American Public meets fast-paced demands for capturing public opinion with Rep Data’s proactive approach to filling hard-to-reach sample groups
Background
As a market research firm that frequently works at the edge of politics and public policy, American Public faces extremely quick turnaround times for its studies. Driven by a fast-moving political news cycle, the firm needs to ensure clients understand the swiftly changing landscape surrounding public opinion issues. This fast- paced environment means that American Public needs partners that can be very responsive—getting in and out of field at lightning speed.
Challenge
It was critical that American Public find a partner that would actually deliver what was promised, on time and accurately. For a rapid post-election public opinion study—which included hard-to-reach demographics like minority groups and age 65+ as part of the general population sample needed—the firm wanted to fill all response cells in a timely manner.
Waiting until the end of fielding to realize that difficult respondent cells were under-represented was not an option. In the past, American Public felt performance and financial pressure as deadlines approached, and were eventually asked by the sample vendor to compromise on sample to get the job done. And compromised sample means compromised data. This was not an option for American Public.
Another frequent challenge had to do with being handed off during the research process from one sample vendor employee to another for different stages of the project, with no consistent point of contact. For rapid research work in public opinion, this can cause a disruption during the process—disruption that costs the study time and effectiveness.
The Details
American Public turned to Rep Data because it needed a research partner that was extremely nimble, and that really understood the time pressure of capturing public opinion. Rep Data was the perfect solution, offering:
Expertise that allowed the team to anticipate exactly what it takes to put together a quick-turn project, all the way from lead time and planning to execution to analysis.
Consistent point of contact from start to finish who stayed in close touch throughout all the stages of the project, boosting continuity and reducing stress.
Thoughtful approach to programming for questionnaire development, structure and flow. In a consultative, collaborative approach with American Public, Rep Data took a static initial deck design and translated it successfully into the online survey environment.
Reporting platform tool that allows clients to examine data in real-time, as it comes into the study, and analyze it in a variety of ways.
“I cannot tell clients ‘I’m waiting on the data’ when they need their study results. With RepData that scenario hasn’t presented itself.
The data is available, it’s good data, it came quickly. All their work is crisply done.”
Mark Allen, President, American Public
The Details
For its rapid post-election study, American Public tapped Rep Data’s offerings. The team at Rep Data knew that fulfilling the most difficult quotas at the beginning of field would allow more running room to get the study done, and done on time. By taking this approach, they also relieved that commonly seen end-of-field pressure to fulfill empty quotas, leading to compromised results in the rush to make deadlines. With Rep Data, American Public was able to fill the harder-to-reach minority groups and 65+ respondent cells early—and accurately.