• Clients that need short, quick turnaround representative poll data.
• Cost-efficient population incidence estimate studies.
• Methodological studies.
• Public affairs studies on policy issues, current events, and trends.
• Measurement of brand awareness, messaging, product concepts, advertising campaigns, and consumer sentiment.

SSRS is a full-service non-partisan public opinion firm. Our highly experienced SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus service team stands ready to support optional additional client needs including questionnaire design support, custom banners, custom weighting, coding open-ended responses, targeting low incidence sub-populations, and data analysis.

The SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus uses the probability-based SSRS Opinion Panel. SSRS Opinion Panel members are recruited randomly based on nationally representative Address Based Sample (ABS) design (including Hawaii and Alaska). ABS sample is drawn from the Delivery Sequence File (DSF) maintained by the U.S. Postal Service. Population coverage of the DSF is in the 98%-99% range.

The SSRS Opinion Panel is a multi-mode panel. All internet respondents participate via web and all non-internet/web reluctant respondents participate via phone. SSRS’s own research on non-internet respondents suggests that more than 8 in 10 non-internet respondents are unwilling to take surveys via web. SSRS has therefore made the decision not to provide internet access to non-internet respondents as providing internet access does not effectively address the coverage bias of non-internet respondents. By definition, non-internet cases need to be contacted via a non-internet mode.

SSRS web surveys comply with industry best practices. They are optimized for smartphone/mobile device administration and are adapted to all operating systems and browsers.

The SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus is weighted to be representative of the entire residential adult population in the United States. The first step in the weighting process is the application of a base weight that accounts for the ABS sample design and the within-household sampling of one adult.

Following the base weight, the panel is calibrated to correct for differential participation along demographics such as age, race, sex, region, and education. Benchmark distributions are obtained from the most recently available data from sources such as the Current Population Survey (CPS), the American Community Survey (ACS), the Pew Research Center’s National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS), and the Aristotle Registered Voter Database. Additionally, online panelists are known to be more civically engaged than the general population. To correct for this potential bias, we include volunteerism and interaction with neighbors in panel calibration. These benchmark distributions are derived from the Civic Engagement and Volunteer Supplement to the Current Population Survey.

Final weights for SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus survey data reflect individual respondents’ probability of selection into the Omnibus sample and are again calibrated to the national benchmarks to ensure that Omnibus survey data accurately represent the opinions of the U.S. adult population.

Most recent research suggests that full probability samples provide the most accurate data. Surveys that utilize a probability sample combined with an opt-in sample are less accurate than surveys of full probability samples. Least accurate are surveys comprised entirely of opt-in panel sample*. The SSRS Opinion Panel is a fully probability-based panel because it recruits randomly selected panelists from a probability based sample source that reflects the full U.S. adult population (ABS). Results obtained from this panel can statistically represent the target population with a known margin of error. Unlike typical opt-in panels, no one can “volunteer” to be part of the SSRS Opinion Panel. They must be selected randomly and invited to participate.

*The Accuracy of Measurement with probability and non-probability survey samples by Bo MacInnis, Jon A. Krosnick, Annabell S. Ho, Mu-Jung Cho, POQ, Vol 82, No. 4, Winter 2018, pp. 707-744

Standard Deliverables Include:

• Weighted crosstabs with standard banner (Specs Below)
• Weighted SPSS data file with standard demographic variables from the survey or panelist profile data (also available in Excel, CSV, or SAS)
• Methods report

Pricing

*A “question” is defined as a simple, straightforward, closed-ended question, such as yes/no question, a checklist of up to 10 response categories, or a ratings scale that’s administered to up to 4 items. Pricing assumes we receive questions ready for survey administration from the client and does not include questionnaire consultation.

A battery of demographic and other questions is asked during the recruitment of panelists. These questions are stored securely and kept for identifying target respondents, used for weighting, and can be appended to study data to expand what is known about respondents. Demographics are typically not re-asked for every survey unless there is reason to believe that the data could have changed in a meaningful way. Available demographics are provided in the table below, including standard profile variables which are provided in every dataset free of charge.  Unless otherwise noted, data comes from panelist profile data. All standard datasets also include administrative variables for language, mode (web/CATI), start date and end date.