Guideline for Researchers and Clients Involved in Primary Data Collection
The Primary Data Collection guideline guides you in circumstances where you collect data directly from or about a data subject for your insights project.
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Securing your basic building blocks
Data sits at the heart of many insights and analytics projects. They are the basic building blocks to generate verifiable information. Good data collection at the start ultimately leads to better actionable insights for individuals and organisations alike. When you collect data yourself to apply them to your insights project, this is primary data collection.
Our guidance aims to support you when collecting personal data directly to use in your projects. It points out critical aspects you need to consider, including your ethical considerations, and global compliance trends to take into account.
Crafted for you by our project team
This guide was produced by a dedicated team of international experts in online sampling, ensuring the guidance is informed by global best practices and real-world experiences. Meet our project team below.
Judith Passingham
ESOMAR Committee Member, Chair of the Professional Standards Committee at ESOMARJudith Passingham has worked in the Market Research industry for over 35 years, in many different roles from General Management, Client Account Leadership, Service Development, to Sales and Operations – on a Global and European basis.
She started her career at the British Market Research Bureau working on the TGI and various media measurements, then working at AGB, subsequently TNS where she ran the UK and then global panel division as CEO of ‘Worldpanel ‘ and as Joint CEO of Europanel – a joint venture between TNS and GFK.
Judith was appointed CEO of TNS Europe and then following the WPP acquisition of TNS oversaw the integration of RI and TNS in Northern and Eastern Europe. In 2014 Judith joined Ipsos to run its Access Panel services where she drove service integration into one global entity, launched device agnostic interviewing and programmatic sampling.
In 2016 she took on responsibility for Ipsos’s Operational capability. She retired in 2019 and volunteers for Pilotlight and for the Maple Lodge Nature Reserve. In January 2020 she was appointed as Chair of the Professional Standards Committee for ESOMAR.
Reg Baker
Past ESOMAR Ambassador for North America at ESOMARReg is the North American Regional Ambassador for ESOMAR, the global voice of the data, research and insights community. He also serves as a consultant to ESOMAR's Professional Standards Committee.
Previous to his work with ESOMAR, he was Executive Director of the Marketing Research Institute International (MRII). Prior to his retirement from full-time work in 2012, Reg was President and Chief Operating Officer of Market Strategies International, a US-based custom research and analytics company. Before joining Market Strategies in 1995, he served as Vice President of Research Services for NORC at the University of Chicago.
Throughout his career, Reg focused on the methodological and operational implications of new data technologies. He writes and presents on these and related topics to diverse national and international audiences and blogs off and on as “The Survey Geek.”
Debrah Harding
Managing Director at Market Research SocietyDebrah is Managing Director of the Market Research Society (MRS), a Vice President of the European Research Federation (EFAMRO) and an Executive Board member of the Global Research Business Network (GRBN).
Debrah leads MRS’ standards, policy and public affairs activities. Debrah works extensively with government departments and European institutions on all issues that impact on market and social research.
Debrah has a wealth of knowledge of ethical codes, guidelines, data protection and on the enforcement of professional & process standards, and is co-author (with Peter Jackson) of the book, Quality in Market Research: from Theory to Practice.
Andrew Cannon
Andrew has more than 25 years of experience as a market research practitioner on both the agency and client sides. He currently divides his time between running a boutique research agency in Helsinki, working as Executive Director for the GRBN, and serving as President of EFAMRO, the European Federation of Market Research Organizations. He also hosts the podcast The Art and Science of Joy.
Andrew is passionate about the role that research businesses have to play in enabling decision makers to both make better decisions and to be more customer- and citizen-centric. Andrew is also passionate about the role that national associations have to play in promoting and protecting the research industry.
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