Ipsos Social Research Institute launches today

Ipsos, one of the world's largest research companies, today announces the launch of a major global initiative: the Ipsos Social Research Institute.

Ipsos has worked for around 300 central government departments around the world, as well as hundreds of municipal authorities and most major multinational organisations interested in social issues (such as the UN and World Bank). We have an annual turnover of around e100m in social and political research, and around 400 experienced researchers working in the sector.

Bringing this expertise together into the Ipsos Social Research Institute will ensure we make the most of our global understanding of social policy and research methods, while drawing on our extensive knowledge of the local context in the 64 countries in the Ipsos group. Beyond this national focus, we work in over 100 countries each year, mostly as part of major international studies.

Our work for individual clients covers just about all types of social research, including policy formulation and testing, citizen and service user satisfaction studies, evaluations of impact, communications and branding work, social marketing research and stakeholder audits.

Director of the Ipsos Social Research Institute, Bobby Duffy, said:

We have vast experience in all areas of public policy across the Ipsos network. The Ipsos Social Research Institute will help us to better share that with clients and the research community. "Taking one example from a report we are launching today*, our latest global research on attitudes to local government shows that while citizens in Latin American countries feel they have more influence over local decisions, they are less happy with their municipal government. Putting these local findings in a global context provides important lessons not just for Latin American countries but also for western governments interested in citizen empowerment."

Darrell Bricker, CEO of Public Affairs at Ipsos said:

"This is an extremely important initiative for our government, social trends and political research practice. The Ipsos Social Research Institute will help us to build on years of experience to provide real added insight for our clients. In particular, it will help us expand our already extensive work with multinational organisations interested in social issues by providing a truly global social research capability."

Jean-Marc Lech, Ipsos Co-President said:

"The Ipsos Social Research Institute is a key priority for Ipsos. We are currently seeing pressure on government budgets all over the world - but there will always be a need for real insight into citizen priorities and understanding what works in social policy. The Ipsos Social Research Institute can provide that insight from both a local and global perspective."

For further information:

• See our new website for more experience, case studies and thought pieces:160http://www.ipsos.com/public-affairs/SocialResearchInstitute

*In particular, we are launching a new thought piece report, One World, Many Places, which uses new data from our Global @dvisor study to look at how satisfied citizens are with their area and local government and the most important factors driving those perceptions.