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New standard aims to increase quality of market research
11 Sep 2009
Topics: Customer satisfaction, Market research
For organizations looking for accurate and reliable information about what their customers think, access panels can be vital. They can involve thousands of respondents completing a research questionnaire on any subject, and are usually commissioned from an access panel provider by a private or public sector organization. Incentives and the latest technology are often used to encourage participation and extend the outreach of these panels. A new standard, developed by ISO and published in the UK by BSI, provides guidelines for good practice in the creation and operation of access panels. Specifically, BS ISO 26362: 2009 Access panels in market, opinion and social research - Vocabulary and service requirements offers definitions and requirements to increase the quality and efficiency of access panels and the information they produce.
"By introducing BS ISO 26362, we can ensure that the growing volume of research conducted using access panels is undertaken to the highest standards," says Debrah Harding, deputy director general at the Market Research Society. BS ISO 26362:2009 is based on, and should be used in conjunction with, BS ISO 20252:2006 Market, opinion and social research. Vocabulary and service requirements, which replaced BS 7911. BS ISO 26362 will feed into the next revision of BS ISO 20252, due in 2010.
For more information, visit: www.bsigroup.com/aug09panels
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