Charities Around the World Benefit from the SSI QUEST(TM) Awards, Recognizing Companies for Creating the Most Engaging Market Research Experiences

SSI QUEST Award Winners Donate to Help Children, Fight Autism and Heart Disease and Support Tsunami and Earthquake Victims

SHELTON, Conn., Dec. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- SSI today announced that it has donated to charities around the world in honor of the 2011 SSI QUEST™ (Questionnaire Experience Satisfaction Tool) Award winners.  The SSI QUEST Awards, announced at the 2011 ESOMAR Congress in Amsterdam, recognized six companies for creating the most engaging market research experiences—both overall and within the product placement category.  As a reward for their excellence in survey design, winning project managers and programmers chose charities SSI donated to in their names.  Charities selected to benefit from the SSI QUEST donations are:

• Interfaith Social Services and Crossroads for Kids—chosen by InfoTrends, winner for the Americas
• Heart UK and National Autistic Society—chosen by Opinion Matters, winner for Europe
• International Federation of the Red Cross—chosen by DATA100 Market Research Co., Ltd., winner for Asia-Pacific, as well as for top performance globally
• Variety the Children's Charity—chosen by StrataVerve, Inc., product placement winner in the Americas
• SOS Children's Villages Bulgaria and UNESCO—chosen by GfK Custom, product placement winner in Europe
• Ashinaga (Supporting Children Affected by the Earthquake/Tsunami)—chosen by Nielsen Bases, product placement winner in Asia-Pacific

Winning project managers and programmers also received certificates of excellence for their innovation in survey creation.  In addition, SSI presented winning companies with customized trophies, commemorating their commitment to advancing respondent satisfaction.

"We developed the SSI QUEST Awards to encourage continued inventiveness and originality in creating surveys that truly engage respondents—and ensure every participant has an excellent experience," says Kees de Jong, CEO of SSI.  "Our goal is to support the development of relevant, motivating and innovative surveys that protect the industry's most valuable shared asset—our respondent pool.  It is wonderful to see that SSI QUEST not only is accomplishing this important objective but also realizing another key achievement—supporting charities around the world that are helping people in crisis.  We are proud to honor our winners by making donations in their names to the wonderful organizations they selected."

SSI QUEST Award winners are chosen through a combination of factors.  Research participants' self-reported satisfaction scores are key in determining the winning projects.  Drop rates and median time to complete each survey also are considered in calculating the SSI QUEST winners.  Each of these components is appropriately weighted within the QUEST formula to yield an accurate read on the effectiveness of the overall respondent experience.

To drive ongoing improvements in the research experience, SSI gives respondents a survey at the end of each project, assessing their satisfaction.  Results are shared back with researchers, as a complimentary SSI service.  To have their surveys scored, researchers can contact SSI at info@surveysampling.com.

About SSI

Bringing together Survey Sampling International and Opinionology, SSI (www.surveysampling.com) is the premier global provider of world-leading sampling, data collection and data analytic solutions for survey research.  SSI reaches respondents in 72 countries via Internet, telephone, mobile/wireless and mixed access offerings. Value-add services include questionnaire design consultation, programming and hosting, data processing and real-time reporting. SSI serves more than 2,000 clients, including the top-50 research organizations. With 50 + years of combined experience, SSI has 30 offices around the world.