SIMAR standards
A standard is a guarantee of good data and of trustworthy work with it
Because the standards are guaranteed, a client knows they are buying research done properly. The standards and the industry’s rules set the conditions for running good research projects and specify the minimum requirements for the quality of data collection. Compliance is checked at SIMAR member agencies. Only a SIMAR member agency has the right to offer its clients the guarantee that a project is being run to SIMAR standards.
The SIMAR standards are there for clients and for the agencies alike
Every standard opens with a definition of the research method and sets out the key principles and questions that matter for that method. A client can use those questions to set a project up and then to check it. A standard also contains a detailed description of the technical and organisational measures behind it and describes how compliance is ensured.
We take care over ethics and over protecting respondents
The standards are in line with the ethical principles of the field and pay particular attention to protecting respondents and their data. Every method of data collection has its own specifics, which is why the rules are set out separately for each standard. We take care that taking part in research does respondents no harm of any kind. Personal data protection is dealt with in more detail by SIMAR’s PRO VÝZKUM initiative, whose rules are summed up in the Ten Principles of PRO VÝZKUM.
The standards and rules are drawn up by a SIMAR expert group
Every standard had someone answerable for it while it was being written. The text was commented on by experts in the area concerned and checked by people who do the work. The commenting process goes hand in hand with a detailed debate about the shape of the rules and how they are met. The standards were then approved by the directors of the member agencies at the SIMAR general meeting on 8 October 2020. Experts from the member agencies meet regularly (usually once a year) to discuss current issues and methodological questions; the aim is always to verify that the SIMAR standards work and to update them where necessary.
SIMAR is a contractual partner of ESOMAR
Researchers at SIMAR member agencies are bound by the ethical and professional rules of the international professional community ESOMAR. The key rules are contained in the ICC/ESOMAR Code. Its most recent version was published on the ESOMAR website in December 2016 and the Czech version was approved by SIMAR member agencies on 10 April 2017. SIMAR is a partner of ESOMAR and the contact point for handling complaints about breaches of the Code in the Czech Republic. The Czech SIMAR quality standards were also developed with regard to the many materials and guidelines available to ESOMAR members.
Compliance with the SIMAR standards is checked
Every member agency follows the standards systematically. They are the foundation of quality in each agency, complemented by that agency’s own know-how. The teams at member agencies guarantee clients that a project will be run at least to the relevant standard. Compliance is checked by regular independent SIMAR audits. Where something does not comply, proceedings are opened with the agency that lead to immediate correction. A detailed, non-public record is made of each check.
SIMAR provides consultations, audits and checks for clients and for non-members too
When a research project is being prepared, it is advisable to set down in the contract how the client will check, for example, the quality of data collection. The method of checking should form part of the contract between client and agency and be reflected in the price quoted. With a non-member agency it is advisable to provide contractually for the possibility of an external check on the quality of data collection against the parameters agreed for the project. SIMAR offers consultations to non-members as well and regularly audits research projects to clients’ briefs, at both member and non-member agencies.
The SIMAR declaration „If research, then properly“ is available to download.
