Surprising conclusions from the recent ConfimIT Annual MR Software survey

The February edition of Research magazine published the results of the ConfirmIT Annual MR Software Survey.  This survey always gives a constructive view on how researchers view the software available to them and what they would like for the future.

The big surprise to emerge from this survey is the number of companies who have developed their own panel management software.  According to the survey 37% of respondents had built their own tool in-house.  The survey goes on to reveal that this doesn’t necessarily mean that they like the home-built solution, but one has to deduce that it was the best option available at the time.

A common deficiency in the available solutions is that they are often tied to a particular interviewing package.  This does not suit those companies who have very good reasons for staying with another package.  Also many solutions put strong emphasis on the portal, and largely ignore the issue of good selection in the initial sample.

The MARSC panel management system is a generic tool that will work alongside any existing interviewing system.  It also has a sampling facility that allows the user to define the sample required for a project in a multi-dimensional target matrix.  Additionally it allows easy sample selection based previous panel activity. 

For further information please contact Nicky Forsyth at nicky.forsyth@marsc.com or phone +44 (0)1306 621062.