China market research - Quality control

The quality of data will determine the objectiveness of your decision thus data quality builds the foundation of China market research. To our clients, good quality findings will provide the correct information for the next step in their decision-making process of China market entry. Whereas, findings that are of undesirable quality will have a negative impact on how their policies/ decisions are made. Therefore, to ensure our clients make the right decision of China market entry, Starmass International has a set of strict quality control procedure that enables the collected data to have a true projection of China market.

Preliminary stage

1. Questionnaire design

By applying our vast experiences over the years, we have formulated questionnaire templates that are of professional standard. As different projects have different requirements, our researchers will edit the template accordingly. Before we carry out the surveys, our clients will have to revise the questions and pilot interviews have to be made. Any problems occurred during the pilot interviews will be reviewed and amended to the satisfaction of our clients.

2. Project training

To make sure the surveyors understand the various way and principles of sampling, the purpose of China market research and the surveying techniques (which includes projecting and asking of questions), our surveyors will undergo strict and in depth foundation trainings. Surveyors will be given extra trainings that pertain to the requirements of the questionnaire in every respect and be arranged for simulated survey.

3. Simulated survey

After the completion of the trainings, we will undergo a simulated survey, a simulated survey will prepare the trainees on how an actual survey would be carried out. The people supervising the simulation will be those who had been through the training and are very familiar with the whole procedure. The simulation will occur at a time period not shorter than what the actual situation requires. Those who fail to meet the requirements for the simulation will be rejected and any problems encountered during the simulation will be reflected to the management so that the simulation process can be further improved on.

Survey execution

On the spot quality control includes:

*  The surveyor must follow strictly the structure of the questionnaire, when asking question, they will have to comply with the requirements and the questionnaire must be completed without omission.

*  When conducting the survey, the surveyor must not provide any suggestion/subjective explanation or change the phrasing of the questions. The surveyor would create biasness as the subjects may change their opinions when the question is asked from another perspective.

*  The surveyor must promptly report to his/ her supervisors when any problems encountered so that their supervisors can provide them with assistance.

*  Surveyors will have to submit their questionnaires within the designated period. The surveyors are not given their next assignment until the QC department has checked and validated their questionnaires.

*  A routine meeting will be held to discuss the project progress and existing problems with the project.

*  Our clients will be consistently updated with our project progress and situation.

The project manger has the responsibility of making sure that the projects progresses as planned. Should there be any deviation, the project manger will have to find the root of the problem and if the deviation will affect the progression or quality of the project, they will have to come out with immediate remedies and then report to the department's head. After the project has ended, the project manager will have to evaluate the surveyors and thereafter, save into the surveyors' profile.

Questionnaire verification

For verification, the QC department will examine the questionnaire (independent of surveyors) for at least twice:

Firstly, questionnaires with incomplete or inconsistent answers will be picked out. The QC department will also scrutinize the open-ended questions.

Next, any problematic questionnaires will be reexamined by contacting the interviewee again. At the same time, 40% of the questionnaire will be taken out for reexamination. Should there be any dubious part of the selected questionnaires; more proportion of the questionnaire will be taken out for reexamination. If there are problems with the surveyors, they will be deemed void and the equal amount will be replaced by other surveyors.

Report verification

As part of quality assurance service of our China market research, all reports that are submitted to our clients will have to go through our panels of project managers, experts and senior consultants. The process includes verification of language, data and content of the reports so as to ensure that our clients will receive the highest quality.

Back