In January 1999, Beaufort Research was awarded BS7911 – the British Standards Institute’s quality standard for organisations conducting market research. We are not aware of any other company based in Wales having yet achieved this standard.

BS7911 is based on ISO 9000, but is purpose designed for the market research industry. The standard specifies best practice for every aspect of our business and therefore includes fieldwork, data processing and executive elements.

BS7911 is the most comprehensive and up-to-date quality standard available to market research organisations. It was previously known as the MRQSA Standard (Market Research Quality Standards Association), but has now been formally recognised as a British Standard.

We continually monitor our performance and are regularly audited to ensure that all procedures are correctly followed and that we still operate to the highest standards.

QUANTITATIVE FIELDWORK

We take fieldwork very seriously: we spend a considerable amount of time and money making sure that we deliver good fieldwork.  Quality research can only be achieved through reliable primary data collection. 

BS7911 includes the widely recognised fieldwork standard IQCS (Interviewer Quality Control Scheme) which sets out best practice in this area. 

In order to maintain our established nation-wide field-force, we need to recruit good interviewers.  Potential fieldworkers who are new to the industry must attend a two day training course where they learn the basics.  Each new recruit is given The Beaufort Research Interviewer Manual – our interviewers’ Bible. 

After training, each new interviewer is accompanied on his/her first assignment by one of our supervisors.  This accompaniment ensures that work is conducted according to our procedures and allows us to give practical guidance in the field. 

All interviewers (new and experienced) are regularly appraised to monitor the quality of their work.  Frequently used fieldworkers are appraised twice every year by their supervisor who documents their performance in a formal report.  This information is logged onto our purposely commissioned field computer system.  With this system we constantly monitor performance to identify additional training requirement and avoid problems before they occur. 

Only interviewers who meet our standards are issued with a Beaufort ID card.  Our fieldworkers carry an ID card whenever they are face-to-face with members of the public.  A photograph confirms that the individual works for Beaufort and that he or she is a genuine market research interviewer. 

10% of the interviews we conduct are validated.  We do this by re-contacting the individual or business concerned to check that the interview was conducted as it should have been.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ELEMENTS

Interviewers trained to meet the BS7911 criteria are used to recruit focus groups. The same stringent checks are made, as with quantitative interviews to ensure that the correct respondents are recruited. 

Having agreed the research requirement with the client, executive staff working on qualitative research projects are required to provide the Field Manager with a detailed brief on recruitment requirements. Similarly, regular reports on the progress of group recruitment are fed back to the Project Manager. In accordance with the BS7911 we provide standard guidelines for the recruitment and hostessing of group discussions. Feedback is given to our in-house Field Department on the accuracy of recruitment and venue suitability. 

Our in-house moderators have successfully completed the relevant MRS training which comprises theoretical components and practical qualitative experience.

After data collection, most quantitative surveys require coding, editing and data entry. During these procedures responses to open-ended questions are categorised, paper questionnaires are converted into electronic data and logic checks are carried out to eliminate response inconsistencies.

Beaufort conducts and validates these procedures in-house. At least 5% of all coding and data entry is verified through duplication. Results are compared and any discrepancies are investigated and corrected.

BS7911 sets out strict guidelines for the executive elements of the research process including client liaison, contract specification and reporting. 

Any use of sub-contractors is made transparent and we are responsible for the quality of their work. 

Clients are given the opportunity to comment on research instruments (e.g. questionnaires) and approval must be gained before use in the field. 

We are required to include a list of key information points both in proposals (so our clients know exactly what they are getting for their money) and in reports (so that our clients know exactly what we did and how we did it). 

Survey data is maintained for at least two years following completion of a project (in electronic format for the second year) so that retrospective analysis is possible. 

We continuously monitor our suppliers’ performance and use purchasing procedures designed to safeguard the service we provide to clients.