ISO 20252 Standard
Posted by Jeffrey Henning on Wed, Oct 28, 2009
Bill Blyth, Chair of the ISO TC 225 and Global Methods Director of TNS Global described the ISO 20252 standard at the ESOMAR 2009 Online Research conference.
ISO (International Standards Organization) efforts on survey research grew from European trade associations with concerns about the quality of data collection, dating back to the 1970s for standards for face-to-face interviews in the UK and Netherlands. ISO 20252 covers quality at all stages of the survey process: "As some restaurants in London serving offal say, 'It's nose to tail eating!'"
ISO 20252 addresses the quality triangle of Design, Process, User with Fitness in the center. It specifies procedures and documentation and sets minimum levels of validation for key elements. It applies to subcontractors.
While ISO 20252 covers all methods, including online research, the Access Panel Standard - ISO 26362 - published in 2008 provides an alternative to 20252 for specialist panel providers. The 20252 standard is being rewritten to be technology neutral so that it will not need to be rewritten "every time a new gizmo" comes out.
The ISO 20252 has replaced local standards in Australia, Netherlands, Spain and the UK and will do so in France and Sweden in 2010. Italy and Mexico have 20252-inspired local versions. In total, over 250 companies around the world are certified ISO 20252 compliant; the standard does require a compliance audit by a third party.
ISO is encouraging audited compliance to be a contractual/procurement requirement in RFPs. ISO contends that the ISO 20252 saves adopting organizations money by facilitating getting projects right the first time, requiring less rework.
Since online research is the easiest method of research to conduct globally, global standards are needed to ensure quality. ISO 20252 provides a framework and common language for online quality and is a global standard suitable for any size organization in any country.