AMSTERDAM, September 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- InfoTrends, Data100 Market Research Co. Ltd and Opinion Matters Take Top Overall Honors, While StrataVerve, Nielsen Bases and GfK Custom Earn the Highest Marks for Product Placement

SSI announced the winners of its second annual SSI QUEST™ Awards -- honoring companies for creating the most engaging research experiences -- at last night's Welcome Reception for the 2011 ESOMAR Congress in Amsterdam.  Kees de Jong, CEO of SSI, recognized three companies around the world as overall winners for excellence in survey design:  InfoTrends in the Americas, Data100 Market Research Co. Ltd in Asia-Pacific and Opinion Matters in Europe. Data100 Market Research Co. Ltd also received the "BEST in QUEST" Award for the top survey performance globally.

In addition, SSI added a new QUEST category this year, focused specifically on product placement studies.  Top honors for product placement surveys went to StrataVerve in the Americas, Nielsen Bases in Asia-Pacific and GfK Custom in Europe.

SSI introduced SSI QUEST (Questionnaire Experience Satisfaction Tool) in 2010 to encourage the market research industry's creativity in developing surveys that lead to high respondent satisfaction.  Research participants' self-reported satisfaction scores are a key factor in determining the winning projects.  Drop rates and median time to complete each survey also are considered in calculating the SSI QUEST winners.  Each of these components is appropriately weighted within the QUEST formula to yield an accurate read on the effectiveness of the overall respondent experience.

Winning companies will receive a customized SSI QUEST trophy.  In addition, SSI will present certificates of excellence to the project managers and programmers responsible for developing winning surveys, as well as make a donation in their names to the charities of their choice.  

"We created the SSI QUEST Awards to demonstrate SSI's deep commitment to ensuring an excellent research experience for every respondent," says Mr. de Jong.  "Today, we live in a world where online behavior has changed radically -- yet the way we engage people for surveys is still very much the same. As an industry, we must work together to bring about the kinds of change that will ensure we win the increasingly difficult battle for people's time and attention.  We must join forces to design more intelligent, relevant rewards programs -- and create shorter, more engaging surveys.  We need to be inventive in building the kinds of questionnaires that truly involve and interest people or we risk losing our most valuable shared asset -- our research participants."

About SSI...

Bringing together Survey Sampling International and Opinionology, SSI (http://www.surveysampling.com) is the premier global provider of world-leading sampling, data collection and data analytic solutions for survey research.  SSI reaches respondents in 72 countries via Internet, telephone, mobile/wireless and mixed access offerings. Value-add services include questionnaire design consultation, programming and hosting, data processing and real-time reporting. SSI serves more than 2,000 clients, including the top-50 research organizations. It has 30 offices serving clients around the world.

SOURCE SSI