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May 2006
Vol. 2 No. 5 |
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| The Effects of Political Telemarketing on the Research Profession |
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By LaToya D. Rembert, Esq: CMOR State Legislative Coordinator
Political telemarketing or so-called “push polling” creates grave concerns for the survey research profession. These activities negatively affect the public’s perception of survey research. They are designed to influence the outcome of political elections. It is important that members of the survey research profession take necessary precautions to ensure that they are protected from such conduct and are able to recognize when the presence of a political telemarketing call exists.
For the full article, click: http://www.cmor.org/ga/article506.cfm (CMOR Members Only)
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CMOR Announces New Director of Government Affairs |
We are very pleased to welcome Christopher Lee, Esq. to CMOR as our new Director of Government Affairs and Counsel. Christopher has the background and experience needed to lead our government affairs initiative. He has the right blend of Capitol Hill experience, education and understanding of technology that will be a tremendous asset to CMOR and to you, our members.
Christopher has over ten years of Capitol Hill experience. He also has familiarity with issues critical to our profession, including the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and CAN SPAM Act. His Capitol Hill experience includes serving as Deputy Counsel to Senator Conrad Burns at the time of the CAN-SPAM Act (the federal legislation to restrict commercial emails). In addition, Christopher worked at the Senate Commerce Committee and was an advisor on Internet, technology and privacy policy issues for the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committees. Furthermore, Christopher has professional experience in a federal regulatory body, having served as Attorney-Advisor with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Christopher's background will be key in leading our efforts, as CMOR continues its critical role in protecting the profession against harmful legislation and educating the profession about the scope and impact of privacy and other government affairs issues.
Christopher will be working out of our DC-area office and can be reached at (301) 654-6601 or via email at clee@cmor.org. He will be attending the upcoming AAPOR and MRIA Conferences in May. If you will be at the Conferences, please introduce yourself to Christopher. Please join me in welcoming Christopher Lee to CMOR!
Donna Gillin, CMOR Director of Operations |
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| A message from Christopher: |
I look forward to identifying the interests of CMOR’s members, then crafting and implementing strategies to achieve those objectives. Congress and the Executive Branch are considering legislation and statutory language pertaining to broadband competition, privacy and Net Neutrality. I will keep CMOR’s members abreast of changes in these areas and work towards ensuring that the profession’s interests are fully represented.
Please feel free to contact me with any government affairs questions. I can be reached at clee@cmor.org or 301-654-6601.
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| Thank you to Kathy Pilhuj, the Chair of CMOR's Respondent Cooperation Committee and a member of the CMOR Board, for her Respondent Cooperation article last month. As an extension of that submission, CMOR is adding this new feature to our e-newsletter -- submissions from members of the CMOR Board. We hope you enjoy hearing their perspective! |
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| By Larry Brownell, CMOR Board Member and Executive Director of the Marketing Research Association |
The addition of this new feature to CMOR’s monthly eNewsletter is very fortuitous. I was recently in DC and spent some time with the new Director of Government Affairs and General Counsel, Christopher Lee. On just his second day with CMOR, Chris, Donna Gillin and I were able to meet with FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate. Chris and Commissioner Tate were able to bond over mutual Capitol Hill experiences. Commissioner Tate had a general appreciation for the issues that CMOR and the marketing and opinion research profession face. With Chris’s well-rounded DC experience and technology background, I think he will quickly become a prominent asset. Don’t believe me; read the National Journal this week (a DC insider publication) wherein Chris is featured!
As a Board member of CMOR, I feel a great sense of pride in CMOR’s fourteen-year history and direction. The fact that the profession has full-time, dedicated attorneys as well as a lobbyist in DC may be standard for some of the largest industries in the U.S., but only a handful of industries of our size can boast this achievement. More important, CMOR has taken the right path to this position. CMOR can assure the profession’s companies that it can meet their individual needs. Whether a large company who has in-house legal counsel that needs industry backing or a small company that needs to know that someone is looking out for their interest, you know that CMOR is working for you at the State and Federal levels.
As the inaugural Board comment, this may sound a little "rah-rah," but I do commend the current and previous leaders/volunteers of CMOR for sailing a true course. With all the scandals involving professional lobbying firms, the knowledge that CMOR leaders have complete control of dedicated people seems good planning in hindsight.
The Government Affairs efforts and the Respondent Cooperation studies are an incredible one-two punch allowing CMOR to demonstrate the profession’s unique relationship with the populous. The RC group’s efforts to assist us in reaching respondents have been invaluable to companies using their studies and training. This year, Respondent Cooperation Committee Chair, Kathy Pilhuj, her hard working volunteers and Patrick Glaser (the new Director of Respondent Cooperation) are taking their aggressive approach to respondent cooperation to new heights. You can expect new Industry Image and Tracking studies, as well as the formal launch of the Industry Identifier in coming months.
September is the official Respondent Cooperation month for the profession. September 13th - 15th, CMOR will conduct its fifth annual Respondent Cooperation Workshop. This Workshop has grown to become the essential program for those who train and are responsible for managing efforts to improve companies’ respondent interactions. You need to be in San Antonio for this program, whether you are an online, telephone or qualitative researcher!
CMOR will also partner with Bob Lederer and Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR) on September 28th - 29th to put on the first Respondent Cooperation Summit aimed at Executives of research and client companies. It is long overdue that the top leaders of our profession pay attention to this crucial issue. Would an executive in the steel industry not be concerned with the future availability of iron ore? I commend Bob Lederer for bringing this new twist to CMOR’s long-standing efforts.
I hope this was informative for you and I look forward to my fellow Board members’ future letters. |
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| A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats |
| By Patrick Glaser, CMOR Dir. Respondent Cooperation |
The nature of the research process includes tradeoffs. A smart researcher realizes this, and also knows that every decision has an influence on a project’s costs and validity. One of CMOR’s areas of focus -- respondent cooperation -- reflects some of these balances and tensions. For example, how does a research firm balance quality results and cost effectiveness when poor response rates are a potential sign of invalid data?
On any survey, higher response rates may give some evidence that a study has valid results. At the same time, obtaining those response rates may mean the research carries a higher price tag. It may also involve other, less tangible consequences. What, for argument’s sake, is the cumulative effect of a thousand research firms each slightly irritating just a single sample member in order to get a “complete?”
To read the full article, visit this link: www.cmor.org/rc/rcArticle2.cfm |
Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Public Opinion Quarterly
"The Problem of Survey Nonresponse" - Eleanor Singer, Guest Editor |
Public Opinion Quarterly seeks submissions for a special issue of the journal devoted to papers exploring the problem of survey nonresponse. The issue is scheduled for publication in December, 2006. We welcome full length articles and research notes on the topic of unit nonresponse. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, theory linking response propensity and nonresponse error; tradeoffs between nonresponse error and measurement error, the relationship of response rates to nonresponse error, field procedures to reduce nonresponse, impacts of survey design on nonresponse, measurement of ignorable and nonignorable nonresponse and statistical inference accounting or adjusting for nonresponse.
The deadline for manuscript submissions is June 2, 2006. To submit a manuscript, please follow the manuscript preparation instructions provided at the journal's website, http://poq.oupjournals.org. Blinded and unblinded copies of the manuscript should be submitted online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/poq. Please indicate "Special Issue" on the title page of the submission. Submissions will be peer reviewed in accord with normal journal practice.
Address any questions to the editorial office: poq@northwestern.edu. |
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| CMOR Attends Census-Related Briefing |
| By LaToya D. Rembert, Esq. CMOR State Legislative Coordinator and Christopher Lee, Esq. CMOR Dir. of Government Affairs |
Last year, CMOR worked in conjunction with AAPOR, MRA, other industry associations, as well as other groups who formed the U.S. Census Project, on protecting the 2006 Census Funding (visit this link for the full article). Since the U.S. Census Bureau provides crucial data, records, and other information for a wide array of research-related interests, CMOR worked to protect the Census budget so the research professional can continue to benefit from its critical data.
The 2007 Census budget is beginning its review by Congress. To ensure that the interests of the research profession are protected, CMOR Government Affairs staff recently attended two events pertaining to the U.S. Census. The first event was sponsored by the The Brookings Institution. This briefing provided background information on the Census and highlighted challenges and difficulties with the Census. A discussion of possible legislative action impacting the Census followed. The second event was sponsored by The Census Project, a coalition of over 30 “stakeholder” organizations with an interest in Census-related activities. CMOR has participated in Census Project activities since 2005. The Census Project legislative update suggested that House and Senate Appropriators are likely to approve President Bush’s Census Bureau funding request, but that funds for additional projects are unlikely.
CMOR will continue to monitor developments in this area and provide updates to the Government Affairs Committee and Board of Directors.
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September is the official month for Respondent Cooperation! |
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Stay tuned for more details! |
| At A Glance: State and Federal Legislative Activity |
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| Telephone Issues
- Congress introduced the Call Center Consumer’s Right to Know Act of 2006, as well as legislation to amend the Communications Act of 1934, to prohibit false caller identification information.
- Arkansas introduced legislation to prohibit false caller identification.
- New York introduced legislation to increase the current penalties associated with the use of pre-recorded messages.
Pharmaceutical Gifts
- South Carolina introduced legislation to require prescription drug manufactures and labelers to submit annual reports of their marketing activities.
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SPAM and Phishing
- Florida filed legislation to prohibit the fraudulent use of personal information.
- Oklahoma enrolled legislation to prohibit electronic mail fraud and misrepresentation.
Privacy: Telephone Records
- Colorado, Georgia and Maine adopted legislation to prohibit unauthorized disclosure of telephone and wireless number records.
- Texas introduced legislation to prohibit unauthorized disclosure of wireless numbers.
Sales Related Activities
- Louisiana engrossed its telemarketing legislation that provides an explicit exemption for survey research activities.
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| Important Message to CMOR Members: |
CMOR will no longer be using the "Call C.H.R.I.S" 800 line. The hotline, which was originally intended to provide information to respondents about the value of research and participation, the confidential nature of the data collection, as well as explain the differences between research and sales-related contacts, has been officially disconnected.
In keeping with the times, we are moving this service to an online activity. We have a portion of our website devoted to information for members of the public about research and the research process: http://www.cmor.org/research/index.cfm. This section of the website includes: information about research, "Your Rights as a Survey Participant," the differences between Research and Sales, and FAQ's
In addition, companies can direct respondents to "askcmor@cmor.org" for questions about the research process/information or to provide CMOR with a complaint. If you have any questions about this information please contact CMOR's Director of Respondent Cooperation, Patrick Glaser at pglaser@cmor.org.
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