Fieldwork Management &
Nationwide Project Support
Nationwide Project Support
When it comes to fieldwork management, countless companies represent themselves as "fieldwork management specialists." And many attempt to dazzle you with the concept of "one call does it all." But that's not our definition of fieldwork management. While a single phone call may be adequate for simply booking rooms in several cities, it's nowhere near enough to ensure that those facilities will be filled with quality respondents.
Aaron-Abrams Field Support Services brings something much more important your qualitative market research: The ability to operate as your partner in the field. We put our 25 years of respondent recruiting and fieldwork management experience to work constructing effective screeners, planning and executing projects, and solving intricate problems.
And it's that experience that makes the difference. Getting your project going in the right direction, keeping it on track, and ensuring that you get the quality respondents you need is all we do. It's all we've ever done. And we're ready to bring it all to bear on your next project to give you less stress, less hassle, and fewer headaches.
There's another powerful reason to outsource the management of your qualitative fieldwork to Aaron-Abrams Field Support Services: You continue concentrating on your core capabilities. While you're busy satisfying customers and building your business, we'll work closely with you to help you reach good decisions about vital components of your research, including:
- Preparing bids to and from field
- Helping you establishing the fieldwork budget
- Selecting and coordinating traditional and non-traditional meeting facilities
- Finding the best respondent recruiting vendors for your project
- Determining the right subject matter and incentives for the respondents you need
- Crafting an effective screening questionnaire
- Fielding your study and briefing the suppliers
- Monitoring field supplier progress
- Being available to help solve problems that can jeopardize your research
- Rescreening respondents
- Arranging every single aspect of your study to avoid last-minute surprises
Your project sets off in the right direction
Is afternoon or evening best for conducting your research? How many respondents do you realistically need to recruit? How much should you pay your respondents? Which focus group facility or other research venue is the best fit for your project? These are insightful questions. And their answers directly impact the quality of both your respondents and your fieldwork. Count on our project management expertise to help you find these vital answers and get your project on track.
You receive across-the-board fieldwork
support
Delivering the right respondents for your qualitative market research typically requires our involvement in the screener development, recruiter selection and supervision, and problem-solving phases of your fieldwork. We want you and your research initiatives to benefit from our strategic recommendations and industry expertise. We want you to be a satisfied customer. Our future success depends on it. So does yours.
You control your costs
We’re good negotiators who look out for your best interests when arranging fieldwork services . . . things like meeting spaces, specialized recruiters or interviewers, transcription services, audio/video services and catering. We work hard to help you cut costs and stay within your budget. We’ve been around the block a few times and we’ve built good relationships with our suppliers. That works to your advantage.
You meet your deadlines
We understand deadlines. A lot of arrangements have been made. There’s a lot riding on everything coming together on time. If we feel that we can’t meet your deadline, we won’t take your job. Period.
You get the right screening questionnaire
If your screener isn’t right, neither are your respondents. Not breaking news. But there’s more to writing a screening questionnaire than just encapsulating your research goals. A lot more.
Effective screeners take into account the limitations of recruiters and respondents. They are both comprehensive and easy for recruiters to follow, and for respondents to understand. Even simple mistakes and oversights cause project delays, cost overruns, shoddy respondents—and worse.
Crafting the right screener is a skill developed after many years of practice. We’ve designed and used hundreds of screeners. We know what makes them effective, and what fails. So will you when you retain our services.
You get quality respondents—every time
To further ensure that you get quality respondents, Aaron-Abrams Field Support Services can personally validate each and every one of your respondents. Our on-staff recruiters will rescreen your respondents on key qualifying criteria and report our unbiased findings directly to you. You rest assured knowing that you’re getting the quality respondents you need, no matter the source. (To learn more about Respondent Validation, click here)
You get respondents who make sense
Toy Poodles don’t weight 71 pounds. And Grandma doesn’t drive a low-rider crop top (but that’s another story). The point is this. It takes a well developed eye to make sure respondents not only qualify on paper, but that each respondent’s qualifications also make sense. We hunt out those respondents whose answers don't match up with your research objectives—and eliminate them.
You keep your sanity—and your job
You relax knowing that your fieldwork is in the hands of practitioners who use the latest best practices to your advantage. We keep you informed of ongoing developments. We identify potentially costly problems before they arise, and offer solutions that save you time and money. We sweat the small stuff, take nothing for granted, and do the worrying so you don't have to.
You focus on doing what you do best. And so do we . . . making sure you get the qualitative fieldwork you need. And making sure you look like a star in front of your clients and colleagues.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions:
Q. Why should we outsource the management of our fieldwork to Aaron-Abrams? What special skills and expertise do you provide that would improve it?
A. Two things: First, we offer you and your qualitative market research the benefit of our 25+ years of respondent recruiting and fieldwork management experience. We provide fresh perspectives from the point of view of recruiters and respondents. Few researchers have our hands-on, "from the trenches" experience.
Second, setting up and managing qualitative fieldwork is a full time job. But many researchers are forced to juggle this vital activity with countless other activities (i.e., meetings, moderating, writing reports, etc.), all of which distract you from managing fieldwork. We are professional fieldwork managers: We devote our time 100% to managing your fieldwork, and ensuring that you get the respondents you need. Combined with our depth of experience managing hundreds of other projects, this enables us to better focus on solving your unique problems.
Q. How does the expertise of professional fieldwork management make my fieldwork better?
A. Researchers frequently experience problems getting their fieldwork completed on time and on budget, and are often forced to drastically relax their qualifying criteria. These problems are often rooted in the initial planning, set up, or management of the project. Without hands-on, real-world experience in recruiting management and problem solving, you can easily find yourself at the mercy of field suppliers.
Aaron-Abrams will help you avoid mistakes that lead to cost overruns, mediocre respondents, and incorrect conclusions. Think of us like professional athletes who run commentary during sporting events and provide invaluable insights into the game. We apply our expertise to enhance the experience for all involved.
Q. How much difference does recruiting experience really make?
A. Quite a bit, actually. Most novice researchers rely solely on respondent summaries and term and tally reports to make decisions when managing recruitment. While it's important to review these reports, getting the respondents you want requires much more effort. Troubleshooting fieldwork requires an understanding of recruiting production, which leads to a knowledge of which questions to ask. For example:
- How many recruits have been scheduled in what amount of time?
- How many of my budgeted recruiting hours have been used—and how many are left?
- Has enough labor been assigned?
- How many calls should each recruiter make per hour?
- Is the project on track to be completed on time and within budget?
- What corrective actions need to be taken to get production on track?
A. This is the crucial link between recruiters and respondents—and getting it right is vital. Many researchers write screeners that are confusing for both recruiters and respondents: They are often too long, too involved, lack adequate instruction, and are filled with gray-area loopholes. After 25+ years of fieldwork management and hundreds of successful projects, Aaron-Abrams has the expertise to help you ask the right questions to get the respondents you need.
Q. I already have a qualitative consultant helping us execute our research. How would you fit in?
A. Moderators are experts at what they do. Aaron-Abrams are experts at setting up fieldwork, overseeing recruitment, managing suppliers, and delivering quality respondents for your qualitative market research. How you incorporate us into your project is totally your decision—but our experience shows that we can deliver the best fieldwork when we work directly with the person who is qualified to make decisions throughout the fieldwork process.
Q. Do you decide on the methodology and design the research?
A. Our expertise is in ensuring that your objectives are realistic and achievable. If you need a qualitative consultant or moderator, we can make recommendations.
Q. Do you have a focus facility?
A. No. We are an independent fieldwork management firm, which allows us to use the best suppliers for your specific project, not simply those suppliers who happen to be in our network.
Q. I don't need all this. I just need some respondents recruited. Can you help me?
A. Yes! We are one of the nation's leading independent respondent recruitment firms. To learn more, please explore our Respondent Recruitment services.
Perhaps we should
talk
Call us toll-free today at 1-800-781-1134. Let's spend a little time discussing your needs, the challenges you face, and how we can help you make your next qualitative market research project a success.