Ipsos re-starts in home interviewing in the UK
In early October 2021, Ipsos started to reintroduce in home, face-to-face data collection for some of our major surveys. This follows recently updated guidance from the MRS and a successful pilot of required safety protocols.
Following the suspension of face-to-face interviewing in March 2020, Ipsos managed to switch many of its face-to-face surveys to alternative modes of data collection. From summer 2020 we have been conducting face-to-face interviews on the doorstep or in gardens, but this is not always ideal and is not a viable solution for all of our studies. The return to in home interviewing represents a significant milestone on the road to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as we can again offer the added quality that interviewer administered in-home interviewing brings.
Initially, in home interviewing will be offered as an option on two of our major surveys with the intention that this will be extended more widely from November. We will continue to offer alternative data collection modes on these studies for the foreseeable future as we are aware that some participants may wish to use an alternative option. However, the return of in home as an option for interviewing enables our surveys to collect a wider range of data under more suitable conditions. We look forward to continuing to work with our clients as we navigate our way forward in these uniquely challenging and difficult circumstances.
Neil Farrer, UK Head of Audience Measurement for Ipsos said:
Throughout the pandemic we have worked tirelessly to deliver complex fieldwork requirements despite facing huge logistical challenges, a fact recognised by the MRS naming Ipsos the winner of the Best COVID Response – Data Collection at the recent UK Operations Awards. An incredible amount of care and attention underpins our return to in home interviewing. Detailed protocols have been put in place to ensure the safety and welfare both of our participants and our interviewers. Interviewers have been trained to be able to adequately risk assess each situation for suitability of conducting an in home interview. They will only offer this where they are sure it is safe to do so. Through this approach we hope to return as many interviews as possible to full, in home data collection and, thereby, take another important step toward returning survey data collection to pre-COVID-19 delivery.
