OpenSample is an industry initiative to improve the quality of online surveys through sharing information about respondents' survey participation histories across survey companies. The initiative aims to create an independent database tracked by a trusted third party to consolidate anonymous metadata on surveys taken. This would allow survey companies to query the database to obtain information about their respondents' participation in other panels. Several working groups are formed to handle technical, legal, research and outreach aspects to make the initiative operational by January 2009. Participation in contributing data and using the results is voluntary.

1. OpenSample A Market Research Industry Initiative

2. Sample and Survey Quality Recruitment methods Traps Straight liners / satisficers Speedsters Bots Sweatshops / geo-IP Duplicates Hyper-active respondents Some of these processes are company specific Yet …

5. Keep it Simple Collaborative Focused

6. Necessary Simple Collaborative Focus Past participation!

7. Mission Improve quality of online surveys by industry-wide sharing of information about respondents’ historic survey participation

8. Members Added Value All Global Cint AB e-Rewards GfK GMI Greenfield Online IPsoft Ipsos Kantar Operations Knowledge Networks Lightspeed Millward Brown Penn Schoen Berland Peanut Labs OTX Relevant View Research International Research Now Safecount United Sample Western Wats

10. OpenSample principles Independent Cross-company Open Anonymous data Trusted third party Voluntary Simple

11. Members recognize association efforts ESOMAR: Questions to assist sample buyers MRA’s IMRO: Guidelines for best practices in online sample and panel management CASRO’s Panel Integrity Taskforce : collaborate across industry groups. ISO: Standard on Access Panels, criteria against which access panel providers can be evaluated and the quality of access panels can be assessed Bob Lederer’s Road to the Client Congress: recommendations to research agencies, esp. inclusion of technical appendix The ARF’s ORQC : provide knowledge-driven answers to client questions through research-on-research

12. Initiative In co-operation with and supporting all other industry-wide initiatives that are aiming to improve online research sample quality To result in a professional non-profit organization, either standalone or as part of an existing industry body Targeted to be operational January 1, 2009 Annual membership open to all providers and users of online research sample Participation, contribution of data and use of results encouraged but voluntary All respondent data anonymous and maintained in a fully secure environment Consolidated, non-identifying metadata made available for research on research

13. Implementation Creation of a high-quality database, with open standards and open-source or escrowed software will keep track of surveys taken by respondents Respondents will be identified by a unique combination of: Member/respondent ID encrypted e-mail address machine fingerprint Surveys will identified by a unique combination of: Survey Category Survey Date/Time Database can be queried by members for their respondents, supplying data such as: Participation in other panels (unidentified) Number of surveys taken, total and per survey category, in timeframe

14. Independent, experienced and reliable third-party administering db

15. Architecture Live sample verification Sample selection Survey completion

16. Making it happen: working groups Technical Brett Schnittlich (OTX) Alison Morgan (Peanuts Lab) Mitch Eggers (GMI) Naresh Adurty (Lightspeed Research) Outreach Patricia Graham (Knowledge Networks) Steve McHugh (Millward Brown) Shelley Zalis (OTX) Matt Hynes (Greenfield Online) Legal George Pappachen (Millward Brown) Jeff Dean (OTX) Research Michael Fallig (GfK) Patricia Graham (Knowledge Networks) Bruce Tedesco (OTX)

17. The specifics Technical Legal Research Outreach