Marketing and social research depend upon public confidence that the research
is conducted honestly, objectively, without unwelcome intrusion and without
disadvantage to informants, and that it is based upon the willing co-operation
of the public.

The general public and anyone else interested shall be entitled to complete
assurance that every marketing research project is carried out strictly in
accordance with this code, and that their rights of privacy are respected. In
particular, members of the general public must be assured absolutely that
personal and/or confidential information supplied during the course of a marketing
research study will not be made available without their agreement to any individual
or organisation, whether private or official, outside the researcher's own organisation
(as laid down in Section C), and that such information will not be used for any
purpose other than marketing research.

Research should also be conducted according to accepted principles of fair
competition, as generally understood and accepted, and to high technical
standards. Marketing and social researchers should always be prepared to make
available the necessary information whereby the quality of their work and the
validity of their findings can be adequately assessed.

DEFINITIONS

In this Code:

a) The terms Marketing Research is defined as the systematic collection and
objective recording, classification, analysis and presentation of data
concerning the behaviour, needs, attitudes, opinions, motivations, etc.
for individuals and organisations (commercial enterprises, public bodies,
etc.) within the context of their economic, social, political and everyday
activities. For the purpose of this Code, the term Marketing Research
is taken to also cover Social Research, insofar as the latter uses similar
approaches and techniques in its study of issues and problems not directly
connected with the marketing of goods and services. Reference to the
term Marketing Research shall throughout this Code therefore be held
to include Social Research equally. The term also includes those forms
of research commonly referred to as industrial Marketing Research and
as Deck Research, especially where these are concerned with the
acquisition of original data from the field and not simply the secondary
analysis of already available data.

b) The term Research is defined as any individual, company, group, public
or private institution, department, division, etc., which directly or indirectly

c) The term Client is defined as any individual, company, group, public or
private institution, department, division, etc. (including any such department
or division, etc. which may belong to, or form part of, the same organisation
as the Researcher) which wholly or partly commissions, requests, authorizes,
or agrees to subscribe to a Marketing Researcher project or proposes so
to do.

d) The term Informant is defined as any individual, group or organisation
from whom any information is sought by the Researcher for the purpose
of a Marketing Research project, survey, etc., regardless of the type of
information sought or the method or technique used to obtain it. The
term Informant therefore covers not only cases where information is
obtained by verbal techniques but also cases where non-verbal methods
such as observation, postal surveys, mechanical, electrical or other
recording equipment are used.

e) The term Interview is defined as any form of direct or indirect contact
(including observation, electro-mechanical techniques, etc.) with Informants
the result of which is the acquisition of data or information which could
be used in whole or in part for the purposes of a given Marketing Research
project, survey, etc.

f) The term Record(s) is defined as any brief, proposal, questionnaire,
checklist, record sheet, audio or audio-visual recording or film, tabulation
or computer print-out, EDP tape or other storage medium, diagram, report,
etc., in whatsoever form, in respect of any given Marketing Research
project, survey, etc., whether in whole or in part. It includes Records
prepared by the Client as well as by the Researcher.

RULES :

A. Responsibilities towards Informant

Article 1

Any statement made to secure co-operation and all assurances to an Informant,
whether oral or written, shall be factually correct and honoured.

Article 2

Subject only to the provisions of Article 3, the Informants shall remain entirely
anonymous. Special care must be taken to ensure that any record which contains
a reference to the identity of an Informant is securely and confidentially stored
during any period before such reference is separated from that record and/or
destroyed. No information which could be used to identify informants, either
directly or indirectly, shall be revealed other than to research personnel, within
the Researcher's own organization who require this knowledge for the administration
and checking of interviews, data processing etc. Such persons must explicitly
agree to make no other use of such knowledge. All Informants are entitled
to be given full assurance on this point.

Article 3

The only exceptions to the above Article 2 are as follows :

a) If Informants have been told of the identity of the Client and the general
purpose for which their names would be disclosed and have then
consented in writing to this disclosure.

b) Where disclosure of these names to a third party (e.g. a subcontractor)
is essential for any purpose such as data processing or in order to conduct
a further interview with the same Informant (see also Article 4). In all
such cases the Researcher responsible for the original survey must ensure
that any third parties as involved agree to observe the provisions laid
down in this Code.

c) Where the Informant is supplying information not in his role as a private
individual but as an employee, officer or owner of an organisation or firm,
provided that the provisions of Article 5 are followed.

Article 4

Further interviews, after the first, shall only be sought with the same Informants
under one of the following conditions.

a) in the course of carrying out normal quality control procedures, or

b) if Informant's permission has been obtained at a previous interview, or

c) if it is pointed out to Informants that this interview is consequent upon
one they have previously given and they then give their permission before
the collection of further data, or

Article 5

If the Informant is supplying information not in his role as a private individual
but as an employee, officer or owner of an organisation or firm, then it may
be desirable to list this organization in the report. The report shall not however
enable any particular organisation or person, except with prior permission from
the relevant Informant, who shall be told to the extent to which it will be
communicated.

Rights of the Informant

Article 6

All reasonable precautions shall be taken to ensure that the Informant, and others
closely associated with him, are in no way adversely affected or embarrassed
as a result of any interview. This requirement covers the information to be
obtained, the interviewing process itself, and the handling and testing of any
products involved in the research. The purpose of the enquiry shall be revealed
in cases where information given in ignorance of this knowledge could adversely
affect the Informant.

Article 7

The Informant's right to withdraw, or to refuse to co-operate at any stage of
the interview, shall be respected. Whatever the form of the interview, any or
all of the information given by the Informant must be destroyed without delay,
if the informant so requests. No procedure or technique which infringes this
right shall be used.

Article 8

Informants shall be told in advance which observation or recording techniques
are to be used. This requirement does not apply where the actions or statements
of individuals are observed and/or overheard by other people present,
for example in a shop or in the street.

In the latter case at least one of the following conditions shall be observed;

a) All reasonable precautions are taken to ensure that the individual's
anonymity is preserved, and/or

Wherever questions are subsequently asked to the person observed, condition
(b) above shall apply.

The observation or recording of normal activities in such places as distribution
outlets accessible to ordinary customers e.g. in carrying out distribution checks,
need not involve the Researcher in obtaining clearances of agreement for such
work, but the Researcher shall ensure that there is no substantial infringement
of the privacy and anonymity of any individuals in such locations.

Article 9

As part of the research design, a selling or simulated selling situation is
sometimes incorporated in a survey (for example, in simulated test market
techniques). In such cases, it is especially important that the respondent or
anyone else shall not be left with any impression, after the research has been
concluded, that he has been participating in anything other than a genuine
research project. After completion of the research, the experimental nature of
the selling situation should be explained and, wherever possible, any money
passed over the respondent should be returned or otherwise reimbursed in
some way acceptance to the respondent.

Article 10

Where observers other than the Researcher are present at an interview, the
Researcher is responsible for ensuring that they are aware of the relevant
provisions of this Code and have agreed to abide by these.

Article 11

The name and address of the Researcher shall normally be made available to
Informants at the time of interview. Where an accommodation address is
necessary for postal surveys, or where a 'cover name' is used for interview,
arrangements shall be made so that it is possible for informants subsequently
to find without difficulty the name and address of the Researcher.

Interviewing Children

Article 12

Special care shall be taken in interviewing children below the age of 12. Before
they are interviewed, or asked to complete a questionnaire, the permission of
a parent, guardian, or other person currently responsible for them (such as the
responsible teacher) shall be obtained. In obtaining this permission, the Interviewer
shall describe the nature of the interview in sufficient detail to enable the
responsible person to reach an informed decision. The responsible person shall
also be specifically informed if it is intended to ask the children to test any
products or samples. The permission of parents/guardians/teachers is not
necessary when interviewing children in the age group of 12-15 years. However

B. Relations with the General Public and the Business Community

Article 13

No activity shall be deliberately or inadvertently misrepresented as Marketing
Research. Specifically, the following activities shall in no way be associated,
directly or by implication, with Marketing Research interviewing or activities.

a) enquiries whose objectives are obtain personal information about private
individuals per se, whether for legal, political, supervisory (e.g. job
performance), private or other purpose;

b) The compilation of lists, registers or data banks of names and addresses
for non-researcher purposes (e.g. canvassing or fund raising), unless this
is done from already available sources other than market research;

c) industrial, commercial or any other form of espionage;

d) the acquisition of information for use by credit-rating or similar services;

e) sales or promotional approaches to the Informant;

f) the collection of debts;

g) direct or indirect attempts, including the framing of questions, to influence
an informant's opinions or attitudes on any issue.

Article 14

Researchers shall not misrepresent themselves as having any qualifications,
skills or access to facilities which they do not in fact possess.

Article 15

Unjustified criticism and disparagement of competitors shall not be permitted.

Article 16

No one shall knowingly disseminate conclusions from a given research project
or service that are inconsistent with or not warranted by the data.

C. The Mutual Responsibilities of Clients and Researcher

The relationship between a Client and a Researcher will generally be subject
to a form of contract between them. (The MRSI has developed a model contract
which is available on request). This Code does not aim to limit the freedom
of the parties to make whatever agreement they wish between themselves.
However, any such agreement shall not depart from the requirements of this
Code except in the cases of certain specific Articles, namely, Article 18-24
inclusive, 31 and 33.These are the only articles which may be modified by

Property of Marketing Researcher Records

Article 18

Marketing Researcher proposals and quotations provided by a Researcher at the
request of the Client and without an agreed payment remain the property of
the Researcher submitting them. In particular, prospective Client shall not
communicate the proposals of one Researcher to another Researcher except
where the latter is acting directly as a consultant to the Client on the project
concerned; nor shall the Client use the proposals or quotations of one Researcher
to influence the proposals of another Researcher. Similarly, the Marketing
Researcher brief and specifications provided by a Client remain the property of
the Client.

Article 19

The research findings and data from a Marketing Researcher project are the
property of the Client. Unless the prior written consent of the Client has been
obtained, no such findings or data shall be disclosed by the Researcher to any
third party.

Article 20

The research technique and methods (including computer programs) used in
a Marketing Researcher project do not become the property of the Client, who
has no exclusive right of their use.

Article 21

All records prepared by the Researcher other than the report shall be the
property of the Researcher, who will be entitled to destroy records without
reference to the Client after the periods specified in the guidelines
below.

questionnaires will be retained for six months after submission of the
report if data is preserved on computer tapes, and for 12 months if data
is not preserved on computer tapes.

data tapes will be preserved for two years after the submission of the
report; the Client shall have access to the data tapes for additional analysis
at a mutually agreed cost.

qualitative research video-audio tapes/transcripts will be retained for three
months after the submission of the report.

data tapes of continuous surveys for specific Clients will be retained for
two years after the termination of the survey.

These time period will not apply in the following cases:

where the Clients and the Researcher have agreed to a different time
frame.

Article 22

After the Researcher has submitted his report upon the study to the agreed
specification, the Client shall be entitled to obtain from the Researcher
duplicate copies of completed questionnaires or other records, provided that
the Client shall bear the reasonable cost of preparing such duplicates, and that
the request is made within the time limit set by Article 21. Article 22 shall
not apply in the case of a project or service where it is clearly understood that
the resulting reports are to be available for general purpose on a syndicated
or subscription basis. Any duplicate provided shall not reveal the identity of
Informants.

Confidentiality

Article 23

Unless authorised to do by the Client, the Researcher shall not reveal to
Informants, nor to any other person not directly concerned with the work of the
study, the name of the Client commissioning the study.

Article 24

All confidential information and material relating to the Client shall not be
divulged except to persons wholly or substantially engaged in the service of
the Researcher, including subcontractors, who need such information or material
in order to effectively carry out the research work.

Article 25

The Researcher shall clearly indicate to the Client what parts of a project will
be handled by subcontractors and, if the Client requires, the identity of these
subcontractors.

Article 26

On request the Client, or his mutually acceptable representative, may attend
a limited number of interviews to observe the standards of the fieldwork. In
certain types of research (e.g. panels) this may require the previous agreement
of the Informant to the presence of such an observer. The Researcher is entitled
to be recompensed if the Client's desire to attend an interview interferes with,
delays or increases the cost of the fieldwork. In the case of a multiclient study,
the Researcher may require that the observer in charge of checking the quality
of the field work is independent of any of the Clients.

Article 28

The client shall not give any of the results of the multiclient study to any person
outside his own organisation (the latter to be considered as including his
consultants and advisers) unless he has first obtained the Researcher's
permission to do so.

Publishing the Results

Article 29

Reports and other records relevant to be Marketing research project and
provided by the Researcher shall normally be used solely by the Client and
his consultants or advisers. The contract between Researcher and Client
should normally specify the copyright of the research findings and any
arrangements with respect to the subsequent more general publication of
these findings. In the absence of such a specific agreement, if the Client
intends any wider circulation of the results of a study either in whole or in part:

a) the Client shall agree in advance with the Researcher the exact form
and content of publication or circulation. If agreement on this cannot
be reached between Client and Researcher, the latter is entitled to
refuse permission for his name to be quoted in connection with the
study.

b) where the results of a Marketing Research project are given any such
wider circulation the Client must at the same time make available the
information listed under Article 34 about the published part of the
study. In default of this, the Researcher himself is entitled to supply
this information to anyone receiving the above-mentioned results;

c) the Client shall do his utmost to avoid the possibility of misinterpretation
or the quotation of the results out of their proper context.

Article 30

Researchers shall not allow their names to be used as an assurance that
a particular Marketing Research project has been carried out in conformity
with this Code unless they are fully satisfied that the project has in every
respect been controlled according to the Code's requirements.

Exclusivity

Article 31

In the absence of any contractual agreement to the contrary, the Client does
not have the right to exclusive use of the Researcher's services, whether
in whole or in part.

D. Reporting Standards

The Researcher shall, when presenting the results of a Marketing Research
project (whether such presentation is oral, in writing or in any other form),
make a clear distinction between the results themselves and the Researcher's
interpretation of the data and his recommendations.

Article 33

Normally every report of a Marketing Research project shall contain an
explanation of the points listed under Article 34, or a reference to a readily
available separate document containing this explanation. The only exception
to this Article is in the case where it is agreed in advance between the Client
and the Researcher that it is unnecessary to include all the listed information
in the formal report or other document. Any such agreement shall in no
way remove the entitlement of the Client to receive any and all of the
information freely upon request. Also this exception shall not apply in the
case where any or all of the research report on findings are to be published
or made available to recipients in addition to the original Clients.

Article 34

The following information shall be included in the report on a research project:

Background

a) for whom and by whom the study was conducted;

b) the purpose of the study;

c) name of subcontractors and consultants performing any substantial
part of the work;

Sample

d) a description of the intended and actual universe covered;

e) the size, nature and geographical distribution of the sample, both
planned and achieved; and, where relevant, the extent to which any
of the data collected were obtained from only a part of the sample;

f) details of the sampling method and of any weighting methods used;

g) where technically relevant, a statement of response rate and a
discussion of possible bias due to non-response;

Data Collection

h) a description of the method by which the information was collected
(that is, whether by personal interview, postal or telephone interview,
group discussion, mechanical recording device, observation or some
other method);

j) the method of recruitment used for informants and the general nature
of any incentives offered to them to secure their co-operation;

k) the time at which the fieldwork was done;

l) in the case of "Desk Research", a clear statement of the sources and
their reliability;

Presentation of Results

m) the relevant factual findings obtained;

n) bases of percentages, clearly indicating both weighted and unweighted
bases;

o) general indications of the probable statistical margins of error to be
attached to the main findings, and of the level of statistical significance
of differences between key figures.

p) questionnaires and other relevant documents used (or, in the case
of a shared project, the portion relating to the matter reported upon).

E. Additional Requirements for Public Opinion polls

Article 35

When any public opinion poll findings are published in print media these should
always be accompanied by a clear statement of :

a) the name of the research organisation carrying out the survey;

b) the universe effectively represented (i.e. who was interviewed);

c) the achieved sample size and its geographical coverage;

d) the date of fieldwork;

e) the sampling methods used (and in the case of random samples, the
success rate achieved;

f) the methods by which the information was collected (personal or
telephone interview, etc.)

g) the relevant questions asked. In order to avoid possible ambiguity
the actual wording of the questions should be given unless this is
a standard question already familiar to the audience or it is given in
a previously published report to which reference is made.

In the case of broadcast media it may not be possible always to give
information on all these points. As a minimum, points (a) - (d) above should
normally be covered in any broadcast reference to the findings of a public
opinion poll, preferably in visual (written) form where practical.

Article 37

The percentages of respondents who give 'don't know' answers (and in the
case of voting-intention studies, of those who say they will not vote) must
always be given where they are likely to significantly affect the interpretation
of the findings. When comparing the findings from different surveys, any
changes (other than minor ones) in these percentages must be indicated.

Article 38

In the case of voting-intention surveys it must always be made clear if voting
intention percentages quoted include any of those respondents who answered
'don't know' or 'may not/will not vote' in reply to the voting questions asked.

Article 39

Whatever information may be given in the published report of the survey,
the publisher and/or the research organisation involved must be prepared
on request to supply any other information about the survey methods
described in Article 34 of the Code; Where the questions reported on have
formed part of a more extensive or 'omnibus' survey, this must be made
clear to any enquirer.

Article 40

The research organisation and the client each have a responsibility in the
public interest to ensure that the published report on a public opinion poll
does not misrepresent or distort the survey data. For example, misleading
comments based on non-significant differences must be avoided. Special
care must be taken to ensure that any graphs or charts used do not convey
a misleading impression of the current survey's results or of trends over
time. It is also important that the reader or listener should be able to clearly
distinguish between the survey findings as such and any editorial or other
comments based upon them. Particularly in the case of print reports, the
research organisation must wherever feasible approve in advance the exact
form and content of publication as required in Article 29(a) of the Code.

Article 41

The research organisation cannot normally be held responsible for any
subsequent use made of public opinion poll results by people other than
the original client. It should however be ready to issue immediately such
comments or information as may be necessary to correct any cases of
misreporting or misuse of results when these are brought to its attention.

In the event that a client releases data from a survey which was not originally
intended for publication this Code of Conduct will apply to it as if it had
originally been commissioned for publication.

F. Implementation of the Code

Article 43

Any person or organisation involved in, or association with, a Marketing
Research project and/or proposal is responsible for actively applying the
rules of this Code in the spirit as well as the letter.

Article 44

Any alleged infringement of the Code shall be reported without delay to the
President of the MRSI or to the Convener of The Professional Standards
Committee of the MRSI.