Unethical or Uneducated
by Mimi Nichols - Nichols Research, Inc.
01-May-99
Unfortunately, the dilemma I will address is not an isolated incident.
In fact, it is an ongoing problem, which is becoming more and more
frequent in occurrence.
The on-going problem we face as facility owners and managers is
when moderators and clients take the liberty of contacting respondents
after their participation in a focus group or IDI.
Sometimes respondents are contacted for additional information
or clarification on the subject for which they participated. On
occasion, clients will send information about their product or service
to respondents, believing that they are interested. Unfortunately,
when this happens, respondents become nothing more than a sales
lead as a result of their participation.
You wonder how facilities can allow this to happen. However, the
blame can not be placed on the facility because this type of contact
is happening without their knowledge or consent. Unfortunately,
it is becoming more common for moderators or clients, during the
course of the research, to ask for business cards or e-mail addresses
where respondents can be contacted. Sometimes the information is
taken directly from screeners.
In most cases, clients are not aware that this is unacceptable
and a direct violation of the most fundamental rule of research
– that we will always protect the anonymity of respondents so that
they will not be contacted after their participation in the research
process for any reason other than for validation of their participation.
And of course, that we will never sell them anything.
Perhaps, if clients understood the difficulty and expense in building
and maintaining a proprietary database, they would understand our
concern from a monetary standpoint. In addition, these actions impact
the whole area of tracking past participation. These actions are
extremely detrimental to the recruiters and facility owners.
When respondents enter the domain of the research facility they
assume that the moderator, interviewer or client is a representative
of the facility and they are forthcoming with information in the
belief that their anonymity and information is protected.
As researchers, it is the responsibility of each and every one
of us to ensure their protection. What can we do? To start, we must
take every opportunity to educate clients and users and buyers of
research.
Our company is now sending a disclosure letter with every project
confirmation, which informs clients of the correct protocol for
contacting respondents after their participation. In addition, we
will be posting an abbreviated version of this statement in prominent
locations within our facilities, so that observers will see it.
We are also educating staff to be alert for activities, which can
be in conflict of acceptable protocol.
While these actions may seem stringent, and almost militaristic,
we believe we must do everything possible to protect our respondents
and our databases, the lifeblood of our industry!
Source: ©2001 Marketing
Research Association, Inc.
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