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Canadian MR Association Unveils Respondent Charter
Canada's Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA) has launched what it calls 'the world's first Charter of Respondent Rights', setting out the industry's commitment to respect respondents' time and privacy, and to honour the contribution they make to society.
The Charter sets out nine Rights of respondents, mirroring the Association's strict code of professional conduct, to which members must already adhere. Designed to be 'respondent-friendly', the Charter includes guarantees that participants in surveys:- will never be sold anything or asked for money;
- are entitled to know the approximate duration of an interview and to request contact at a more convenient time
- will have their privacy and the privacy of their answers strictly respected in accordance with the law.
MRIA President Nik Nanos, speaking at a launch event on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, said the association had adopted 'some of the toughest professional standards for survey and opinion research in the world. The Charter lets Canadians know that we are serious about our commitment to respecting their Rights as research project participants.'
Nanos said that unscrupulous companies posing as bona fide research companies play upon Canadians' good relationship with research and their understanding of the useful role it can fulfil, in an attempt to sell products or services. 'With our new MRIA Charter as a declaration of their rights as respondents, Canadians can now better distinguish between legitimate research and fraudulent selling-under-the-guise-of-research.'
MRIA represents all sectors of the survey research industry in Canada and its members include over 1,700 individual research professionals and over 250 Corporates. It is online at www.mria-arim.ca .
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