CASRO data collection guidelines

The Council of American Survey Research Organizations(CASRO), established in 1975, is the national trade association for commercial survey research firms in the United States . CASRO’s mission is to provide the environment and leadership that will promote the profitable growth of the survey research industry in an ethical and professional manner.

As a condition of membership, CASRO members subscribe to the Code of Standards for Survey Research. This code describes the research company’s responsibilities to respondents, to clients, to outside contractors and interviewers, and in reporting to clients and the public.

These data collection guidelines were produced, as a membership service, by the CASRO Survey Research Quality Committee, and approved by the CASRO Board of Directors in the Fall of 1988.

Overview

Quality is an essential element of a marketing research project, and includes every area from project design through reporting of results. A quality research project is one that:

• is objectively designed to address the needed areas of information
• is conducted among the appropriate target audience
• uses appropriate data collection technique(s)
• is accurately and objectively edited, coded, and data processed
• is objectively reported to the client.

The following guidelines are designed to ensure that the data collected in research projects are of the highest quality. CASRO members are committed to following these guidelines in their internal data collection activities and to requiring that they be followed by data collection subcontractors.

Interviewer training

Training should be conducted under the direction of supervisory personnel and cover the following:

1. The research process: how a study is developed, implemented, and reported.
2. The importance of the interviewers to this process in their attitude, honesty, objectivity, organizational skills, and professionalism.
3. Confidentiality of the respondent and client.
4. Familiarity with market research terminology.
5. The importance of following the exact wording and recording verbatim responses.
6. The purpose and use of probing and clarifying techniques.
7. The reason for and use of classification and respondent information questions.
8. A review of samples of instructions and questionnaires.
9. The importance of the respondent’s positive feelings about survey research.

No person is to work as an interviewer unless that person has been trained in the general interviewing techniques as outlined above.

Project briefing

A personal briefing session should be held on every study. Every interviewer who works on a project should attend such a briefing, or be required to view a tape of the original briefing.

Prior to the briefing the supervisor should read the supervisor’s instructions and review the project materials. The supervisor is in charge of the study and all interviewers who will be working on the project should be instructed on the following:

1. Type of study
2. Sampling procedures
3. Handling of materials/products/exhibits
4. Interview length
5. Termination points and qualifiers for eligible respondents
6. Reading of interviewer instructions
7. Reading of questionnaire
8. Review of skip patterns and rotations
9. Review of probing and clarifying techniques as they apply to questionnaire
10. Interviewer check of each finished questionnaire before the editing process (paper questionnaires)
11. Explanation of validation policy according to client’s instructions
12. Where applicable, each interviewer should complete a practice interview to be returned with the project materials.

Interviewing

The data collection agency should maintain a sufficient and adequately trained interviewing staff. Clients should not be misinformed about the number, quality, or training of a firm’s interviewers.

A properly trained interviewer is one who has been instructed in general interviewing techniques, and who has been briefed on the particular project.

Interviewers who work on a project are to be employees of the data collection agency or an affiliate, or employees of an independent contractor. Appropriate federal, state, and local taxes, as well as FICA and unemployment taxes are to be withheld and paid on behalf of all interviewers. Interviewers are to be mature enough to handle the project to which they are assigned. A regularly scheduled interviewer should be at least age 17.

Each interviewer is to follow these techniques for good interviewing:

1. Provide his or her full name, if asked by the respondent, as well as a phone number for the research firm.
2. Read each question exactly as written. Any problems should be reported to the supervisor as soon as possible.
3. Read the questions in the order indicated on the questionnaire following the proper skip sequences.
4. Clarify any question by the respondent in a neutral way.
5. Do not mislead respondents as to the length of the interview.
6. Do not reveal the identity of the ultimate client unless otherwise instructed to do so.
7. Keep a tally on each terminated interview and the reason for each termination.
8. Remain neutral in interviewing. Do not indicate agreement or disagreement with the respondent.
9. Speak slowly and distinctly so that words will be understood.
10. Record all replies verbatim, not paraphrased.
11. Avoid unnecessary conversations with the respondent.
12. Probe and clarify for additional comments on all open end questions, unless otherwise instructed. Probe and clarify in a neutral way.
13. Write neatly and legibly.
14. Check all work for thoroughness before turning in to the supervisor.
15. When terminating a respondent, do so in a neutral way such as, “Thank you” or “Our quota has already been filled in this area, but thank you anyway.”
16. Keep all studies, materials, and findings confidential.
17. Do not falsify any interviews or answers to any question.
18. Thank the respondent for participating in the study.

Supervision

All research projects should be properly supervised. It is the responsibility of the data collection agency to:

1. Properly supervise interviewers.
2. See that an agreed upon proportion of interviewers’ telephone calls are monitored.
3. Be available to report daily to the project director the status of the project, unless otherwise instructed.
4. Keep all studies, materials, and findings confidential.
5. Notify concerned parties if the anticipated schedule is not likely to be met.
6. Attend all interviewer briefings.
7. Keep current and accurate records of the interviewing progress.
8. Make sure interviewers have all materials in time for beginning interviewing.
9. Edit each questionnaire.
10. Provide consistent and positive feedback to interviewers.
11. Do not falsify any work.

Client billing

1. Invoices should be submitted in a timely manner.
2. Invoices should show the job name as used by the client, the client’s job number (if available), the location of the work, the basis for all charges, and (if applicable), the number of completed interviews.
3. Invoices should correctly reflect the time and charges incurred on the project, consistent with the agreement for the project.

Flexibility

Any of the standards contained herein may be changed or modified for a particular project is all three of these conditions are met:

1. the change does not go counter to what would generally be considered by a knowledgeable, experienced independent research firm as “good research practice;”
2. the client is informed of the changes, and;
3. all interested parties agree to the change. MRR

Please direct questions about the guidelines or about CASRO in general to: Diane K. Bowers, Executive Director, CASRO, 516-928-6954.