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Posted by Ian Straus on April 13, 2000 at 01:57:17:
In Reply to: quantitative research fees posted by Harry Ioncica on April 13, 2000 at 01:56:40:
I don't have a Secret Industry Formula to give you. Wish I did. It's like buying a car. Do you walk into the showroom and ask the salesmen how they reach their rock bottom price? So all I can give you is "some idea".
Usually you can get a supplier of phone interviews to give an estimate of dollars per completed interview, given an estimated interview length. If you think about it, any quote will be reducible to that figure. Such costs should include data entry. For mail surveys, you can develop a cost per complete too.
Don't expect such costs to be constant over changing volumes.
Added costs for questionnaire development; for analysis; for managing a complex project. Then there are intangibles - the research company's reputation and what expertise they bring to the table.
As for more detail on how "you" calculate such a fee... are you the buyer or the seller? As a buyer, I usually assume the seller estimates costs and adds a mark-up.
Now that I'm working for a public entity and going through a bidding process, I'm afraid the intangibles get short shrift.
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