Please note! This conference has now taken place
You can watch the whole conference or selected the presentations that interest you on the Do Not Pass Go! playlist now available on ASC’s YouTube channel.
Despite survey fraud forming the discomforting backdrop to our May 2023 one-day conference, this event promises abundant ideas on how to counteract the threats.
We are thrilled to announce that Melanie Courtright, CEO of the Insights Association will now be presenting in person at our event, along with Ray Poynter (ESOMAR) and Debrah Harding (MRS).
In-depth presentations from industry experts on approaches and better practices in maintaining high quality data standards will include:
Oscar Carlsson, Chief Innovation Officer at Cint, “Ghost busting and fraud stopping: How server-2-server API security eliminates survey Fraud” – and how closer integration between Cint technology and survey platforms used across the industry has thwarted the efforts of the most determined fraudsters.
Arno Hummerston (Amplify MR) “Call it cynicism, but what are we doing to our respondents and how can we do (much) better?” – how low data quality often reflects poor execution and how to counteract this.
Rafal Gajdamowicz (Azure Knowledge) “Face-to-Face Quality – its relevance, processes and technology in the digital world” – how technology presents a new-found role for in person interviews, particularly in international projects.
A concluding panel discussion will shift the emphasis from understanding the issues to devising actions and outcomes, taking its cue from Jon Puleston (Kantar) in his closing keynote “Where do we go from here”.
Attending this conference can be counted as six hours towards your continuing professional development, if you are enrolled with the MRS CPD programme.
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If you have any questions please contact administrator@asc.org.uk
Download printable programme (pdf)
Event Schedule
08:30
Breakfast and Registration
ASC Committee member James ‘JT’ Turner is kindly hosting the day.
Location: Hall 1, Building A , Golden Street , Southafrica
Session 1
09:35
Keynote - Joining forces to fight fraud and boost data quality
By Melanie Courtright , Chief Executive Officer, The Insights Association | Debrah Harding , Managing Director, The Market Research Society
Hear from MRS, and Insights Association about co-ordination of the sector’s representative bodies and efforts to fight research fraud and improve data integrity. With seven representative organisations leading this initiative we’ll hear how the sector plans to address ongoing and emerging risks to data quality.
Location: Hall 1, Building A , Golden Street , Southafrica
“Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it”, said the philosopher George Santayana. The insights business is beset by challenges from the old and from the new, from within and from without. If we are to navigate through these challenges we need to learn the lessons from history. In this presentation Ray will highlight the history of quality over the last 40 years, examine a series of disasters, and provide some thoughts for today.
Location: Hall 1, Building A , Golden Street , Southafrica
10:30
Ghost busting and fraud stopping: How server-2-server API security eliminates survey Fraud
By Oscar Carlsson , Cint Chief Innovation Officer
It’s no secret there is a fast-growing industry issue with fraud and there has been a sharp increase in new highly sophisticated attacks. The question: How do we stop this fraud in its tracks? The answer: Closing vulnerabilities through server-2-server integrations.
In this session you’ll hear how Cint is working with platform partners to effectively eliminate ghost completes and other forms of survey fraud by tightening the weakest link in the value chain.
We will share how this solution came about, the successes found in implementation thus far, and projected improvements in data quality industry wide as adopting server-2-server integration becomes widespread.
Location: Hall 1, Building A , Golden Street , Southafrica
11:00
Morning Refreshments Break
Session 2
11:30
Beating the fraudsters, bots and 'bull$h@t data’
By Louise Horner , Acacia Avenue | Dr Nick Baker , Global Chief Research Officer, Savanta
This presentation will lay bare the different layers of survey fraud and provide insights into how to continually spot the ‘bulls@t data’. This ranges from technology solutions to good old fashioned (and really crucial) human beings ‘doing stuff’.
Location: Hall 1, Building A , Golden Street , Southafrica
Chaired by AJ Johnson, ASC Board Member
A panel discussion to explore the dilemmas the research industry faces in moving from a relationship modelled on trust to one that seeks to verify who participants are. It will explore what we mean by identity and identification, the tensions this creates around notions of anonymity and will look to parallels established in other industries.
Our panelists are uniquely placed to offer perspectives from inside and outside the industry, and on how both the public and regulators may view potential changes.
Sarah Ramanauskas is partner at Gambling Integrity, an advisory body on safer gambling practices.
Shifra Cook is founder of Ayda, a research operational platform that integrates security and respondent experience
Debrah Harding is managing director of MRS and leads the society’s initiatives on standards, policy and public affairs.
Location: Hall 1, Building A , Golden Street , Southafrica
13:00
Lunch Break
Session 3
14:00
Call it cynicism, but what are we doing to our respondents and how can we do (much) better?
By Arno Hummerston , Amplify MR
Arno will give some real-life examples of today’s panellist experience with soundbites from key industry people. He will show the typical flow of a respondent and the survey itself, and why data quality is actually a reflection of this whole process.
Location: Hall 1, Building A , Golden Street , Southafrica
14:30
A Novel Approach to Identifying Poor Quality Survey Respondents
By Dean Tindall , Sawtooth Software | Brian McEwan , Sawtooth Software
In this session see how some “old faithful” approaches used in new ways can can help uncover poor responses in surveys.
Location: Hall 1, Building A , Golden Street , Southafrica
15:00
Face-to-Face Quality – its relevance, processes and technology in the digital world
By Rafal Gajdamowicz , Azure Knowledge
Hear how F2F / CAPI data collection remains relevant and how this high quality tool can be used for many global projects. Also focusing on the use of new technologies that are used to maintain quality of responses as well as interviewers.
Location: Hall 1, Building A , Golden Street , Southafrica
15:00
Afternoon Refreshments Break
Session 4
16:00
Where do we go from here? – a review of the issues surrounding data quality, potential solutions and collective actions for the research industry
By Jon Puleston , Ipsos
Location: Hall 1, Building A , Golden Street , Southafrica
16:30
Panel Discussion: The Way Ahead
By Rebecca Cole , Managing Director, Cobalt Sky and ASC Board Member
Chaired by Rebecca Cole, Managing Director Cobalt Sky, ASC Board Member
In this concluding session, our panel of industry experts will evaluate the challenges raised across the day with the guidance of ASC co-chair Rebecca Cole.
We will be seeking their take on what we need to do as practitioners, researchers or providers to be ready for the different challenges identified. This could come through new standards, technological enhancements, better interoperability between platforms or through moves towards industry accreditation, as we will be exploring. The aim is to identify what needs to happen next, and how we can make it happen.
The panel will comprise:
Melanie Courtight is CEO of Insights Association, the USA’s professional network of researchers and data analysis
Stephen Hughes is Managing director (EMEA) of PureSpectrum, an online sample marketplace with a focus on industry standards and automation.
Judith Passingham is Chair of ESOMAR’s Professional Standards Committee
Location: Hall 1, Building A , Golden Street , Southafrica
Summary of the day