Qualitative & Quantitative Research Services

The call center maintains a 100-station CATI telephone interviewing facility and employs more than two hundred people. They use an in-house interviewing software package called CfMC, which enables us to run projects with response rates above 60-70%. The software allows for dialing schedules tailored to fit our clients’ needs.

The phone facility is run as a service bureau, and handles a wide range of external studies and can conform to each individual project’s needs. Our research center prides itself on having the ability to provide the best customer service possible. Experience-wise, we have completed projects in practically every industry, including, Medical / Pharmaceutical, Financial / Banking, Business-to-Business, Retail, Travel, Telecommunications, Food & Beverage, Political, etc. These projects have ranged from customer satisfaction and tracking to positioning, focus groups and more.

We have a Marketing, Media and Public Information contract with the General Services Administration. In order to be awarded this contract, the call center had to show technical ability, quality, competitive pricing and experience. The company is a member of the US Chamber of Commerce, the American Marketing Association, and the Market Research Association.

We have the experience, capability and knowledge to responsively perform all tasks set forth in any project.

Due to our extensive client base, we have developed the ability to serve the needs and specifications of various industries. These include but are not limited to:

• Advertising
• Agriculture
• Automotive
• Banking/ Financial Services
• Computer/Internet Technology
• Consumer Products
• Education
• Entertainment
• Food/Beverage Services
• Healthcare/Pharmaceutical
• Media (Television, Radio, Film)
• Magazines/Newspapers/Publishing
• Political Polls
• Public Relations
• Retail
• Telecommunications
• Travel and Leisure
• Utilities

Consumer Research is any research which seeks to gather information regarding consumer attitude, behavior, perception, usage, preferences and trends. Consumer research focuses on speed and answering specific management questions.

We have the capabilities to interview any English speaking respondent worldwide, 7 days a week, day and night, regardless of time-zone.

With the proper sampling methodology, we set up the dialing patterns to hit optimal calling times in order to interview respondents which include:

• Heads of Households
• Primary decision makers
• Individuals with the most recent birthday
• Customer provided lists
• Teens
• Parents of newborns/children

All of our interviewers are trained to be able to contact and interview consumers of all ages, backgrounds and lifestyles.

Pharma Research

Pharma includes all medical and pharmaceutical market research. This research primarily focuses on Physicians, Pharmacists, and other medical providers as respondents to questions dealing with prescription trends and awareness as well as specific disease or ailment awareness and treatment procedures.

We currently have over ½ million physicians divided by a variety of specialties from Cardiologists to General Practitioners to Interns. These doctors are readily available from our own database to make your projects more time and cost effective. This database is continuously being updated so we have the most accurate information possible.

Interviews have also been conducted with the following types of healthcare workers:

• Hospital department heads
• Facility directors
• Pharmacists
• Opinion Leaders
• Lab technicians and coordinators
• Perfusionists
• Nurses and Nurse Managers (RN’s, LPN’s, etc.)

Our Elite Interviewers have at least 1 year experience with a background in Pharma.

Executive Research

Executive Research relies on interaction with business professionals in gathering information regarding products and services geared toward the business world. This research requires a large range of respondents from office managers and assistants to department heads and CEO’s

Besides outbound dialing, we feature dedicated inbound lines for Business-to-Business studies, where calls are instantaneously transferred to telephone/computer stations. Allowing call-ins for outbound studies increases cooperation rates by more than 50%. Respondents include:

• Company presidents/owners
• C-level management
• Mid to upper-level management, including VPs, department heads and directors
• IT/IS professionals
• Sales agents

Our Elite Interviewers have at least 1 year Executive-level experience.

We pride ourselves on thoughtful, creative research design. We will give you some examples related to your industry and discuss other examples with you. More generally, we:

• Make very sure we and our clients understand what decisions the research will contribute to and how. For example, often the market for a product or service is ill defined. We take the time to work through a precise definition with our clients and design research that will define the market more precisely as well as meet its other goals.
• Select the right method or mix of methods necessary to answer your questions.

We use qualitative research to understand how people think and talk about our clients' industries, products and services. That statement may seem obvious. But getting the understanding precisely right is critical and cannot be taken for granted.

In addition to thoroughgoing univariate and bivariate analysis, we use a wide range of multivariate techniques, including:

• Multiple regression techniques, to assess the importance of multiple independent variables
• Quadrant Analysis
• Conjoint analysis and discrete choice analysis, for product design decisions
• Correspondence Analysis with Line Charts
• Discriminate analysis, to predict who will buy and assign potential customers to market segments
• Fair Share Analysis
• Factor analysis to reduce variables to underlying dimensions
• Cluster analysis

We use these methods in combination with very thorough cross-tabulations, to make sure we and our clients understand the real customers behind the numbers. After all, one cannot market to a statistic. (Direct marketing targeting may be an exception, but in our experience we understand the people, and their motivation is preferable even in direct marketing.)

Often, we use methods drawn from experimental psychology to complement multivariate techniques or provide more useful answers. The methods are particularly useful in pricing and brand equity projects.

Questionnaire Development

Meticulous execution starts with carefully designing the questionnaire or discussion/interview guide.

• We want to know as much as you can share about your earlier research and your sales experience, because research is best pursued as an iterative process, building and refining understand of the market over the course of successive projects. Frequently, knowing what you've done and what you've discovered enables us to make your research project more valuable.
• Often, we find it useful to prepare tables and exhibit shells prior to finalizing the questionnaire. Doing so ensures that our client, our client's internal clients, and we have the same understanding of what the research will produce. This avoids a surprising number of misunderstandings.

Project Management

The project management team at our call center reviews all information and materials going to and coming from a client to ensure we understand and provide exactly what the client wants. After receiving project specifications, the Project Manager deals directly with the client to make sure we deliver their project as requested from inception to completion. They are responsible for making sure the rest of the staff understands and carries out the specifications of the client. When a change to the project is made, whether it is in wording, sample, programming, etc., the staff is immediately notified, interviewing is stopped, if needed, and action is taken to make the proper adjustments per the client.

Data Collection

Our in-house data collection capabilities provide major quality control advantages as well as efficiencies, particularly in telephone surveys. We take full advantage of the CATI (Computer Aided Telephone Interviewing) capabilities of our CfMC software. CATI interviewing ensures that skips and rotations are followed precisely; decreases interviewer error rates, eliminates printing of questionnaires, data entry, and allows for timely reports and updates.

In addition to CATI, we take many other steps to ensure quality control. The first step is in our ongoing training process. In the initial basic training, interviewers become well versed in skip patterns, verbatim, probing and clarification while the importance of quality is stressed. They are also instructed to review each interview before submitting it as a complete so they may catch any possible mistakes and correct them. This includes editing open ends to ensure accuracy and comprehensibility.

Once the interviewers are ready to begin, they are thoroughly briefed on a project by the Project Manager. After the initial briefing, supervisors hold daily meetings with the interviewing staff in order to review the project, clear any misunderstandings and alert the interviewers of any changes to the project. During the course of the project, interviewers are under constant active monitoring and on-line supervision. This entails monitoring to validate accuracy/precision, evaluate productivity, and assess depth of probing, an interviewer review by the production manager following the third complete interview and a 20 percent validation per interviewer standard (100 percent validation if discrepancy uncovered).

Programming

The programming staff has more than 10 years of hands-on training. Using CfMC's SURVENT package, even some of the most complex interviews can be programmed accurately and in a timely fashion. Some of the software's capabilities include:

• Advanced sample management
• Complex rotation blocks
• Off site testing
• Large attribute lists (up to 1000 at a time)
• Consistent quota updating, to prevent Over Quotas
• Data reformatting in various, highly used, software packages (SPSS, Excel, Access, WinCross)

In addition to CfMC, our programmers are also trained to use WinCross and Web Survent in order to meet client specifications.

Recruiting

We take the same precautions during recruiting as for data collection. We can recruit for a future survey, focus group, in-depth interview, etc. Recruiting can be done through telephone, fax, email, postal mail or internet.

Coding

Our coding department will allocate codes to responses collected during fieldwork, thus facilitating the analysis of data. This generally applies to open-ended data. Transferring data from open-ended form to a codified form allows data to be analyzed easily.

Coding services include:

• Code list development
• Medical/Pharmaceutical coding
• Ranking of open ends
• Verbatim lists
• Coding of external databases
• Coding of CATI open ends

Tabulation

With Multiple Tabulation Software at our disposal, we can meet any tabulation request. Using WinCross, SPSS Tables, and CfMC's MENTOR packages, we can provide you with Multiple Banner Tables, Visual graphs and charts, Conjoint Tables and more.

Analysis

We can provide you and your Clients with all the statistical information you need.

Some of our software's features include:

• Response Rankings
• Mean, Median, Standard Error, Standard Deviation
• Weighted and un-Weighted Values on the same page
• Filtered Questions
• Significance Testing at a 95% rate (other % can easily be used)
• All Possible Pairs Comparison

Reporting

We provide reporting capabilities on a number of levels to meet your needs, from daily progress reports and basic tabulations through fully customized presentations and interactive, on-line reports.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research focuses on subjective data that is not easily coded into numbers. The emphasis is on words and feelings rather then numbers. It is particularly useful when management needs to answer questions relating to motivation and emotions such as consumer needs and perceptions, subjective opinions, brand images, brand personality and testing of advertisements. Qualitative Research tends to deal with a smaller number of respondents but analyses each respondent case to a deeper level. Analysis is interpretive, subjective, impressionistic and diagnostic.

Focus Groups

Focus Group Research is the common method of Qualitative Research and a highly flexible marketing research method overall. Moderator guided discussions focus on the attitudes and ides about a particular issue or item. Focus Group participants can include any grouping of respondents (customers, potential customers, employees, general consumers, etc.)

We work with a nationwide network of companies in order to conduct focus groups throughout the country. We can recruit for the groups in two ways: One, using the Focus Group facility panel; and two, recruiting from a central location.

One on One Interviews

Similar to a focus group with the exception being there is only one respondent.

Observation

There is a wide ranging set of research techniques which are aimed at observing consumers interacting naturally with their surroundings including products and services in use. A key advantage to this methodology is that often, the respondent or consumer is unaware that they are being observed, allowing the behavior to be observed naturally. This non verbal means of gathering primary data can be used as an alternative or as a complement to questioning. Forms of observation are mystery shopper or mystery consumer technique which test the quality of the consumer experience or the quality of customer service and disposable camera technique, where respondents are asked to take snapshots of their friends behaving naturally interacting with products being researched.

Dyad/Triad

Similar to a focus group with the exception being there is only 2 (Dyad) or 3 (triad) respondents.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative Research is mainly concerned with numbers and data easily quantified. The most popular quantitative technique is the survey, often based on a large number of cases, where a broad overview of a market is required. They usually take less time to complete and most often require choosing between several responses rather than long verbal responses. Surveys often aim to understand a target market better by breaking down the sample by demographics, lifestyle and usage behavior. Due the advanced software used at the call center all the various Quantitative Methods can be combined to fill even the most complex survey needs.

Telephone Based

Telephone surveys are a quick, efficient means of gathering data. They have an advantage over mail surveys in that they are conducted one-on-one. Response rates are higher due to a “captured” audience and the added benefit of human contact. Also, respondent answers can easily be probed and clarified by the telephone interviewer to extract additional or more detailed information.

We specialize in telephone surveys. We have an in-house, 100 CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) station phone room, which is staffed by specially trained interviewers. We have several dedicated Inbound phone lines allowing respondents to call in at their most convenient time to complete surveys. Our experience and expertise in telephone interviewing allows us to fully handle all aspects of a project in house.

Mail Based

Respondents are requested to fill out a survey by hand and return it via postal service. Surveys can be conveniently filled out at a respondents leisure and the data entered later by our staff. For mail surveys, we utilize a double data entry procedure in which each survey is data entered twice, in order to avoid human error. If any inconsistencies are found, the survey can be reviewed so that the correct entry can be made.

Web Based (On-line)

Our well trained programming staff can create a web based interview for you in approximately the same time it takes to program a normal questionnaire. The software will allow users to access your dedicated server and participate in the study. As the client, you will have access to REAL-TIME reports and tables showing you exactly what is going on with your project. The data can then be reformatted into any usable format for quick and easy delivery. Lastly, by utilizing a different webpage address, we can work with you silently to protect respondent bias/client confidentiality.

Some other features include:

• Suspend/Resume for those really long studies
• Mass Email/Invitation list to get the word out about your project quickly
• Have the study send the respondent to your website, or another study after completion
• The insertion of pictures to the website for rating/reaction type questions
• Skip Patterns to eliminate wasted time/data

Disk Based

Again, using our advanced Web CATI software, we can put your study on a disk to be used in the field.

The Benefits include:

• On-Location Interviewing with a nice point and click interface
• Eliminates the need for a hard copy, or bulky computer. Any laptop with a web browser like Internet Explorer will work.
• Great for door-to-door, Mall intercepts, at-home product testing.

Intercepts

Intercept studies are designed to capture your audience in their own environments. Whether in a mall, an airport, or vacation area, the intercept method often finds the participant in an activity that relates to the research goal. With carefully crafted questions relevant to the environment, the interviewer can receive top-of-mind responses. Intercepts are commonly carried out in or outside shopping malls or retail outlets – any venue where large numbers of a target group are possible. If a respondent qualifies and is a willing participant, a small incentive will be offered in exchange for a short interview. The sample selection is less strict than with other methods and they are generally less expensive and data can be collected at a quicker pace then with other methods. Also, a good range of views is likely to be collected.

Advertising Evaluation

Measuring the potential success of an advertising campaign is one of the most important steps in developing a marketing program. The investment of pre-evaluating a campaign far outweighs the cost of running a potentially ineffective program. We can help clients realize the highlights and pitfalls of a campaign’s strategy – always resulting in a program that generates more response.

The most effective evaluations include:

• Current Advertising Evaluation
• Advertising Awareness Studies
• Pre-Launch Advertising Evaluation
• Consumer Acceptance and Response

Benchmark Studies

This is a process which allows individual companies or internal company divisions compare accounting and operational information to others of similar size and type within the same industry. Benchmarking has been proven to be the most valuable process for identifying performance improvement areas. Some general study topics would include: customer retentions, customer service, billing, marketing, and accounting. A benchmark study will typically answer the following questions:

• How many serious competitors exist?
• What is their offer to market?
• What is best practice in the field?
• How is the company placed in relation to competitors?

Competitive Analysis

How does your product or service measure up to the competition? What is your market share? Is there room for growth? Through quantitative research, we evaluate the market standing of your existing product and recommend areas for growth and improvement. We can help you anticipate market changes and foresee how your competition will react.

Conjoint Analysis

This is a multivariate technique used to quantify the value that people associate with different levels of product/service attributes. Respondents trade product attributes against each other to establish product (brand) preference and the relative importance of attributes. The value of conjoint analysis is that it predicts what products or services people will choose and assesses the weight people give to various factors that underlie their decisions. As such, it is one of the most powerful, versatile and strategically important research techniques available.

Customer Satisfaction

This research gives consumers a chance to relay their ideas, attitudes, perceptions, experience and preferences to businesses. The knowledge of consumers is paramount to developing a successful marketing plan. Companies need to know whether they are meeting or exceeding consumer expectations so they may take specific corrective actions as well as continue all positive features. Customer satisfaction research can provide an enormous wealth of information concerning who buys your products as well as where, how, when and why they buy them. Consumer analysis can help companies better understand the relationship between brands of product and various consumer groups.

Market Segmentation

From a marketing management point of view, selection of the appropriate target market is key to developing successful marketing programs. The main idea behind market segmentation is that a single product cannot meet the needs and want of all consumers since consumers vary as to their wants, needs and preferences for products and services.

New Product Development

The first goal in launching a new program is to identify a need. We can help clients find just the right niche for products and services ranging from banking programs to hospital services. We will evaluate the market for growth, costs, and longevity, giving you a complete picture before product launch.

Performance/Satisfaction Tracking

There are many factors to consider when evaluating the market share of a product or service. Profits and sales certainly reflect customer acceptance, but true results can be known only when you evaluate brand awareness as well as consumer attitudes and satisfaction. Equally important to a healthy business are the people who make it happen. What is the morale within your company? Are your employees performing at their best?

We will show you your product’s performance and give a perspective as to how your industry is doing as a whole, both internally and externally, whether it be for a time frame of days, weeks, months, or even years.

Positioning

Positioning a product in a particular market requires knowledge of that market as well as how the consumer perceives the competitors’ products against your own product. We can help design surveys to gather consumer awareness, attitude and buying habits of various products currently on the market in order to compare against your company’s product. This will help your company realize where they currently are in the minds of consumers and what they have to do to change.

The National Do Not Call List

The new law states: "If the call is really for the sole purpose of conducting a survey, it is not covered. Only telemarketing calls are covered - that is, calls that solicit sales of goods or services. Callers purporting to take a survey, but also offering to sell goods or services, must comply with the National Do Not Call Registry."

We are strictly a marketing research company. We assure you that all calls from our office are made for the sole purpose of collecting opinions, experience and idea information for companies and organizations, including government. These telephone interviews are done with a variety of people to ensure that a representative sample is archived. (In other words, it is necessary for us to interview people of different ethnic backgrounds, ages, economic situations, etc so that all kinds of people are heard from and not just one majority.)

Professional Associations

American Marketing Association

Marketing Research Association

Audit Bureau of Circulations

US Chamber of Commerce

For more information please contact us at:

Marketing & Communications Services
Office: 1 (866) 751-8188 (Pacific Time Zone)
Fax: 1 (877) 880-9143 (Toll Free)
Email: info @ mcsphones.com
General Info Web Site: http://www.mcsphones.com
AutoCall Web Site: http://www.mcs.gc1.com