Market Research Frequently Asked Questions

CAWI (Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing) is an online survey respondents complete independently via a web browser. CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing) involves a trained interviewer conducting the survey by phone. CAWI is faster and cost-effective for large-scale consumer studies; CATI is preferred for executive B2B audiences, complex skip-logic scenarios, and markets with lower internet penetration.

Incidence rate (IR) is the percentage of the general population that qualifies for your survey. A study targeting oncologists has a very low IR (under 1%), while a general consumer survey may have an IR of 80%+. Lower IRs require access to larger panel pools, longer fieldwork timelines, and additional screening steps — directly increasing project cost and complexity.

For standard consumer surveys (IR 40%+, N=500, single country), fieldwork typically completes in 5–10 business days. Complex B2B studies targeting C-suite executives or niche specialists at low incidence rates may require 3–6 weeks. Prolific Research provides feasibility estimates and projected timelines within 24 hours of receiving your RFP.

An In-Depth Interview (IDI) is a one-on-one session providing deep individual insight — preferred for C-suite executives, KOLs, or sensitive topics. A Focus Group Discussion (FGD) gathers 6–8 participants for a moderated group session, surfacing shared attitudes and group dynamics. IDIs offer depth; FGDs offer breadth and social context.

We use a multi-layer approach: canvas fingerprinting to identify duplicate device signatures across respondents, IP reputation checks to block VPN and data-center traffic, NLP scoring of open-ended responses to flag gibberish and copy-paste behavior, behavioral speeder detection for respondents completing surveys abnormally fast, and logic-trap questions. Our SIDAC platform applies these checks in real-time, silently redirecting invalid respondents before they contaminate the dataset.

Our platform consistently achieves a 99.8% data quality score across projects, measured by validation pass rates, duplicate removal rates, and open-end quality audits. Our fraud deviation rate is under 0.12% — significantly below the industry average of 2–5%.

Yes. All European panels operate under full GDPR compliance with double opt-in consent, EU-based data processing, and right-to-erasure mechanisms. US panels are CCPA compliant. Healthcare research globally applies HIPAA-standard data vaults and complies with applicable national healthcare research regulations.

Yes. Our B2B niche recruitment process combines LinkedIn profile matching against declared job title and company size, corporate domain email verification (filtering out personal mailboxes), and telephone screening to confirm purchase authority. We regularly recruit CIOs, CISOs, CFOs, VPs, and other senior decision-makers for both quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews.

HCPs are verified against national licensure databases — NPI in the United States, GMC in the United Kingdom, and equivalent bodies in other markets. Specialist physicians (oncologists, cardiologists, neurologists) are accessed through KOL networks and medical association partnerships. All HCP studies comply with applicable healthcare research regulations.

We operate in 140+ countries across Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. Our strongest panels are in: USA, UK, Germany, France, Australia, Singapore, Japan, India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Canada, South Korea, and the Netherlands. We provide feasibility counts by country before any commitment.

Pricing varies by methodology, sample size, incidence rate, geography, and length of interview. A standard consumer online survey (N=500, 15-minute LOI, IR 50%, single country) typically costs USD 3,000–8,000 in fieldwork. Complex B2B executive studies start at USD 15,000+. Contact us for a 24-hour feasibility and pricing estimate tailored to your specification.

Submit your project specifications at prolificresearch.com/contact. Include your target audience profile, required sample size, target countries, methodology preference, and desired timeline. We respond with feasibility counts and indicative pricing within 24 hours.

Yes. We program surveys on Decipher, Qualtrics, and custom HTML/JS platforms. We support complex logic routing, conjoint analysis blocks (Van Westendorp, CBC, MaxDiff), card sorting, slider scales, and multilingual surveys across 40+ languages.