KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS COLLABORATES WITH STANFORD UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS (AUSTIN) TO BRING INNOVATIVE SURVEY TECHNIQUE TO REPRESENTATIVE INTERNET PANEL

Results of online Deliberative Poll mirror those from face-to-face research; promises to become "a new tool for democracy"

Menlo Park, CA - February 19, 2003: Using an online panel provided by Knowledge Networks – the leader in high-quality, innovative Web research – a breakthrough survey methodology has been successfully transferred to the Internet, creating a powerful new resource for accurately assessing public opinion on a variety of topics.

Developed at the University of Texas, Austin, the technique known as Deliberative Polling™ gives respondents the opportunity to learn about a topic before responding to a survey about it. The university's Center for Deliberative Polling™ worked with Stanford University's Political Communication Lab to test the Deliberative approach among 280 members of KN's nationwide panel – the only consumer Web panel based on an RDD sample of the full U.S. population.

A parallel version of the study – about America's role in the world – was administered face to face, and results showed that the online version produced results remarkably similar to the in-person research.

"This is a new tool for democracy because it attempts to represent everyone under conditions where they can become more informed," said James Fishkin, professor of government at the University of Texas, Austin, and co-developer of the Deliberative Polling™ technique. "We were able to avoid the digital divide. This was America speaking."

The Web research also confirmed that allowing survey participants to become informed about a topic can significantly alter their opinions. In general, the proportions of those supporting a deeper U.S. role in world affairs – from reducing world debt to supplying medical help to poor countries – rose after they had been allowed to learn more about the subject.

In the online poll, 15 groups of 10 to 20 people – selected from the nationally representative Knowledge Networks panel – "met" twice a week via the Internet, with the guidance of trained moderators. The discussions continued over six weeks during December 2002 and January 2003. Software for the online survey was provided by Stanford University.

The face-to-face research was conducted in January 2003 following a two-day Philadelphia convention that kicked off a 16-month program – hosted by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions – to help Americans better understand how they see themselves in relation to the rest of the world.

Both groups used the same non-partisan briefing materials – "Americans' Role in the World," produced by the Kettering Foundation and the National Issues Forums Institute.

Knowledge Networks uses its consumer panel and deep expertise to provide reliable insights on consumer behavior and opinions. By bringing together an RDD sample and the Internet, KN has been able to combine the speed of Web research with the quality of large-sample conventional studies. As a result, the company has won significant business from prominent academic and government institutions, including Research Triangle Institute, the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), and the University of California, Irvine. KN research has been featured in such prestigious publications as the Journal of the American Medical Association and on CBS News' analysis of the 2003 State of the Union Address.

Knowledge Networks applies the same high standards and exceptional resources to its studies of all aspects of marketing. KN specialties include CPG, brands, media, segmentation, and research on pricing, product configuration and advertising. The company's clients include numerous Fortune 500 companies.