Anyone remember when no one was online?


I remember when I started in this industry how skeptical people were about online research. It doesn't seem like so long ago, but today's news from Kantar below is certainly a sign of how far we've come.

Kantar Ops Closes Face-to-Face Panel

April 16 2008

http://www.mrweb.com/drno/news8231.htm

Kantar Operations – the internal operations division for the Kantar Group – has ditched its dedicated consumer interviewer panel due to the continuing advance of online data collection.The UK panel comprised 400 fieldworkers, who while not directly employed by the division, provided their services to Kantar Operations when project work required. Those fieldworkers affected by the panel closure will be offered the opportunity to work on the division’s specialist face-to-face Random Probability and Transport panels which conduct large volumes of social and public policy research, including large scale continuous projects. In a statement, the firm explained that it has seen interview volumes increase from 2 million to 2.5 million in the last three years, and is predicting that 60% of this work will be online in 2008, compared with just 20% in 2005.


Commenting on the panel closure, Worldwide CEO, Sharon Potter explained: ‘Technology is evolving and enabling new ways of doing things and it’s vital that we respond to these trends. This doesn’t mean that we aren’t saddened to lose a team of people who have consistently delivered high quality services over many years.’ Kantar Operations will continue to offer face-to-face consumer fieldwork to its affiliate companies including Added Value, BMRB, Millward Brown and Research International. Web site: www.kantaroperations.com .

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