Answers to the 37 Questions to Help Buyers of Online Samples

Inquister Analytics operates as a full-service market research company. We do not own or operate a proprietary respondent panel. All respondent supply is sourced through our network of vetted global panel partners and affiliate providers, routed and quality-controlled through our centralised project delivery infrastructure. This model gives clients broad multi-market reach with consistent quality standards regardless of geography.

Section 01
Company & Sample Sources

Q1 What experience does your company have in providing online samples for market research?

Inquister Analytics is a professional market research company delivering consumer insights and strategic analysis across 50+ countries, across 100+ consumer segments.

Online sample provision is a core part of our quantitative offering. We design, programme and manage surveys across online, mobile, and CATI channels, supported by a curated network of vetted panel partners who collectively provide respondent access across all major markets.

Our services are 100% market research focused. We do not supply respondent data for direct marketing, political outreach, or any non-research purpose.

Our service lines include:

• Online survey sample — consumer (gen pop, demographic-targeted, category-specific) and B2B (decision-maker, professional, SMB)
• End-to-end fieldwork management — survey design, programming, quota management, data collection, and delivery
• CATI, in-depth interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic studies
• Data analysis, strategic insight delivery, and executive reporting

Q2 Please describe and explain the type(s) of online sample sources from which you get respondents.

Inquister Analytics does not own or operate a proprietary respondent panel. All respondent supply is sourced through our network of vetted global panel partners, affiliate providers, and specialist B2B and healthcare communities where projects require them.

Our supply model operates as follows:

• Global panel exchange partners — integrated with leading programmatic exchange platforms that aggregate supply from hundreds of vetted panel owners across 50+ markets, providing broad consumer and B2B reach
• Specialist affiliate partners — curated vendors for executive panels, professional verticals, healthcare professionals, and other hard-to-reach or low-incidence audiences
• River/intercept recruitment — for studies requiring open recruitment or supplementary supply in specific markets

Sources are selected per project based on target audience, incidence rate, geography, and feasibility. All supply, regardless of source, passes through Inquister Analytics' centralised QC layer before delivery to clients.

Q3 If you provide samples from more than one source: How are the different sample sources blended together to ensure validity? How do you deal with the possibility of duplication of respondents across sources?

When multiple supply sources are blended on a single study, we apply consistent screening, quota, and quality criteria across all sources so respondents are treated uniformly regardless of origin.

Deduplication is controlled through:

• Digital fingerprinting at study entry — device, browser, and IP signals are captured and cross-referenced to detect repeat entries across sources
• Our proprietary tracking layer flags and blocks respondents already registered as complete or a quality failure in the same study
• A second-pass deduplication is run post-field on the full dataset before delivery

Supply mix is monitored during fielding; if any single source contributes disproportionately to completions, we rebalance sourcing to protect representativeness.

Q4 Are your sample source(s) used solely for market research? If not, please explain.

Our partner panels and recruited communities are used for legitimate market research, opinion research, and insight activities only. Inquister Analytics does not use respondent data for direct marketing, political campaigning, or any non-research purpose.

Where affiliate or river sources are used, respondents are recruited with disclosed, consented participation for research purposes consistent with applicable codes and our privacy commitments.

Q5 How do you source groups that may be hard to reach on the internet?

For low-incidence or hard-to-reach audiences we apply a tiered approach:

• Specialist partner panels — curated vendors with dedicated pools for executive, professional, healthcare, and category-specific audiences
• B2B and healthcare networks — firmographically profiled decision-maker panels for IT, Finance, HR, Procurement, and C-suite audiences; HCP panels with appropriate ethics documentation
• Referral and social recruitment — targeted outreach for niche communities
• Offline-to-online and CATI recruitment — where internet penetration limits the addressable online pool

Cross-border reach across 50+ countries and in-market local partners allows us to assemble niche audiences while maintaining quality controls. Specialist audience availability is confirmed at feasibility stage for every project.

Q6 If you need to supplement your sample with sample from other providers, how do you select those partners? Is it your policy to notify a client in advance?

All supply partners — whether primary exchange platforms or specialist affiliates — are onboarded through a formal qualification process:

• Company verification: legal entity, operating history, and reference checks
• Pilot deployment: a controlled test project assessing completion rates, fraud signals, and redirect accuracy
• Formal agreement: master supply agreement with defined QC SLAs, data handling obligations, and right-to-audit provisions
• Ongoing monitoring: per-project performance tracking; partners breaching quality thresholds are paused pending review

It is our policy to notify clients in advance when a third-party provider is used, and to confirm that those partners apply quality and data protection standards equivalent to our own.

Section 02
Sampling & Representativeness

Q7 What steps do you take to achieve a representative sample of the target population?

Representativeness is managed through:

• Interlocking quota structures aligned to census or client-specified population parameters — age, gender, region, SEC, and any study-relevant variables as standard
• Stratified sample plans balanced against known population benchmarks
• Soft launch fielding (10–15% of target n) to validate actual incidence against estimated IR before full launch
• Real-time quota monitoring to prevent early-close on any demographic cell
• Post-collection weighting where quotas are filled but minor demographic imbalances exist — weighting coefficients are documented and included in the deliverable

Sample design is discussed and agreed with the client at the project design stage.

Q8 Do you employ a survey router?

Where routers are used — including those operated by supply partners — respondents are allocated to surveys for which they qualify. We aim for transparency in routing and monitor its effect on sample composition.

Pure-source or non-routed sample can be provided on request for sensitive studies, tracking waves, or projects where source consistency is a methodological requirement.

Q9 Please describe the allocation process within your survey router.

In routed environments, allocation prioritises matching respondents to studies they qualify for based on profile and screening criteria, while balancing feasibility and reducing over-exposure of any individual respondent.

Allocation logic is designed to avoid systematically biasing any single study's sample. Partner routers are required to operate on comparable principles and are reviewed as part of our partner qualification process.

Q10 What measures do you take to guard against, or mitigate, any bias arising from employing a survey router?

We monitor source mix and key demographic distributions in real time during fielding, review completion patterns for anomalies indicative of routing bias, and apply quota and weighting controls to mitigate composition effects.

For studies where routing bias is a concern, we can request non-routed supply from partners or apply tighter source controls.

Section 03
Data Quality & Fraud Prevention

Q11 Who is responsible for data quality checks? Do you have a quality plan?

Inquister Analytics retains full responsibility for data quality on every project we deliver. We operate a documented quality plan with multi-point checks across three stages:

• Pre-field: respondent authentication, digital fingerprinting, IP/geo validation, bot detection, and quota guardrails
• In-field: speeder detection, attention checks, red-herring traps, straight-line detection, logic consistency scoring, and open-end language validation
• Post-field: second-pass deduplication, outlier and flatline scan, manual open-end review on a stratified 10% sample, quota reconciliation, and free replacement of all rejected records

These controls are applied by Inquister Analytics at the project delivery level, independent of and in addition to any quality controls applied by the originating supply partner.

Q12 How do you ensure that respondents satisfy the sampling requirements and that the right people are participating?

Eligibility is confirmed through:

• Screening questions at study entry, designed to confirm qualification on all target criteria
• Profile data validation — stated profile attributes are cross-checked against in-survey responses for internal consistency
• Digital fingerprint and IP validation to detect fraudulent, duplicate, or proxy-assisted entries
• Attention and red-herring items embedded in the survey to confirm genuine engagement

Q13 Please describe the data quality checks you employ within your surveys.

Our in-survey quality controls include:

• Speeder detection — respondents completing below 40% of median survey completion time are flagged
• Straight-lining and pattern response detection — repeated identical response patterns on grid and matrix questions
• Attention check questions — instructional items (e.g. 'select option 3') verify active reading
• Red-herring traps — implausible answer options inserted into category lists; selection indicates non-genuine response
• Logic and consistency checks — cross-question validation catches internally contradictory response sets (e.g. age vs life-stage)
• Open-end language validation — NLP-based detection of gibberish, copy-paste, off-topic, and AI-generated verbatim responses
• Digital fingerprinting for duplicate and fraud control at entry

Flagged responses are removed prior to delivery. All rejected records are replaced at no additional charge.

Q14 How often can the same person take part in a survey? How do you manage this?

Participation frequency is managed through:

• Per-study deduplication — each study applies unique respondent tracking; recognised repeat attempts are blocked at entry
• Project-level exclusion rules — respondents who have taken a closely related study within a defined cool-down period are excluded from invitation
• Category cool-down periods — healthcare and pharmaceutical studies apply a 30-day cool-down; financial services studies apply a 14-day cool-down

These controls are applied via our tracking layer across all supply sources. Stricter frequency controls are available for tracking studies or sensitive research categories on request.

Q15 Do you maintain individual-level data such as recent participation history, date of entry, source, etc.? Are you able to supply per-respondent coding?

Yes. We retain individual-level operational metadata — source, entry date, participation history, and quality flags — consistent with our data retention and privacy policies.

Per-respondent coding of agreed variables (source, quality flag reason, completion time) can be supplied to clients on request, subject to data-protection requirements and the terms of the project agreement.

Q16 Do you have a confirmation of respondent identity procedure? Do you have procedures to detect fraudulent respondents?

Yes. Our fraud detection and identity confirmation procedures include:

• Digital fingerprinting — browser, device, and session signals cross-referenced against known fraud lists before survey entry
• IP geolocation validation — respondent IP verified against declared country/market; VPN, TOR, and datacentre IP ranges flagged or blocked
• Bot and CAPTCHA filtering — automated traffic detection at survey entry points
• Multi-field deduplication — device fingerprint, IP hash, and any available panel ID checked to block repeat entries

Suspicious participants are flagged and excluded. Persistent fraud signals from a specific supply source trigger a partner-level review.

Q17 Please describe the 'opt-in for market research' processes for all your online sample sources.

For all supply sources used by Inquister Analytics, respondents join through explicit opt-in processes managed by the originating supply partner. At the point of panel registration, respondents:

• Consent explicitly to participate in market research and to the processing of their data for that purpose
• Review and accept a privacy notice covering data collection, use, and retention
• Are informed of their right to withdraw consent at any time

This consent process is conducted by the supply partner in accordance with GDPR, CCPA, and applicable local data protection requirements. As a downstream data processor, Inquister Analytics verifies that all supply partners maintain documented, compliant opt-in processes as a condition of the partner agreement.

Q18 Please provide a description of the opt-in process.

Opt-in processes vary by supply partner but must meet Inquister Analytics' minimum standard:

• Prospective respondents register and confirm contact details — typically via verified email double opt-in
• They review and accept a privacy notice and research participation terms before their record becomes active
• Profiling data is collected to enable accurate targeting
• Participation at each survey invitation remains voluntary — respondents can decline any individual survey
• Members can update preferences, withdraw consent, or unsubscribe at any time via their panel account

Compliance with this standard is verified at partner onboarding and reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Q19 Please describe the relationship you have with your respondents. How many surveys are they sent?

For respondents sourced through our partner network, the direct relationship is between the respondent and the originating supply partner. Inquister Analytics' relationship with respondents is as a downstream research operator.

Invitation frequency is managed to protect engagement and data quality:

• Frequency caps are applied per source and topic — specific limits are governed by each partner's panel management policies, which we review at onboarding
• Inquister Analytics applies its own project-level deduplication and cool-down controls as an additional layer, independent of partner-level frequency management
• Incentives, where used, are clearly communicated by the originating partner and fulfilled on completion in accordance with the partner's panelist agreement

Q20 What is the size and throughput of your active panel/source?

Inquister Analytics does not own a proprietary panel. Our aggregated respondent reach through our partner network is estimated at 200M+ globally across consumer and B2B audiences in 50+ countries.

Project-specific feasibility — achievable sample size, estimated field timeline, and confirmed incidence rate — is assessed and confirmed per project at proposal stage based on the exact target audience and market.

Q21 Please describe your sample/panel and the recruitment method(s) used.

As a broker-model research company, Inquister Analytics does not directly recruit or manage respondents. Our respondent supply is assembled from:

• Global panel exchange platforms — programmatic access to aggregated panel supply from major exchange networks
• Specialist affiliate partners — curated vendors for executive, professional, healthcare, and niche category audiences
• River/intercept recruitment — open recruitment for specific market or demographic needs

All sources are onboarded under our partner qualification framework. Recruitment methods at the source level emphasise consented participation, broad demographic coverage, and quality vetting at entry.

Q22 Do you have a panel book/sample source description and can you share key demographic and category questions asked of your panel?

Yes. A capabilities document and sample source description covering supply architecture, QC methodology, and profiling depth is available to clients on request.

Profiling dimensions available for targeting and quota management across our partner network include:

• Demographic: age, gender, region, urbanicity, SEC/income band, education, employment status
• Household: composition, children, vehicle ownership, dwelling type
• Employment: industry, job function, seniority, company size, decision-making role
• Behavioural: category usage, media consumption, purchase behaviour, digital habits

Specific profiling availability for a given audience and market is confirmed at feasibility stage.

Q23 How often is each individual updated; and what is the size of the active membership?

Profile refresh cadence is governed by each supply partner's own panel management policies. Inquister Analytics requires, as part of our partner agreement, that partners maintain a defined profile update schedule and retire stale records in accordance with their data retention policy.

Active membership size and refresh cadence by market are reported per partner on request. For any specific project, audience availability is confirmed through a feasibility check rather than a static panel size figure.

Q24 Can you link survey responses to other data, e.g. attitudinal, behavioural or passive data?

Where a project requires data linkage — for example, linking survey responses to CRM data, behavioural data, or passive measurement — this is done only with explicit respondent consent and under appropriate data-protection safeguards.

Linkage is performed using controlled pseudonymous identifiers, with data minimisation and purpose limitation applied throughout. Any linkage project is reviewed for legal basis and consent adequacy before activation.

Section 04
Certification, Ethics & Sensitive Research

Q25 Are you certified to any specific quality system?

Inquister Analytics holds the following certification and aligns with the following standards and frameworks:

• ISO 9001:2015 — Quality Management System, independently certified by ROHS Certification Pvt. Ltd. and accredited under the Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC), an IAF MLA signatory. Certificate No. 26DQQI23, valid through 26 July 2029.
• ESOMAR 37 Questions — self-declared, published answers available on request and at inquister.com
• GDPR (EU General Data Protection Regulation)
• India Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 (DPDP)
• CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act)

Our ISO 9001:2015 certification is subject to annual surveillance audits, with the certificate available on request. We apply a documented quality framework across all projects.

Q26 Do you conduct online surveys with children and young people?

Research involving individuals under the age of 18 is conducted only where:

• Verified parental or guardian consent has been obtained
• An accredited Institutional Review Board or ethics committee approval is in place where required
• The research design complies with ESOMAR guidance on research with minors and applicable local law

Such projects are subject to additional review by Inquister Analytics before activation.

Q27 Do you supply your sample for political polling? Do you have a specific policy?

Where political or opinion research is undertaken, it is handled under appropriate methodological and ethical safeguards, with transparency about research purpose and adherence to relevant professional codes and local regulations.

Political projects are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Inquister Analytics does not participate in projects designed to identify or target individuals for political influence or voter suppression.

Section 05
Data Protection & Security

Q28 Please describe the measures you take to ensure data are secure and respondents' personal data is protected.

Inquister Analytics applies the following technical and organisational data protection measures:

• All data in transit encrypted using TLS 1.2 or higher
• Respondent PII pseudonymised before delivery to clients — clients receive response data linked to non-reversible respondent tokens, not names or contact details
• Access to personal data restricted to authorised project personnel on a need-to-know basis
• Third-party service providers bound by data processing agreements requiring equivalent security standards
• Documented data breach response procedure including 72-hour regulatory notification capability (GDPR) and compliance with DPDP Act timelines

Full data protection practices are described in our Privacy Policy at inquister.com.

Q29 What practices do you follow to decide whether online research should be used to present a particular set of findings?

Methodology fit is assessed at project design stage. We recommend online sampling only where it suits the target population, incidence, and research objective.

Where online would compromise validity — for example, in populations with low internet penetration, for highly sensitive topics requiring face-to-face rapport, or for studies requiring physical product interaction — we advise alternative or mixed methods including CATI, qualitative research, or offline-to-online hybrid approaches.

Q30 Do you use data collection techniques other than online surveys?

Yes. Alongside online and mobile surveys, Inquister Analytics offers:

• CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing) — with interviewer briefing, monitoring, and call recording for quality assurance
• In-depth interviews (IDIs) — online and telephone, with moderator guide review and recording
• Focus groups — online and in-person, with screener-verified recruitment
• Ethnographic and observation studies

Each methodology carries its own documented quality controls.

Q31 Do you offer translation services? Are you able to test surveys for translation accuracy?

For multi-country studies, we manage localisation through professional translation and in-market review. Our process includes:

• Professional translation by native-speaker translators with market research experience
• In-market linguistic review to ensure cultural and contextual accuracy
• Back-translation verification on key instruments and sensitive survey sections
• Cognitive testing in-market where the study design requires it

Translation is managed as part of the project timeline and quoted separately for multi-market studies.

Q32 What is your approach to providing data and analysis?

Inquister Analytics delivers beyond raw data. Our standard deliverables include a clean dataset with quality flag metadata, a field summary report documenting incidence, completion rate, rejection rate, and fielding anomalies.

For full-service projects, our analysts contextualise findings into strategic insights covering market dynamics, competitive positioning, and actionable recommendations for product, pricing, positioning, and go-to-market decisions.

Analysis depth is agreed at the proposal stage and reflected in the project scope.

Section 06
Data Management & Storage

Q33 How do you manage and store the data collected? What is your data retention policy?

Data is stored on secure, access-controlled, cloud-based systems with encryption at rest and in transit, and automated backup.

Retention schedules:

• Research respondent data (project records): 36 months from project close, after which records are anonymised or deleted
• Client project records: duration of business relationship plus 5 years
• Financial and contractual records: 7 years as required by Indian law

On expiry of the applicable retention period, data is securely deleted or irreversibly anonymised.

Q34 Who has access to the data collected, and under what conditions?

Access is restricted on a need-to-know basis to authorised Inquister Analytics project personnel under confidentiality obligations.

Client deliverables are shared securely with named recipients via encrypted file transfer or secure portal. Third-party access to project data is governed by contract and data-protection terms. No third party receives access to identified respondent data without explicit client instruction and appropriate legal basis.

Q35 Are you compliant with relevant data protection legislation? Please describe how.

Yes. Inquister Analytics operates in compliance with:

• GDPR: explicit opt-in consent at supply partner level, transparent privacy notices, data minimisation and purpose limitation, respondent rights handling (access, correction, deletion, withdrawal), secure processing, and documented retention
• India DPDP Act 2023: named Grievance Redressal Officer appointed, Data Principal rights honoured, consent documented and revocable
• CCPA: we do not sell personal information; a data subject request process is in place; California residents' rights are honoured within the required statutory timeline

These commitments are reflected in our published Privacy Policy and Terms of Service at inquister.com.

Q36 Do you have a privacy policy, and is it publicly available? Do you have a data breach notification process?

Yes. Our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service are publicly available at inquister.com.

We maintain a documented incident response and breach notification process:

• Detection to escalation: within 4 hours of identification
• Initial assessment: within 24 hours
• Regulatory notification (GDPR): within 72 hours of confirmed breach
• Regulatory notification (DPDP Act): per prescribed statutory timeline
• Affected individual notification: without undue delay following regulatory notification

All incidents are documented in an incident log and reviewed for root cause and corrective action.

Q37 Is there anything else you think the buyer should know?

Inquister Analytics pairs a global research partner network — 50+ countries, 100+ consumer segments, multi-method capability — with rigorous centralised quality control and senior analytical interpretation.

As a broker-model research company with no owned panel, we are fully transparent about our supply chain. Our value to clients is in supply aggregation, quality assurance, and strategic insight delivery — not in owning respondents. We believe transparency about our model, as reflected throughout this document, is the foundation of a trustworthy research partnership.

We are happy to walk any prospective client through our QC methodology, supply partner framework, or compliance posture in detail.