ICM Launches 'Rapid Response' Same-Day Polling

UK research agency ICM has launched a new polling system called 'Rapid Response', which it says will deliver same-day results on breaking national news stories.

The Creston-owned company comprises ICM Research, which conducts research using a full range of methodologies, and ICM Direct, which provides online, telephone and face-to-face data collection.

Using a nationally representative sample of 965 interviews, the firm's new service was tested by The Guardian newspaper last week, following the death of Baroness Thatcher. Results were published six hours after the poll was conceived.

Martin Boon (pictured), Director, Social & Government and Polling at ICM Research, comments: 'We have proven that Rapid Response can deliver the public view on breaking news stories early enough for the results to be included in both the evening's print and digital versions. In today's world of round-the-clock news, it is vital for media clients to have immediate access to accurate, reliable consumer opinion on breaking news stories.'

Last summer, ICM introduced an online methodology for predicting election results called the Wisdom Index, which borrows from crowdsourcing and asks respondents not how they will vote themselves, but how they think the results will pan out overall.

Web site: www.icmresearch.com .