Why should I take the time to participate in marketing research?
When you share your ideas and opinions, you help companies develop better products and services… products and services that make your life more productive, interesting and fun. Participating in marketing and opinion research is engaging -- you'll find it intriguing to learn how similar or different your peers think and feel about relevant topics.
What is a focus group?
A focus group is an opportunity to meet with 8-10 other people to discuss a particular topic… from politics or healthcare to products and services you use everyday. A professional discussion leader guides the session. Representatives of the research sponsor (typically people in marketing, advertising or product/service development) usually observe the session. The sessions are held in a facility designed to encourage interaction and equipped with one-way mirrors, audio and video recording equipment.
The purpose of research is to gather timely information, so our studies are "fast turnaround" - we usually have no more than ten days to find the people needed.
When we call, we will ask questions to determine if you fit the specifications required to participate in the study. If you fit the specifications, we may ask you to participate in the study. If you agree to participate, it is extremely important that you follow through and honor that commitment. We request that you notify us immediately if you cannot participate so we can find someone to take your place. Also, we reserve the right to cancel some people who have agreed to participate.
How is marketing research different from telemarketing?
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 Calls for the purpose of marketing research are exempted from the Texas "Do Not Call List"
 
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 We never ask for money and will not attempt to sell you anything - our contacts will be for the purpose of asking questions to determine if you qualify to participate in a particular research study
  • We respect your right to decline to participate in a research study
  • We only use the information you provide in conjunction with matching you with studies that you might qualify for
  • We will remove your household from our panel at your request
  • We will call before 9:00 pm or at a time that is convenient for you
How do I know you are a legitimate research company?
We are members of:
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 The Greater Houston Partnership (www.houston.org)
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 The Greater Dallas Chamber (www.gdc.org)
As well as members of major associations serving the
marketing research industry, including:
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 AMA - American Marketing Association (www.ama.org)
 
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 MRA - Marketing Research Association (www.mra-net.org)
 
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 QRCA - Qualitative Research Consultants Association (www.qrca.org)
 
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 CMOR - Council of Marketing and Opinion Research (www.cmor.org)
 
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 European Society for Opinion & Marketing Research (www.esomar.org)
   
For more information about the research industry please visit www.cmor.org.
 What is your privacy policy?
Opinions Unlimited is committed to maintaining confidentiality. To ensure that employees and sub-contractors of Opinions Unlimited are aware of, and adhere to, our privacy policies, employees and sub-contractors are required to sign a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement.
Our Commitment to Respondents and Members of the
Opinions Unlimited Research Panel™ (“database”):
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 The information you provide for our database and during the course of specific research studies will be used for legitimate research purposes only.
 
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 Your privacy will be respected and the confidentiality of your personal information and answers will be maintained among the people who are involved in the research process. That may include, but is not limited to, employees of Opinions Unlimited, the sponsor of the research and third party sub-contractors.
  • Information collected in our database is used solely by employees or sub-contractors of Opinions Unlimited to target individuals for participation in specific research studies.
  • Information gathered for individual research studies is used to determine whether a respondent qualifies for that particular study.
  • Opinions Unlimited does not provide the last names or telephone numbers of respondents to the research sponsor without the permission of the respondent. Clients must sign a confidentiality agreement with Opinions Unlimited before receiving this information.
Our Commitment to Clients:
Opinions Unlimited is committed to protecting the confidentiality of our clients’ business activities. Strict security precautions are practiced throughout the research process.
Web Site Privacy Policy:
Opinions Unlimited is committed to protecting your privacy. We will not collect any personal information from you that you do not volunteer. We are the sole owner of all information collected via our website. We do not sell, share, or rent this information to others in any way that has not been mentioned in this statement. Opinions Unlimited takes reasonable precautions, such as the use of firewalls and passcodes, to protect information residing in the Opinions Unlimited database.
Third parties:
Opinions Unlimited may provide third parties with aggregate statistics about our customers, traffic patterns, and related site information. This data reflects site usage patterns gathered during thousands of customer visits to our Web site each month but does not contain behavioral or personally identifying information about any individual member, unless that member has given us permission to share that information. We may also provide log files and other databases of user information to third parties for analysis, so we can get a better understanding of traffic through our site and thus improve our content offerings. Opinions Unlimited also may use third party companies to provide delivery of e-mail newsletters and other messages over e-mail. Any information provided to a third-party for the purposes of marketing, advertising, or analysis of web site usage, will remain the sole property of Opinions Unlimited, and all third-party contractors must sign a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement before attaining this information. Also be aware that we may buy and sell business assets and/or divisions; customer information is generally part of such a sale.
Security:
We use reasonable precautions to safeguard the personal information you disclose and to only release this information to third parties we believe share our commitment to privacy. However, we are not responsible for any breach of security or for the actions of these parties.
Obtaining your consent:
By using our web site, you give Opinions Unlimited permission to collect information about the pages served to you as an anonymous user for the purpose of calculating aggregate site statistics. If you register at Opinions Unlimited, you authorize Opinions Unlimited to use information you provide to personalize the information we deliver to you and to use your demographic information when calculating aggregate customer data. Opinions Unlimited may occasionally amend this policy. We suggest that you bookmark this page and check to see if it has changed from time to time.
Want to know more about the marketing research
industry, qualitative research and focus groups? Visit www.cmor.org