PANEL AND SAMPLE MANAGEMENT
Please describe your sampling process including your exclusion procedures if applicable. Can samples be deployed as batches/replicates, by time zones, geography, etc? If so, how is this controlled?
ODC is able to exclude samples from a survey in various ways.
We can exclude participants either based purely on completes or additionally, screenouts and quotafulls from earlier projects, e.g. the same topic, specific projects or just users who have already been invited within a certain timeframe. Regarding the deployment of invitations: we normally begin with a soft launch to check the data, the given incidence, response rate etc. If everything goes smoothly, we conduct the full launch. This does not necessarily mean that we immediately send out all available samples at once for the full launch (except for e.g. overnight top-ups), but instead, that we send out several invitation waves. We can adjust those batches by number of invitations sent per hour, day or week and can also, if required, dispatch samples to specific target groups first. These can be chosen from all variables accessible in our panel.
We recommend a field time of at least 5 days to achieve a good spread for all groups (older people - younger people, people who only read their emails once a week vs. people who check their emails regularly etc.)
Explain how people are invited to take part in a survey. What does a typical invitation look like?
Invited panelists are told that they can take part in an interesting survey and in doing so, influence for example products and service development.
They are also informed about how long the survey is likely to take and how many bonus points they will receive. The fact that the survey is only open for a certain time period or until enough participants have been found, is also displayed, as well as any other important additional information (e.g. requirement to download software).
Please describe the nature of your incentive system(s). How does this vary by length of interview, respondent characteristics, or other factors you may consider?
We adopt a very clear incentive system based on bonus points.
In most of the cases 1 bonus point is worth 0.10 Euros. As soon as a threshold of 200 points is reached, the monetary value of the bonus points can be transferred either to a bank account or to PayPal or panelists can make a charity donation. Additionally we conduct a monthly prize-draw for our panel members. Our incentives are meant as a compensation to our panelists. The focus is never put on the incentive itself as it could become a magnet for "incentive hunters". Consequently, we carry out regular internal studies and implement alterations if necessary.
How often are individual members contacted for online surveys within a given time period? Do you keep data on panelist participation history and are limits placed on the frequency that members are contacted and asked to participate in a survey?
Panel members will not complete more than two surveys per month, while a maximum number of 14 completed surveys per panel member is allowed over the course of one year.
As a panel policy, we don't have a limit on invitations in a given time period as we want to give our panelists the possibility to take part in surveys, even if they got screened out in a number of previous studies.
