientific procedures and processes are used to collect the highest quality data with the least amount of intrusion on the consumer. Researcher's clients also depend on accurate data to make the best possible decisions on the products, services and policies that affect you.
• Researcher's Commitment to Privacy
  The goal of the research industry is to strike a balance between the need for information to improve people's lives and protecting the privacy of the people who participate in research. Hence, interviewers should always identify themselves and state the reason for their call at the beginning of each survey. Research interviewers should be courteous and respect your time by calling back at a more convenient time if necessary. They should answer your questions as completely as possible and politely honor your decision not to participate in a particular research study if you so choose.
• Who Sponsors Research Studies?
  Research clients are typically large national companies, government agencies, and institutions who know that listening carefully to consumers is important to their success. In many instances, interviewers cannot divulge the client sponsoring these studies for several reasons. For example, researchers often help clients with new products that must remain confidential until these new brands are commercially introduced to the public. Also, knowing who sponsored the survey might bias your answers to our questions. Interviewers only reveal the sponsors of studies when they are instructed to do so.

To learn more about your rights as a respondent, see the Respondents Bill of Rights. Also refer to Council of Marketing and Opinion Research for more respondent cooperation updates.

Copyright© 2000, 2001, 2002 by Marketing Research Association, Inc. All rights reserved.