Service Bureau FAQ

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE KN SERVICE BUREAU

1. What is Knowledge Networks?

Knowledge Networks is the premiere Consumer Information Company providing the most accurate consumer data in the industry to Fortune 500 Companies, Top Universities, and the Government via the only RDD created Panel in existence, its high quality Consumer Panel is now available to Consultants and Researchers through the Knowledge Networks Service Bureau.

2. What is the Knowledge Networks Service Bureau?
The Knowledge Networks Service Bureau is a Consumer Panel which offers Telephone Quality consumer information in a data only deliverable via the only RDD created online panel in existence. The Panel consists of more than 40,000 members and has several unique attributes:

Knowledge Networks is the only company that has built a truly nationally representative panel using probability sampling and RDD phone recruiting
Knowledge Networks has the only online panel whose data can be projected to larger populations, including the entire US Population
Knowledge Networks is the only company that samples and surveys non-internet households by providing MSNTV's for surveying purposes representing the 30% of American consumers without Internet access
Knowledge Networks panel consists of NO volunteers or professional respondents. A recent ComScore study found that 0.25% of respondents take 30% of online surveys.

3. Have any studies been done on the accuracy of Knowledge Networks and its competitors?
A Stanford University study comparing findings from top Internet research providers to Census data and other benchmarks shows that, for many data points that are critical to marketers, Knowledge Networks produced results that are dramatically more valid and reliable. By contrast, other well-known online vendors produced data that could lead to mistaken conclusions about consumer choices and marketing ROI.

The Stanford project compared seven of the best-known Internet research panels to a high-quality telephone study and benchmarks from the Census, Centers for Disease Control, U.S. Department of State, and elsewhere. Results were for identical or nearly identical questions.

Comparisons show that Knowledge Networks - which maintains the only online panel based on statistically valid sampling rather than volunteering - hewed much more closely to the benchmarks.

4. Who is the Knowledge Networks customer?
Knowledge Networks full service customers include Fortune 500 companies, the Government and Top Universities, however our Service Bureau was designed with our Research and Consulting partners in mind and is available to anyone who requires exceptionally high quality information in a data only format.

5. Can I get projectable data representative of the US Census Population?
Yes, the Knowledge Networks Panel is the only panel recruited by telephone through RDD and the Knowledge Networks Panel is the only panel truly representative of the US population taking into consideration the 30% of American Consumers without internet access who are left out of every other online survey. The Knowledge Networks Panel represents the broad diversity and key demographic dimensions of the U.S. population. Our Panel tracks closely with the U.S. population on age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, geographical region, employment status, and other demographic elements.

6. What distinguishes Knowledge Networks from other Online Panels?
Data Quality distinguishes the Knowledge Networks Panel from all other online. Knowledge Networks is the only Random Probability Sampled Panel in existence today. The KN Panel is recruited 100% by telephone through Random Digit Dialing and as a result the Knowledge Networks Panel is the most accurate panel online.

7. How is the Knowledge Networks Panel recruited?
Recruiting is the key to our unparalleled accuracy. Beginning recruitment in 1999, Knowledge Networks has established the first and only online research panel based on probability sampling that covers both the online and offline populations in the U.S. The panel members are randomly recruited by telephone and households are provided with access to the Internet and hardware if needed. Unlike other Internet research that covers only individuals with Internet access who volunteer for research, Knowledge Networks surveys are based on a sampling frame that includes both listed and unlisted phone numbers, and is not limited to current Web users or computer owners. Panelists are selected by chance to join the panel; unselected volunteers are not able to join the KN panel.

8. How do Other Online Panel's recruit?
Other Online panels recruit through pop-up ads and soliciting "volunteers" whose responses cannot be projected to any population and who do not represent the 30% of American consumers without home Internet access. These "volunteer" samples also attract "professional respondents" who belong to multiple panels and who took an average of 80 surveys per quarter in 2004. Members of the survey panels of the eight leading research firms each belong to an average of seven other research panels and a recent study by comScore Networks found that 0.25% percent of online panel respondents complete an unbelievable 30% of online surveys.

For more information please see "The Importance of Probability Sampling"

9. What is Random Probability Sampling?
Random probability sampling means that each person in the population will have a measurable chance of selection or a known probability of selection. This is important because a scientific approach to panel selection means your data results are repeatable like those of a science experiment and projectable with certainty and precision to larger populations including the entire US population.

For more on random probability sampling please see "The Importance of Probability Sampling"

10. If I am looking for online consumers and I do not care about offline consumers, why is it still advantageous to use Knowledge Networks?
Even if you are looking for online consumers who shop online and are computer savvy, we are still the only online panel with representative and projectable data. The other online panels do not use random probability sampling to recruit their panelists so their data is still not representative of greater populations for example the US Internet Population. This does not even take into account the volunteer and professional respondent issues of the volunteer panels.

11. How does KN address the 30% of American consumers without Internet Access?
Knowledge Networks is a hybrid of the best of the online and telephone research methods, we took the 30% of our panelists representing the 30% of American consumers without internet access who are ignored by other online panels but included in our RDD sampling and outfitted them with MSNTVs for their survey purposes so our clients benefit from the graphical capabilities, speed, and the cost efficiency of the Internet while maintaining the accuracy of RDD telephone studies.

12. How does KN avoid the Volunteer and Professional Respondent Biases?
The Knowledge Networks Panel is carefully designed and managed and contains no "professional" or "volunteer" respondents. We recruit through random probability sampling and accept no volunteers and we carefully regulate the number of surveys we send our Panelists. Research by major universities and others has shown that Knowledge Networks Panel data is often dramatically more reliable than findings from other online research companies.

13. Who makes up the Knowledge Networks panel?
The KN panel is made up of more than 40,000 respondents recruited through RDD using probability sampling. What sets us apart from our competitors is that we take into account the 30% of Americans who do not have internet access for truly projectable results. We also built our panel through random sampling making our data findings accurately projectable to larger populations such as the entire US population.

For more information please see "KN Panel Demographics - Jan 2005"

14. Why should I use Knowledge Networks instead of Phone or Online Surveys?
The unique approach of Knowledge Networks gives our clients the best of both Worlds we are a highly accurate and highly flexible alternative to expensive phone surveys and low accuracy online surveys.

15. Does Knowledge Networks conduct Sample Only projects from their panel?
Yes, the Knowledge Networks Service Bureau offers Sample only projects please refer to the document links for "Client Hosting Instructions" and "WebTV guidelines."

16. What is the size of your panel?
The Knowledge Networks Panel consists of over 40,000 adult respondents and several thousand more teenage respondents. Recruiting is ongoing and we typically add 1000 new members per month. It is important to distinguish that the Knowledge Networks Panel is the only representative or projectable panel in existence today. There are larger panels with numbers of respondents in the hundreds of thousands or millions but none of them are truly representative samples. We recruited our 40,000 members through the scientifically accepted method of random probability sampling while other panels will recruit their members through Pop Up ads. Because our panel was recruited on a statistical frame we can project our data within a known margin of error to the total US Population. So our 40,000 person panel represents all 270,000,000 Americans and the 4,000,000 person panel is not representative of anything.

17.How does Knowledge Networks recruit online respondents?
Knowledge Networks (KN) has recruited the first online research panel that is representative of the entire U.S. population. Panel members are randomly recruited by telephone and households are provided with access to the Internet and hardware if needed. Unlike other Internet research which covers only individuals with Internet access who volunteer for research, Knowledge Networks surveys are based on a sampling frame which includes both listed and unlisted numbers, and is not limited to current Web users or computer owners.

Knowledge Networks selects households using random digit dialing (RDD). Once a person is recruited to the panel, they can be contacted by e-mail (instead of by phone or mail). This permits surveys to be fielded very quickly and economically. In addition, this approach reduces the burden placed on respondents, since e-mail notification is less obtrusive than telephone calls, and most respondents find answering Web questionnaires to be more interesting and engaging than being questioned by a telephone interviewer.

18. What types of things do you profile for your respondents?
Knowledge Networks has collected extensive behavioral and attitudinal information across a broad range of topics. Please contact Naomi Keller for more information at 312-416-3685 or nkeller@knowledgenetworks.com.

19. What info is available on consumers - for example can we recruit based on the type of vehicle owned for our automotive studies?
Yes, at KN we know a lot about our panelists. We have approximately 5700 variables of data captured in 34 distinct profile surveys on our panel. These include alcohol, automobile, beverage, broadcast TV usage, cable TV usage, children's health, computer usage, consumer confidence, core demographics, ethnic, financial services, grocery shopping, health, Hispanics, home durables, insurance, lawn and workshop, lifestyle, magazine readership, movies and rentals, newspapers, organic food shopping, public affairs, radio usage, restaurant, retail, sports interest, tech usage and travel.

This data is used to allow us to very accurately target surveys so that we don't have to "broadcast" every survey to 10,000's of people to find a specific group. The profile information is also used to shorten the surveys we send out. Often times we don't need to ask the screener questions at all because we already know the answers. We also only ever ask the standard demographic questions once so the respondent doesn't have to give their age, race, gender, income, education, etc... for each survey they take. This keeps our respondents happy and responsive as they know we're not wasting their time.

We can also license access to use our profile information mentioned above directly (via a web interface) so that you can explore our rich consumer data before you run custom surveys.

20. Do you have international capabilities? If so what are they?
No, Knowledge Networks Panel is made up of United States citizens only, any international work we do would be collaborative.

21. How are Knowledge Networks Response Rates compared to other Online Vendors?
Knowledge Networks has the highest participation rates in the on line survey industry. Many companies can not provide information about participation rates for their panels, i.e., the % of individuals who are asked to join the panel who do so, because of the way they are recruited - e.g. pop up ads.

Knowledge Networks has some of the highest response rates available. The average 7 day response rate for surveys fielded to the Knowledge Networks Panel is 65%. The longer your survey is left in the field the higher the response rate. For example the average 14 day response rate is 75%.

22. Can you recruit by disease state for our pharmaceutical clients?
Knowledge Networks has a large number of panelists already profiled for various ailments and health states. We are also in the process of setting up a radically new system for recruiting panelists with low incidence health states. We'll have an announcement on that in the not so distant future.

23. How does Knowledge Networks know that the person taking the survey is the person that signed up for the panel?
Knowledge Networks confirms the identity of each respondent, particularly when a household will share an email address. The survey invitation will say "This survey is intended for Mary, the 28 year old female." In the case of shared email address, we also ask the respondent to enter a unique password to verify their identity.