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Duplicate Number® Search The Duplicate Number® Search is a unique and powerful tool for detecting respondents who do not meet a study's screening requirements or are interviewed too often. Developed over 20 years ago for General Foods (now part of Kraft Foods)". It is now used as a standard validation technique by many consumer product manufacturers, research suppliers and data collection agencies. Why use the Duplicate Number® Search? Telephone validation is
an ideal way to determine whether a respondent understood the questions. However,
verifying whether the individual met the screening requirements demands more ingenuity.
Many research professionals consider this task impossible using telephone validation
alone. Screening is a difficult
process to control and to check. Some respondents pretend to meet the specifications
of a study in order to qualify for an offered incentive. In addition, some interviewers
will intentionally use unqualified respondents or may falsify interviews in order
to meet quotas. In any case, these "respondents" usually know how to circumvent
phone validation with the right answers or with the use of telephone answering
machines. How does it work? The Duplicate Number® Search is a computerized validation program that is based on the matching of respondent telephone numbers. It is used for various types of studies, including door-to-door, mall intercept, local telephone, focus group, pre-recruit, WATS, and one-on-one's. The program maintains a three-year database. Past participation is measured by an exception report, which displays the earlier jobs which respondents used this same telephone number. For each match found in the Duplicate Number® database, the report shows the name and telephone number of the respondent; the date of the interview; the type of study; the field service used; and the interviewers name or initials. In qualitative studies, the subject matter of the job is noted instead of the interviewer's name. How To Participate In The Duplicate Number® Search You can have your consumer research study validated through the Duplicate Number® Search by simply forwarding a completed copy of the Sigma Validation Transmittal form along with your data. There are several options for submitting data to us. Paper validation sheets may be sent via courier or in the case of small jobs (especially qualitative) may be faxed to Sigma. Another option is to send the data to us securely via our website. A minimum file size of 100 records or more is required. We will accept files in many formats, including Excel, Microsoft Word, and comma delimited. There are substantial savings by sending data securely via this website. Please refer to the Duplicate Number® Price List for further information. Quantitative interviews
submitted for validation should include the respondent's name, area code and telephone
number, the date of the interview and the interviewer's name. All respondents
of a particular interviewer should be grouped together. Telephone validation sheets
typically have all of this information listed and can be submitted to Sigma Validation
for processing. Qualitative interviews,
focus groups and one-on-ones, submitted to Sigma Validation should included the
respondent's name, area code, telephone number and the date of the group. The
subject matter of the study should be listed on the Transmittal Form. If your
subject matter is too specific, we will rename it. Each transmittal form bears a 2-alpha "company code" which denotes the corporate endorser or research supplier who requests the Duplicate Number® Search. Please be sure to send the correct transmittal form with each study. If you are unsure of which form to use, or if you need a form, please contact us. A separate transmittal form must be sent for each set of interviews submitted for processing. How long does it take? Routine turnaround time is three business days. Faster turnaround time is available at a nominal cost. Please consult the Duplicate Number® price list for Priority Handling categories and fees.
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