Askthefamily is a panel of parents and children who will participate in both market and social research over the Internet. Instead of being randomly stopped on the street or telephoned at home, parents can choose to give their responses at a time that suits them. For each questionnaire filled in by each member of the family, a cash donation is made to their chosen school.

According to Chrissie Agnew, director of Infocorp, "askthefamily is breaking new ground in terms of Internet research. It overcomes a number of hurdles that the industry has with this medium. Through the infrastructure of the schools network, we are reaching households up and down the country. Our panel will be truly representative of today’s family in our society."

Speaking at the launch Ms Agnew added "The Internet has the potential to dramatically cut the cost of research. We should not be greedy. The public has been generous with us for years. The time has come for us to put something back into the community. If we really want to improve our image and response rates we will need more initiatives like askthefamily."

For more information visit www.askthefamily.org