SPSS Inc., Chicago, has acquired Australia-based research software developer SurveyCraft Pty. Ltd. Under the terms of the agreement, SPSS purchased the assets of SurveyCraft for approximately $2 million.

Creative Research Systems, Petaluma, Calif., has expanded its Web site facilities. In addition to the on-line sample size calculator and survey design white paper, the site now includes reprints of the some of the most popular articles from the user newsletter DataFile, including articles on statistical significance and an explanation of correlation as a statistical function. Articles may be downloaded without limit provided acknowledgment of the source is made.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Cytel Software, makers of StatXact and other statistical software, has won one of the four awards from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative for "Small Business Innovation Research."

GE Capital’s Equity Capital Group has made an $8 million strategic investment in Sky Alland, a customer relationship management firm based in Columbia, Md. Through the purchase of new, preferred stock in Sky Alland, GE Capital’s Equity Capital Group joins Safeguard Scientifics, Advanta Partners, Intemet Capital Group and Sky Alland employees as key stakeholders in the company.

AB&C Marketing, a McLean, Va., marketing communications agency, has formed an alliance with AWP Research of Hemdon, Va., to provide comprehensive research services to clients.

Roper Starch Worldwide Inc. and Response Analysis Corp. have completed a previously announced deal to combine their companies. Terms were not disclosed. The new entity will be called Roper Starch Worldwide Inc., with Response Analysis operating as a division under its own name from its offices in Princeton, N.J.

In other news, Roper Starch Worldwide has opened an office in Washington, D.C. David Rockland will head the new office, serving as senior vice president and managing director.

JRA, J. Reckner Associates, Inc., Marketing Research, has been named to the 10th annual Philadelphia 100 list. The Philadelphia 100 is composed of the fastest-growing privately held compatties in the region. It is a joint project of the Wharton Small Business Development Center and the Philadelphia Business Journal. JRA has also opened its fifth Philadelphia regional office at Oaklands Corporate Center in Extort, Pa. The office includes a focus group facility and a telephone center.

Satisfaction Management Systems, Inc., Minnetonka, Minn., has opened a satellite office in Indianapolis. The new office will be headed by Barry Maners.

ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC have sponsored AdWorks 2, a comprehensive analysis of the sales responsiveness of television advertising. The announcement was made by Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), Chicago, and Media Marketing Assessment, who formed a collaboration to conduct this research initiative. Adworks 2 examines actual sales and advertising data for hundreds of brands and uses marketing mix models to Separate out the incremental sales effect of TV advertising. The study analyzes factors that impact TV ad effectiveness such as consumer demographics and brand buying behavior, elements of the media plan, competitive environment, promotion conditions and brand/category characteristics. More than 1,500 brands in 200+ categories across 50 markets will be included in the analysis. The study uses IRI’s InfoScan scanner sales, promotion and price information. Nielsen Media Research’s Monitor Plus service is the source for weekly television rating information. IRI and MMA will jointly analyze the results.

NFO Worldwide, Greenwich, Conn., has awarded the licenses for its proprietary MarketMind system to its affafiate companies, the MBL Group in the Mid and Far East and BJM Research in the U.K.

Knowledge Systems and Research, Inc., Syracuse, N.Y., has formed an alliance with. Arthur Andersen’s Communications, Media, and Entertainment Group as part of a three-way alliance initiated by Arthur Andersen. KS&R will support the alliance in the areas of primary and secondary customer research, competitive assessment, and market position analysis.

McLauchlan & Associates, Inc., a Cincinnati, Ohio, research firm, has won the 1998 Pinnacle Award for fastest growing women-owned business in Cincinnati. The Pinnacle Awards were designed and sponsored by the Cincinnati Bushzess Courier, Deloitte & Touche LLP, and Northwestern Mutual Life to recognize Cincinnati’s fastest growing businesses.

Arbitron NewMedia will work with Magnitude Network and Engage Technologies to develop its audience measurement services for broadcasters and other content providers who use the Internet for the delivery of streaming media, including live audio and video content. The serviCes will provide radio stations, other Internet broadcasters, advertisers and ad agencies with third-party measures that will facilitate the buying and selling of online and integrated Webcast-broadcast advertising packages.

By the end of October, all member states in the European Union (EU) were supposed to enact the Directive on Data Protection. Introduced to protect EU citizens from possible misuse of their personal data the Directive is based on the general principles that personal data should be used only for the stated purpose for which it is collected, that citizens have the opportunity to change or delete data which is incorrect and that they should be asked for their permission if their data is to be handed to a third party. It was expected that the Directive would not adversely affect social and marketing research. However, ESOMAR (the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research) is concerned that in the process of translating the Directive into national legislation, the authorities might inadvertently introduce restrictions that could either make research impossible to carry out, or compromise the scientific nature of the sampling techniques used in social, opinion and marketing research. The voluntary cooperation of respondents and the guarantee that their personal data won’t be passed on in a form which allows them to be identified without their informed consent are basic principles on Which survey research itself depends and are central to the ICC/ESOMAR International Code to which all members of ESOMAR and of national associations in more than 50 countries abide. A 1996 Eurobarometer survey conducted in each of the 15 EU member states showed that the public view of research is positive.

  • 85 percent of the public surveyed felt that interviewing allows decisionmakers to take people’s views into account, that it is the proper scientific way of getting opinions and that surveys help to develop better products and services.
  • 90 percent felt that individuals should be able to i decide for themselves whether or not they are willing to allow personal information to be passed onto someone else.
  • 47 percent of respondents said they trust market and opinion research companies regarding the proper use of information (compared to 48 percent for national authorities and 17 percent for mall-order companies).
  • Almost 60 percent had no reservations about being interviewed and 30 percent said it would depend on the specific circumstances. Only a very small minority is consistently unwilling to be interviewed under any circumstances.