While both the research industry and sales-related industries use the same mediums to conduct their business (i.e. telephone, mail, internet, email), there are some important differences.

• Sales-related industries want to sell you something
• A survey researcher simply wants to ask your opinion

Selling, in any form, is different than survey research. Whether conducted by telephone, by mail, by fax or via the internet, sales-related activities are not survey research. The purpose of a sales call, email, fax or mail solicitation is to encourage members of the public to purchase a good or service. Conversely, the purpose of research (in any form - via telephone, mail, in-person interview, door-to-door, mall or focus group) is to gather information and opinions from members of the public to measure public opinions of products and services or social and political issues. Occasionally, survey research companies will offer a gift to the respondent in appreciation of his or her cooperation. Such a gift could be a cash donation to a charity, a product sample, or a nominal monetary award. But, sales or solicitation is not acceptable or permitted in legitimate and professionally conducted survey research. In fact, if a survey research company attempts to sell anything while conducting survey research, they would be in violation of applicable research industry Codes and Standards, and if conducted via telephone would violate federal law (the Telemarketing Sales Rule).

Laws Pertaining to the Sales-Related Industries
Sales-related contacts are designed to sell you something, while survey researchers simply want to ask your opinion. Many laws across the country regulate sales-related activities, requiring sales-related contacts to include certain disclosure and/or require them to allow you to "opt out" of future contacts. Two federal laws that you may be familiar with are the federal laws that impose restrictions on sales calls: the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Telemarketing Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act (Telemarketing Sales Rule). These laws regulate the activities of sales-related callers (i.e. telemarketers, telephone solicitors and the like) while implicitly exempting survey research calls*.

Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

• Telephone solicitors must comply with consumers do-not-call requests
  
• Telephone solicitors are prohibited from calling before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
  
• Telephone solicitors are prohibited from sending unsolicited faxes
  
• Telephone solicitors are prohibited from using an auto-dialer or prerecorded message to call consumers without their
  consent (with certain caveats)
  
• Telephone solicitors that use recorded messages must state the identity of the business and provide its address or telephone
  number (with certain caveats).

To learn more about the law, visit the FCC website.

Telemarketing Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act (The Telemarketing Sales Rule)

• Makes selling under the guise of research (we call this "sugging") illegal by requiring telemarketers to promptly disclose their name and that the purpose of their call is sales related - including the nature and price of the product the caller is attempting to sell
  
• Prohibits telemarketers from placing sales calls except between
  8 a.m. and 9 p.m.
  
• Requires telemarketers to comply with consumers' do-not-call requests
  
• Prohibits telemarketers from placing repeated calls or allowing a telephone to ring with the intent to annoy, abuse or harass a person.

These same federal laws distinguish between telemarketing and legitimate survey research calls. Although researchers are not required by law to comply with your request, they will make every effort to respect your decision not to participate in any particular poll or survey research study.

For further information on the Rule, visit the FTC website.

How to Reduce the Number of Sales-related Calls You Receive
Under the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act or TCPA, telephone solicitors are required to comply with your do-not-call requests. You can avoid future sales calls by clearly stating that you want to be added to the caller's do-not-call list and do not want to receive any further sales calls from that person or entity. You should also contact your state attorney general's office to find out if there are any do-not-call laws in your state.

Another way to reduce the number of sales calls you receive is to add your name to the Direct Marketing Association's Do-Not-Call List. You can contact the Direct Marketing Association at 212-768-7277, or visit their web site. Once your name is added to this list, telemarketers that are members of the DMA are no longer allowed to call you.

If you would like further information about survey research, please email us at information@cmor.org.

* Certain provisions of the TCPA regulating calls using automatic telephone dialing systems apply to survey research calls.

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What is "Push Polling"?

What Is Political Telemarketing?
Political telemarketing, or so-called "push polling," is a telemarketing technique conducted under the guise of a legitimate poll. Such calls are placed by campaign workers or telemarketers hired by campaigns. They can contain derogatory and damaging statements about a candidate and are specifically designed to "push" a voter away from one candidate and toward another. The statements used by political telemarketers can be false or misleading and often shocking. An example of such a call would be: "Would you be more or less likely to vote for John Smith if you knew he favored paroling child molesters?" These calls are by no means polls.

How Is This Practice Different From Legitimate Polls and Surveys?

• The purpose of a legitimate poll or survey is to obtain opinions; the goal of political telemarketing is to "push" votes away from a particular candidate and toward another.
  
• Legitimate polling firms disclose the true name of the firm or the research company conducting the interview; political telemarketers often do not disclose their name or they provide false names.
  
• Legitimate polls usually are longer in duration, at least five minutes in length, and consist of many questions; political telemarketing calls are often limited to between thirty to sixty seconds and typically ask one or two questions.
  
• Legitimate polls and surveys provide information to respondents in an effort to determine the public's opinion on a certain issue or candidate. Conversely, political telemarketing is a campaign technique designed solely to influence potential voters.

What Can Be Done About Political Telemarketing?
Because political telemarketing can easily be confused with legitimate polls and surveys, they damage the reputation of legitimate polling and thereby discourage respondents from participating in legitimate research.

As a result, CMOR has been actively supporting legislation to combat this deceptive practice.

We have been working in various states to introduce and enact legislation that:

• Correctly defines political telemarketing so that legitimate polls and surveys are not implicated
• Effectively regulates political telemarketing

Florida, Idaho, Maine and Nevada are among the states that have already enacted laws to regulate political telemarketing, while exempting legislative polls and surveys. These measures reflect an understanding of the difference between polls and surveys and political telemarketing, and of the necessity to regulate this deceptive practice.

CMOR will continue our efforts on behalf of the research industry and the public to regulate this activity and distinguish it from legitimate polls and surveys. If you have any questions about this issue, please email us at information@cmor.org.