At RTS Marketing Research, we meticulously follow rigid quality control measures. Accuracy is one of the three pillars upon which RTS was founded. These measures ensure that the research our clients receive is always on-target and accurate.

·        All survey instruments are thoroughly reviewed by RTS, our field services, and by the client before they go into the field. We require final client approval on all survey documents to ensure that our clients’ needs are being met and that the clients understand how we expect to conduct the research.

·        Each client is assigned a single point of contact with RTS for all research needs. In this way, we can help protect the history of the account and ensure that on projects with multiple methodologies that the objectives remain consistent and all of the research stays on target.

·        In addition to informal tests of surveys and questionnaires before they are fielded, RTS also conducts a formal pretest of the questionnaire during the first night of fielding. The questionnaire is tested with approximately 25 respondents to evaluate survey length and reliability across respondents – to confirm that respondents correctly understand the questions as they were intended. After the pretest, any necessary changes are made to the questionnaire and the full fielding schedule begins.

·        On telephone surveys, a researcher from RTS will remotely monitor the telephone interviews to ensure the quality of the interview and the accuracy of the questionnaire. Clients are encouraged to participate in this remote monitoring session to evaluate the interview and questionnaire firsthand.

·        All telephone surveys are conducted by trained, experienced interviewers. All interviewers undergo a research training program to train them in the quality control requirements for marketing research. Interviewers are trained to strictly follow questionnaire scripts and to probe fully, but politely on all open-ended questions. Additionally, all interviewers are randomly monitored by a supervisor to further protect the integrity of the data.

·        Prior to starting any fieldwork, all interviewers are briefed on the questionnaire and review any potential problem areas for respondents or possible drop-off points.

·        All focus group sessions are video and audio recorded, with a secondary audio backup recording, to preserve a record of the discussion.

·        To help ensure full participation in focus groups, we always overrecruit by 2-3 participants. To fill a group of 8-10 participants, we will recruit at least 12 qualified participants (more in special situations, e.g. low income); for executive groups of 6-8 participants, we will recruit at least 10.

·        RTS Marketing Research never uses “professional respondents.” All focus group participants are required to meet strict guidelines for past participation in focus groups, typically requiring that they have not participated in any type of qualitative research within the past 6 months.

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