Disciplinary Cases 2006-2007
Data Protection
These complaints allege a breach of the Eight Data Principles as listed in Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 1998.
Incentives
This is a problem for both quantitative and qualitative projects. Complaints result from either poor administration or failure to clearly explain to respondents the circumstances in which an incentive will be paid.
Interviewer behaviour
Many complaints concern interviewers’ interaction with members of the public, for example, allegations of tactlessness, pushiness, or over familiarity. The MRS can investigate these complaints where the interviewer is supervised or is the responsibility of an MRS member or where the interviewer works for an MRS Company Partner organisation
Member behaviour
These cases involve the individual misconduct of an MRS member. Typically, it includes complaints made by one member against another, allegations of dishonesty, and interviewer behavior when interviewer is a member.
Respondent feeling misled
Respondent can feel misled by being induced to participate in research with information that is inaccurate or untrue, for example, the length of time an interview will take or the purpose of the research. This category also covers complaints regarding potentially misleading methodology.
Questionnaire Design
These complaints concern allegations of bias in the questionnaire. This includes the existence of ‘persuasive facts’ in the questionnaire and questions that lead respondents to a particular answer.
Re-contact
This where a respondent has specifically refused to participate in a research project and is contacted again, usually due to a technical or procedural failure.
Reporting of results
This includes press release and other statements made by both researcher and their clients. Results must be adequately supported by the data on which they are based.
Respondent Confidentiality
Complaints can concern problem with observation of groups or passing details to third parties.
Sugging
This is Selling Under the Guise of market research and for the purposes of these statistics includes fund raising. Complaints are made by those on the receiving end of such approaches and those who point out advertisements to recruit “market researchers” for transparently sales or fund raising activities.
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