Data Protection and Privacy – Our commitment to You as a Respondent.

Approached by one of our Staff

If we have approached you in the street, outside a store or at your home to take part in a an interview and you have further enquiries then please contact us by emailing fieldservices@socialmarketresearch.co.uk

Please include the date/time that we contacted you and the address/street name where you were contacted to help us process your request quickly.

Why is your opinion important?

We carry out a wide range of different surveys including:

• Social Research – which helps National and Local Government and public bodies to identify priorities and allocate resources accordingly
• Opinion Polls – which collects people’s opinions on many political and social topics
• Consumer Research – asks people about products or services or to evaluate and record performance levels

So our clients are really keen to hear your views on these subjects. This will help them make the right decisions on important issues

Why have I been chosen to take part in this survey?

We can’t interview everyone, so we interview a number of different types of people to reflect a range of people from all different backgrounds.   If you do not wish to take part, please say so and the interviewer will respect your decision.
How do I know if the interviewer is genuine?

All SMR interviewers carry an Identity Card with their photo and name and interviewer number which they should show you. If you want to check that they genuinely work for us, please contact us on 0131 535 1056 during office hours.At the end of the interview, you should be given a thank you leaflet telling you about Market Research and giving contact details for our company.

How do I know if SMR is a genuine company?

The Market Research Society, our industry body, can confirm that SMR is a genuine, reputable research agency. Contact them on 0800 975 9596 (freephone from a landline in the UK) or visit their website. However, the MRS cannot answer queries about surveys or individual interviewers. If you have this type of query, please contact us as above.

Why did the interviewer ask for my telephone number?

We ask for this information so we can check that our interviewers have recorded your answers accurately. You may receive a telephone call or a reply from us asking you to confirm some details about the interview.

How do I know my information will be safe?

SMR takes information security very seriously. Everyone who works for us has to agree to work within the Market Research Society Code of Conduct, and the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and GDPR Act 2018.
Our interviewers will tell you what the research survey is about, and you can be sure that all your details will be kept completely confidential. Your personal details will be kept separately from your answers, so no one will know what you, as an individual, have said. The information and opinions you give will be added together with those of everyone else who has taken part, and produced in the form of percentages in statistical tables.
When our quality control checks have been completed, your personal details will be securely destroyed. If your interview was carried out on a computer, then you can be sure that the information was sent down the telephone line to our main computer in a secure and encrypted form.   We can put you in touch with our Data Protection Officer if you need more reassurance. In the first instance please contact us on 0131 535 1056 during office hours.

My street is a no cold-calling zone with notices, yet an interviewer still knocked on my door.

SMR is a genuine Market Research company – we are not canvassing or trying to sell anything. Many of our surveys actually relate to the services provided in your local area, so your opinions may influence the allocation of resources, improvements or changes that may affect you directly. If you are concerned about the credentials of our interviewer, please contact us for reassurance. We support action taken to eliminate bogus salespeople and canvassers.

I would like to make a complaint.

We continually seek to improve the service we deliver to the general public and to our clients, therefore we welcome any comments you may have to help us to improve the way we operate.    If you have a particular issue regarding an interviewer, please contact us by phone on 0131 535 1056 or by email at fieldservices@socialmarketresearch.co.uk.