IIS Panel recruitment is a double opt-in process and a wide variety of variables are collected on recruitment. Find more about IIS Online Access panels here!
Frequently Asked Questions

F.A.Q. ON RECRUITMENT (INFORMATION AND CONFIDENTIALITY)

What kind of e-mail addresses do we use?
We have only one e-mail address per panelist; he/she may give us his/her personal or business e-mail address.  The majority of panelists give us their personal e-mail address. All the email addresses are opt-in email addresses, meaning that the panelists have consented to become Panel Members and to be contacted by email for surveys.
 
Is anyone automatically excluded from the panel?
Yes, people under 16 years old for Europe and under 18 years old for North America, those working in marketing related sectors, those who are already on the panel and those who are on a Black List (i.e. clients, competitors etc.).
 
Do we have the postal address for every panelist?
We do not ask for the postal address during the recruitment process; we only ask for the city/ zip code, based on which the region is computed and used for Sampling purposes.
 
Do panelists give an undertaking to the IIS panel not be a member of another panel?
We don’t have this type of arrangement with them, but we can set this up for specific research.
 
What is the difference between IIS Panel and Mega Database recruitment? 
Mega Databases only recruit Internet users, and they recruit every user that wants to register. They do not allow for any possible bias in terms of market research and do not automatically eliminate clients, market research agencies, advertising agencies, etc. In addition, IIS Panel recruitment is a double opt-in process and a wide variety of variables are collected on recruitment.
 
What kind of information do we ask for when recruiting panelists?
Our recruitment questionnaire takes about 20 minutes to complete.
In addition to social and demographic questions (age, gender, income, social class, etc.), we ask questions on several topics such as their internet usage, computer hardware/software, etc.
We also send a monthly update questionnaire to all panelists, which focuses on a single topic (e.g. health, media, beauty, pets, mobile phones etc.).
 
What kind of checks do we carry out before a recruitment candidate becomes a member?
Before final integration in the Panel database, there are several cleaning and validation processes done on the recruitment data. Automatically during the recruitment process, there are real time screenings, de-duplication processes, validations and filters between correlated questions, email, name and address checking. After recruitment, the data is further cleaned and checked using a specialized Cleaning and Integration application (special characters are removed, names and gender are contrasted with a library of names and gender combinations and cleaned, demo variables like region, market size and social grade are computed based on special algorithms etc.).
F.A.Q. ON RECRUITMENT (RENEWAL AND PURGING)

 What is the panel renewal rate per year?
About 30 to 50% of panelists are replaced every year and in addition to recruiting replacements, we also recruit to increase the size of panels. We carry out recruitment and purging campaigns every month, in order to ensure that panelists are willing to respond (return rate).
 
What are our purging rules?
A purge is the process of removing from an active panel any panelists who do no meet the criteria contained in the company’s panel policy. IIS carries out a monthly purge with the aim of maintaining the 30-40% average response rate and thereby guaranteeing a certain “freshness” of our panelists. Should a panelist fail to respond to any surveys in the last 6 months, he/she is removed from the list of active panelists.
Mega Databases occasionally carry out purges. If they carry out purges at all, this is mainly on a quarterly or annual basis (Mega Database response rate: between 2 and 5%).
 
Who do we consider an active member?
An active member is any panelist who has completed all the demographic data in full and responded to at least one survey in the last 6 months. The percentage of active members on IIS Panels is 100%.
F.A.Q. ON MANAGEMENT

 How are panelists remunerated?
All panelists receive appropriate incentives to participate in our surveys. The incentives alternate from study to study depending on the country, survey topic, length, and complexity. We provide both incentives per complete as well as the chance to win different prizes. Besides survey rewards, panelists also benefit from:

> monthly emailed newsletters
> a custom built website
> access to tech - support (via email and phone)
> confidentiality

The primary motivators for Mega Databases are money and commercial offers. 
 
Do we send reminders to our panelists during the field stage?
Yes, we send them reminders by e-mail, which are similar to survey invitation letters. They are usually sent after 3 days of the field stage to panelists who have not completed the survey within the first 3 days.
 
What is the difference from a Mega Database?
The aim of Mega Databases is direct marketing. Their objective is to maximize the number of contacts per year; addresses are sent to other competitors.

F.A.Q. ON FIELDWORK

How do we identify bad data i.e. where the respondent is cheating, not concentrating or not caring about their responses?
IIS has several ways of checking the accuracy of responses, including:
a)Real time – during the recruitment process:
- Automatic online de-duplication from existing panels, real time screening out of e-mail addresses from the Black List (competitors, clients, etc.) and screening by business sector (market research and related sectors)
- Online checks on the consistency and coherence of related questions 
- e-mail confirmation following the recruitment questionnaire

b) During the integration process (using the cleaning and integration application):
- Additional cleaning and validations (counts on all variables, automatic checking of first names, surnames and gender against valid names and the gender library, further de-duplication, etc.)

c) Ongoing checking: Demos checked with monthly Webcruisers/ other surveys, panelists with inconsistent data are removed from the active panel list.

How are panelists selected for a survey?
Using the sampling procedure, plus the fact that IIS has a clear view of the participation history for each respondent.

Top of the page
Flash