Contract #: GS-10F-0097K
Contract
Period: 1/15/00 to
1/14/04
SUMMARY OF SERVICES:
Problem
definition, study design, sample design, questionnaire development, data
collection (local, national, international), data processing, statistical
analysis (including use of proprietary mapping tools), and interpretive
analysis. Telephone interviewing,
personal interviews, mall intercept interviews, internet surveys, mail surveys,
focus groups and depth interviews.
CONTACT:
David
B. Lambert, Ph.D
senior vice president
215-442-9638 FAX: 215-442-9040 dave.lambert@intersearch.tnsofres.coM www.intersearch.tnsofres.com
ADDRESS: David B.
Lambert, Ph.D
senior vice president
TNS
Intersearch
410
Horsham Road
Horsham PA 19044
TNS
Intersearch is a full service custom research firm with extensive experience in
the design, implementation and reporting of both large-scale and small, quick
turn-around studies. TNS
Intersearch designs surveys and provides all associated services in social,
market and public opinion research.
TNS Intersearch serves clients in government, media, education, healthcare, business and industry and offers them a superb blend of talent and technology. TNS Intersearch strictly adheres to the ethical codes established by the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and the Council of Survey Research Organizations (CASRO).
Our clients include many government agencies, non-profit organizations, universities and news organizations, who count on TNS Intersearch to provide them with reliable data.
TNS Intersearch was started as Alan Widra Associates in 1960, collecting data for such industry veterans as A.C. Nielsen, Audits and Surveys, and Simmons. The company became a full service firm in 1970. By 1972, TNS Intersearch had become one of the largest survey research firms in the industry, servicing both direct clients and dozens of other research firms. Most of our very earliest clients and even some of our competitors have continued to come back, in many cases on an exclusive basis, for more than 25 years.
Since
1980, the company has aggressively sought growth, building on its strong and
long-established reputation for high quality, low cost data collection and
tabulation. In 1997, TNS
Intersearch became a Sofres Group company, and subsequently joined with Taylor
Nelson. In May 1998, Chilton Research Services was purchased and merged into the
TNS Intersearch group. By expanding into new industry areas and by seeking out
prized statistical expertise in its new employees, TNS Intersearch has become
one of the largest research and consulting firms in the
U.S.
Today,
TNS Intersearch has approximately 350 full time associates. Our researchers,
many with advanced degrees, come from different backgrounds, including
Psychology, Liberal Arts, Marketing, Economics, Sciences and Engineering. TNS Intersearch has the professional
staff in each discipline and the resources to execute projects from inception to
analysis in-house.
TNS Intersearch offers a complete range of interviewing services including:
Computer-assisted telephone interviews
In home and in office personal interviews
Shopping mall intercepts
Focus groups and In-depth Interviews
Mail surveys
International research
Web and e-mail surveys
Multi-modal studies involving combinations of survey methods
TNS
Intersearch maintains a staff of over 600 experienced, skilled telephone
interviewers employed exclusively by TNS Intersearch. All interviewers work
under close and continuous supervision at several satellite interviewing
facilities. Every interviewer is
equipped with a CATI workstation connected on-line to the mainframe at our
Horsham headquarters. The company currently has 664 Computer Assisted Telephone
Interviewing (CATI) stations as follows:
Charleston,
WV
130
CATI Stations
Youngstown,
OH
110
CATI Stations
Eugene,
OR 87 CATI
Stations
Indiana,
PA 125 CATI
Stations
Chula Vista, CA 200 CATI Stations
TNS Intersearch uses CATI to conduct most
of its telephone surveys. State of the art CATI interviewing technology means
fast and accurate data processing. The CATI system we employ takes a question in
a questionnaire and displays it on a computer terminal. The interviewer, who is on-line via
telephone with the designated respondent, reads the question from the computer
screen and enters the respondent's answer directly in to the computer. Skip pattern logic is programmed
into the computer so the computer program controls the sequence in which
questions are asked and displays illogical answers to the interviewer for
validation.
When using CATI, the computer program controls the interview while simultaneously editing the data. The result is the virtual elimination of interviewer error and the guarantee of clean, accurate data almost immediately after the interview is completed.
In-person interviewing is an integral part of the full range of services offered by TNS Intersearch. In-person interviews, whether conducted in a home or office or at a central location, are often the most effective means of reaching respondents. In-person interviews are frequently used to show visual materials, to test samples of new products, or to conduct in-depth interviews.
TNS Intersearch field operations, managed by a Field Director and a seasoned support staff, possess a balance of education and field interviewing experience to insure expert handling of real world interviewing situations. These field managers coordinate a national staff of more than 1,000 trained survey research interviewers who conduct over 50,000 personal interviews a year. Interviewers are kept active and current through numerous ongoing TNS Intersearch projects and continuous training provided by TNS Intersearch management. A complete work history, maintained for every field interviewer, allows TNS Intersearch to utilize those interviewers best suited to the requirements of each project.
Focus groups and in-depth interviews often function as a prelude to a quantitative study and can be used on their own merit for many research needs. All of TNS Intersearch s focus group moderators have many years of experience in conducting focus groups. Since qualitative research is used so frequently to refine the research issues for quantitative surveys, the topic areas covered by our moderators span the full range of our clients industries. The types of respondents that participate in our qualitative interviews are also quite varied, from physicians to senior corporate executives, government employees, middle managers, front line employees, consumers, general members of the public, and children.
Recruiting
the right respondents can make or break a qualitative study, so TNS Intersearch
has dedicated a group of senior interviewers to recruiting potential respondents
to participate in our qualitative interviews. Since asking a respondent to travel to
an interviewing facility and spend two hours in a group discussion is asking for
a lot more than a few minutes on the telephone, our recruiters are even more
carefully screened to project a mature, trustworthy, warm yet business-like
telephone personality.
TNS
Intersearch also operates its own qualitative research facilities, through its
Focus Suites subsidiary, in Philadelphia and in New York City. Rather than having an interviewing room
in one of our other facilities or settling for less comfortable facilities, we
have created first class conference rooms with well organized observation rooms
and client suites. This permits us
to guarantee a comfortable environment in which respondents can feel less
inhibited in discussing the topics of research and clients can relax while
observing live focus groups and interviews. Special test kitchens, audio/video
recording equipment, and other special features have been incorporated from the
start in the design and modeling of our facilities.
TNS
Intersearch houses a Clerical Department consisting of approximately twenty
people who perform a variety of clerical tasks at a high level of efficiency.
The clerical department coordinates materials for mail-outs and checks in
completed surveys. The manager of the clerical department works closely with
study directors in determining the most productive procedures to accomplish
their needs, and maintains quality control measures to insure that the tasks are
executed properly.
TNS
Intersearch uses state-of-the-art scanning technology for processing large-scale
mail surveys to reduce error, minimize costs, and improve turnaround time. TNS Intersearch houses a Fujitfu 3099
high-speed scanner that utilizes Eyes and Hands for Forms (EHF) software. This powerful system scans 60 pages per
minute. EHF can process thousands
of hand written or printed forms per day, and provides an open integrated
environment for extensive validation and manual supplementation of data. The benefits of this system
include:
Quick
turn around time.
Eliminates
editing by hand.
Eliminates
keypunch.
Validates
questionnaires during the scanning process.
Captures
text from questionnaires and exports only questions that require
coding.
Exports
data files in a number of different ways: Flat ASCII, Excel, Database, and Card
column.
Speeds
up tabulation of data by eliminating keypunch errors.
Low
cost.
TNS Intersearch can conduct research literally anywhere in the world. As part of Taylor Nelson Sofres, we have over 100 offices in 34 countries: Canada, U.S., Argentina, U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Lebanon, Mauritius, Australia, China, Korea, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
In addition, TNS Intersearch has over 200 trained International interviewers in the Horsham PA headquarters for pre-testing and International telephone interviewing. The languages they speak are French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Flemish, Polish, Russian, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Tagalog, Malay, Indonesian, Thai, Hindi, Hebrew and Arabic.
TNS
Intersearch is pioneering the use of online research methodologies. TNS
Intersearch has found that the Internet offers unique advantages to companies
who are seeking interactive contact with customers and a non-intrusive means of
obtaining feedback about products, services and advertising and to educational
institutions who are seeking information and opinions from students and faculty
members. Interactive on-line
research is particularly attractive when your target population is young,
high-tech, and/or upscale. However,
as access to the Internet has continued to
expand, online research now reaches a much broader group of
people.
TNS
Intersearch has conducted studies designed to identify the differences in
results between traditional nationwide telephone research and Internet
surveys. We have run identical
questions concurrently on our EXPRESS Omnibus and on the Internet. The results and demographics have been
analyzed to provide a comparison of the methodologies.
For
TNS Intersearch clients, we offer two new, effective, efficient research tools
which can provide a fast and affordable means of data collection: e-mail surveys
and web-based surveys. While there
are some differences between the two, they share a number of advantages over
other traditional methodologies:
Turnaround
is faster.
Costs
are lower.
Online
surveys are more convenient for respondents since they complete the
questionnaire at their leisure.
E-mail
and web-based surveys are self-administered and therefore, are not as intrusive
as telephone studies, central location intercepts or in-person data
collection.
When
we have email addresses for our target population, we prefer to send an e-mail
letter inviting the respondent to participate in the survey. The e-mail invitation includes a link to
the survey s URL so the respondent simply has to click on the URL to gain access
to the web survey. A unique PIN is embedded in each URL. The PIN enables us to keep track of who
has responded to the survey so we can quickly and easily send e-mail reminders
to non-responders. Using the
embedded PIN in the URL also makes participation easier for respondents
because they do not have to type in the URL or a password. During data collection, our web-based
surveys provide real time topline data.
At any moment, we can log on to find out the number of completed surveys,
run frequencies by question and cross-tabulations.
TNS
Intersearch has a powerful array of large computer systems, including four
Hewlett Packard 9000s and a network of IBM RISC System/6000s. In addition, TNS houses numerous
PCs and interviewing terminals. The main computer area is separated from all
public areas for security and all data files and operating systems are backed up
and stored in security fireproof vaults off the premises.
TNS
Intersearch is one of the largest installations in the U.S. of the Quantime
software for integrated, automated computer sampling, interviewing, supervision,
file management, and tabulation. The Quantime programs now operate on a network
of IBM RISC computers as well as the Hewlett Packard 3000 systems.
Automated
dialing and instructions to interviewers for dialing and
callbacks
Automated
sample scheduling and control to accommodate time zones, shift schedules, and
staggered callbacks
Automated
tracking of sample status, call attempts, dispositions, and questionnaire
performance
Sample
file updating
Integration
of sample, questionnaire, cleaning, and tabulation files
On-line
display of questions and response code entry for both interviewers and
supervisors
Automated
skip patterns, randomly scrambled rotations, and version
control
Automated
checks for consistency and code validity
Tabulation is
performed on a network of IBM RISC System 6000s using Quantum software. This combination of hardware and software
accomplishes in minutes what used to take hours on a large HP 3000 system. Its current capabilities
include:
Tabulation
directly from on-line entry file by up to nineteen banner
points
Inclusion
of chi-square, t-test, Newman-Keuls, and other statistics on
cross-tabulations
Quantum
flags two levels of significance on t-tests and Newman-Keuls tests, allows for
overlapping samples on t-tests, and provides many statistical tests that are not
available on other software packages for large scale
tabulation.
Real
time, any time reporting of quota counts, topline data, and other project
management statistics
Access
to survey data and progress reports directly by project directors terminals in
their offices
Quantime systems provide the most flexible and
sophisticated environment, permitting routine and non-routine survey approaches
to be executed without compromises to cope with system capability
limitations. TNS Intersearch
systems employees are regarded by the marketing research industry as the most
experienced and best trained users of the Quantime packages, and their expertise
is often sought by less experienced companies.
TNS
Intersearch has developed strong partnerships with its CATI and tabulation
software suppliers. As we stretch
the limits of the tools provided, they consult with us to expand those
tools. As they develop new tools
and approaches, we are often the first to use them as a test site using test
data, of course. We are often the
first company to purchase upgrades for our CATI system, as soon as practical
tests of the new software and hardware indicate that the new technology is ready
for a smooth transition and reliable operations.
Our
Advanced Methods Group blends the best of both the business and academic
worlds. Each of the 9 Ph.D.
associates in the Advanced Methods Group is actively involved in the development
and application of new, innovative research methods. Several have held faculty appointments,
teaching statistics and research design.
They bring business world action and insights along with academic quality
skills and credibility to every study.
The Advanced Methods Group specializes in multivariate statistical
methods that provide insight beyond the traditional cross-tabulation of
responses.
Although many of the traditional marketing terms
that surround these methods suggest products, these methods can just as easily
be applied to services, public image, and political candidates. These methods
include:
Market
Segmentation: By
dividing the client s market into segments with specific needs, the client can
tailor specific marketing strategies to meet the unique challenges in each
segment. Cluster analysis is often
used to define segments, followed by canonical correlation, discriminant
analysis, logistic regression, correspondence analysis, and perceptual mapping
to relate needs to other characteristics and graphically represent the
segments. This helps our clients to
understand the segments and to find customers who belong to these
segments.
Positioning: By
measuring customers perceptions of our client s product/service and
competitors products/services, we can characterize the features that define the
appeal of these products and services.
Factor analysis, canonical correlation, correspondence analysis,
perceptual mapping, and quadrant analysis can help to relate products to their
attributes and to various segments of the market. Benchmarking and competitive
assessment are often used to refer to specific instances of these
methodologies.
Communications: By understanding what is important to
various segments of the market and how existing or hypothetical products are
positioned to meet those needs, our clients can tailor promotional messages or
media to address the needs of specific segments and competitive
environments. This is often
superior to trying to please the entire market with a single strategy, since a
single strategy often misses the needs of specific niches or confuses the market
with too many messages.
Diagnosis: Using regression, correlation, path
analysis, and factor analysis, we help our clients to understand how specific
aspects of their products and services influence customers overall perceptions
of or behaviors towards these products and services. This helps them to identify and
prioritize specific actions to improve their products and
services.
Concept
Evaluation and Product/Service Design:
Using paired attribute comparisons, conjoint analysis, and discrete choice
analysis, we can identify and prioritize the attributes that will contribute to
the success of a new product or service.
Some of these methods also allow us to analyze combinations of attributes
and the most probable market shares that would result in introducing a new
product into a defined market of competitors. Preferences for product/service
attributes can also be used for market segmentation.
What
if...? Analysis: We
have incorporated the results of preference and choice modeling into easy-to-use
software applications for personal computers. Using these applications, our clients
can simulate vast numbers of different market scenarios to predict the
consequences of redesigning their product/service, competitors responses to
their product/service, and responding to their competitors
moves.
Pricing: Preference and choice modeling, as well
as several more conventional methods, can be used to estimate the market
response to establishing new product price points or to change the price of an
existing product/service or competitive products and
services.
Customer
Satisfaction / Quality: Management literature has developed many
specific methodologies that combine pieces of the approaches discussed above
under a label such as TQM, QFD, Voice of the Customer, etc. TNS Intersearch continues to refine its
techniques to provide the highest quality information to feed into these
management strategies and we often work in a consulting role to help our clients
to make the transition from research results to management
action.
TNS
Intersearch s Advanced Methods group also includes sampling statisticians who
work with the client to determine the optimal sample size and strategy, given
cost constraints, need for precision, and need for information about different
population segments. If needed,
these sampling statisticians develop written sampling plans presenting in detail
the rationale for the proposed strategy and comparing alternative
approaches. TNS Intersearch s
statisticians also weight samples and perform imputations to ensure that the
results are representative of the universe under
consideration.
TNS Intersearch uses Genesys equipment and software to generate random digit dialing (RDD) lists as well as databases of potential respondents in different research areas. Sometimes this information is run through our geographic information system (GIS) database to select respondents in specific urban communities (which makes RDD sampling more efficient and reduces error in respondents classifying themselves into these communities). As with research designs, we match the sample source to the research problem, without force fitting our clients projects to internal resources.
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MOBIS COMMERCIAL RATES WITH DISCOUNT
FACTORS | ||||||
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Base |
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Hourly |
Government |
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LABOR
CATEGORY |
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Price |
Discount
% |
Price |
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PROJECT
DIRECTOR |
|
$140.00
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5.00% |
$133.00
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ASSISTANT
PROJECT DIRECTOR |
$62.50
|
5.00% |
$59.38
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WORD
PROCESSING |
|
$45.00
|
5.00% |
$42.75
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GRAPHICS |
|
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$57.50
|
5.50% |
$54.34
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STATISTICAL
ANALYSIS LEVEL 1 |
$141.00
|
5.50% |
$133.25
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STATISTICAL
ANALYSIS LEVEL 2 |
$133.00
|
5.50% |
$125.69
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STATISTICAL
ANALYSIS LEVEL 2 |
$100.00
|
5.50% |
$94.50
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SAMPLING
PROGRAMMING/CONTROL |
$82.50
|
5.00% |
$78.38
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EDITING/CODING
SUPERVISION |
$38.00
|
6.00% |
$35.72
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EDITING/CODING
STAFF |
|
$37.00
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6.00% |
$34.78
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WATS |
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$26.50
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5.00% |
$25.18
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FIELD
SUPERVISION |
|
$51.00
|
5.00% |
$48.45
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FIELD
RECRUITING |
|
$41.00
|
5.00% |
$38.95
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MODERATORS |
|
|
$175.00
|
5.00% |
$166.25
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DATA
PROCESSING/CATI PROGRAMMING |
$72.00
|
5.00% |
$68.40
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SPECIAL
PROGRAMMING - LEVEL 1 |
$93.00
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6.00% |
$87.42
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SPECIAL
PROGRAMMING - LEVEL 2 |
$74.00
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6.00% |
$69.56
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CLERICAL |
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$37.00
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6.00% |
$34.78
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Note: Surveys will
incur other costs such as: use of telephone lines, printing and mailing. These costs are not covered in labor
rates.
|
Item |
Quantity |
Government
Price |
Commercial Non-Government
Price |
Applicable Government Discount
(%) |
|
DATA ENTRY |
Per
Card |
$
.466 |
$
.49 |
5% |
|
TELEPHONE EXPENSE |
Per
Hour |
$
5.70 |
$
6.00 |
5% |
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DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE |
Per # |
$ .95 |
$
1.00 |
5% |
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RDD SAMPLE |
Per Piece |
$
.057 |
$ .06 |
5% |
|
COPYING |
Per Page |
$
.076 |
$ .08 |
5% |
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COLOR TRANSPARENCIES |
Per Page |
$
1.425 |
$
1.50 |
5% |