‘Don't ignore quality amid downturn,' warns Casro chair

US-- The chairman of the Council of American Survey Research Organisations (Casro) has warned the industry not to lose sight of issues around online quality amid the economic maelstrom.

In an exclusive interview with Research, Andrew Morrison warned that the threat posed to the research industry by the recession paled in comparison to the damage that would be dealt by a perceived drop-off in the validity of the information that agencies provide.

“If this industry is crippled, it really won't be the economy so much as the lost trust of clients in the information we deliver, and that trust has to be based on strong science,” he said.

Discussing web-based research in general and online panels in particular, Morrison said there are still “huge methodological issues that need to be addressed”.

“We are a science, we practise a science. I think innovation is terrific, and I heartily endorse looking at multiple ways of collecting and analysing information. But I think, at least in the last couple of years, what gets lost in the excitement and enthusiasm is the scientific basis for those analyses,” he said.

“A web-based piece of research on a panel is not clearly defined as a scientific piece of research at this point – and I know the panel companies would dispute that – but they are convenience samples; they are volunteer samples.”

His concerns chime with comments made previously by clientside researchers such as Procter & Gamble's Kim Dedeker, while only yesterday information industry analyst Outsell was warning that despite measures put in place by associations and some suppliers to improve quality, “it's still a ‘buyer beware' situation”.

However, Morrison is hopeful that the turbulent economy will focus attention on delivering the best value research – not simply what is cheapest. He said: “In tough economic times, there is a premium on being right and being accurate, and being confident that the information you are applying to the problem is appropriate.”

• See the March edition of Research for more of Morrison's views on online quality and how the US industry is shaped to weather the economic storm.

Author: Brian Tarran