Interviewer Quality Control Australia IQCA

Presented by Kate Inglis Clark
President, Market Research Quality Assurance Inc.

Interviewer Quality Control Australia (IQCA) sets minimum standards for the conduct of market research field work

• Market Research Quality Assurance Inc.
• Interviewer Quality Control Australia Scheme
• IQCA Standards
• UK Developments
• European Developments
• Quality Assurance for the Australian Market Research Industry

Market Research Quality Assurance Inc.

• Jointly sponsored by the Market Research Society of Australia ( MRSA) and the Association of Market Research Organisations (AMRO)
• Objective is to help maintain and improve the quality and standards of marketing and social research undertaken in Australia
• Administers the IQCA scheme for accrediting market research field work services

Interviewer Quality Control Scheme Australia

• Established in 1991 with 36 market research organisations
• In 1998 accredited 86 market research organisations operating out of 107 offices nationally
• Covers 75% of market research field work undertaken in Australia
• IQCA standards and procedures are reviewed annually
• MRQA maintains a team of auditors who conduct annual onsite audits of companies adherence to IQCA standards

IQCA Standards

Six accreditation areas for fieldwork:

• door to door interviewing
• central location interviewing
• executive and indepth interviewing by fieldforce
• telephone interviewing
• qualitative respondent recruitment and
• audit and observational studies

IQCA Standards require accredited research suppliers to:

• provide basic training for interviewers & supervisors
• and training for each specific job
• provide formal supervision for interviewers
• provide annual observations and assessments of interviewers and supervisor
• validate 10% of interviews
• provide confirmation of characterisitcs of group discussants and in depth interviews
• commit to the MRSA Code of Professional Behaviour

Benefits of Industry Wide Standards

• Facilitates delivery of a consistent and defined market research service to clients
• Promotes the continuing co-operation of survey respondents
• Demonstrates to regulating authorities that the market research industry can develop and work within industry common standards

Extension of Standards

• There is a continuing dialogue within the industry about extension of industry standards to other facets of the market research process
• MRQA has been monitoring international developments in quality assurance specifically for market research

UK Developments

• Quality Standards MRQSA/7911 (ISO9003) under British Standards Institute now in place
• MRQSA Standards cover
  • managing the executive elements of research
  • data collection
  • data processing
• Expected to have 100 companies accredited to MRQSA/7911 in next three years
• IQCS continues as an alternative only covering data collection

European Developments

• This year ESOMAR endorsed the European Federation of Associations of Market Research Organisations (EFAMRO) common quality standards for market research across member countries
• UK MRQSA/7911 used as central input to common standard
• EFAMRO is seeking feedback from other international market research organizations (including Australia) about the possibility of establishing an international standard (ISO) for the market research industry

Reasons for the growth of market research quality standards

• Client demands for comparable standards in multi country research
• Growth of privacy and data protection legislation
• Governmental requirements for industry self regulation

Quality Assurance for the Australian Market Research Industry

• UK market research quality standards, MRQSA could provide a model for Australia
• International quality standards initiatives could also encourage Australian adoption of market research quality standards
• Broad industry discussion needs to take place to assess the suitability of the MRQSA model for Australia and to assess the level of client demand
   

Authorised by: Executive Officer, NPHP
Contact: Darryl Kosch, nphp@dhs.vic.gov.au
Date of publication: 1999
Page last updated: 27 November, 2003

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