New Qualitative Research Registry Launched

This week, MRIA and its Qualitative Research Division (QRD) launched the Qualitative Research Registry (QRR), or Registre de la recherche qualitative (RRQ) in French, as a new and improved successor to Qualitative Central.

Tracking qualitative research study participants is a vitally important Standards-based self-regulatory initiative for our industry, and the time was ripe to revamp and rebrand Qualitative Central into something new that will deliver better service to members.

By way of historical recap: in 2004 -- with Canada's federal privacy legislation, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) coming into full force -- the QRD Division of PMRS realized that it was time to re-look at the old "Central Files" system that had been in place for many years. Central Files and Qualitative Central were designed to assist those who recruited for qualitative market research by registering respondents and thereby helping to ensure that the then-PMRS standards for participation in qualitative research were upheld.

Respondents are only allowed to participate once in a six month period, five times in total, and never more than once on the same topic.

We have all heard "horror stories" of respondents who "cheat and repeat"; and we recognize that it is important in our industry that a reliable and well-used registry is in force. Cheaters and repeaters reflect poorly on our industry and have more than once been the subject of a disparaging article about our industry.

While unscrupulous recruiters are occasionally the issue and should be avoided by all moderators, the main source of the problem seems to be respondents who register with several recruiters and deny previous participation. We see them at our facilities and do our best to dismiss them and then ensure they don't show up in the future.

Only with a strong "registry" system will we be able to really take control of this problem and improve our reputation as a credible part of the industry.

With MRIA's launch of our new Charter of Respondent Rights in October, respondents are guaranteed to be treated well and with the respect they deserve. In return, we as an industry must do our part to make sure that those few who try to cheat are "weeded out".

Some of the country's leading recruiters (most notably Alana Richman, Gini Smith and Dawn Smith) have worked hard along with the MRIA staff to get the new Qualitative Research Registry underway. These recruiters have outlined the elements of the new system that will provide us, as an industry, with the information we need and the ability to track respondent participation.

Administrative responsibility for QRR has been assumed by the MRIA staff, under Executive Director Brendan Wycks. This will help ensure the delivery of consistent, quality service and support to QRR participants - through a central staff contact in the MRIA office - as compared to operating the system through an outside supplier or member of the industry.

MRIA and QRD are committed to ensuring that the Qualitative Research Registry becomes an increasingly recognized, well-utilized, and user-friendly tracking vehicle. QRR builds upon QualCentral's foundation as a comprehensive "Do-Not-Call" list of those who have recently participated in qualitative research studies, those who have asked not to be contacted further, and those felt by recruiters and moderators to be best served by not being contacted.

MRIA's Standards require that recruiters should provide accurate data to the Qualitative Research Registry on a consistent basis and check all respondents against the Registry. Similarly, our Association's Standards require that moderators buying recruiting services should give primary consideration to recruiting agencies which submit to the Qualitative Research Registry on a regular and ongoing basis.

Qualitative Research Registry submissions should be sent to:

QRRQ@mria-arim.ca
or
Qualitative Research Registry
c/o Marketing Research and Intelligence Association
2600 Skymark Avenue, Building 4, Unit 104
Mississauga, Ontario
L4W 5B2
1-888-602-6742 or (905) 602-6854, ext. 8721
Fax: (905) 602-6855

Jennifer Camelford,
Qualitative Research Division (QRD) Chair