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Biggest ever IQCA audit commences

July 2002

Interviewer Quality Control Australia (IQCA) achieved its highest ever membership last year with 101 companies in 122 locations around Australia seeking accreditation. The annual audit of these companies, which commences this month and runs until May, therefore will be the biggest in the schemeÕs history. Market Research Quality Assurance (MRQA), which administers both the scheme and the audit process, has recently trained a team of six to conduct the audits this year. These auditors have both market research knowledge and experience within the wider quality assurance industry. IQCA offers accreditation to companies with a fieldforce in any of the six categories of interviewing practice:

¥ door-to-door interviewing ¥ central location interviewing ¥ business interviewing Ð face-to-face (by fieldforce only) ¥ telephone interviewing ¥ audits and observational studies ¥ recruitment for qualitative research.

The accreditation is conferred on a particular location where the company operates and refers to a particular category of interviewing practice. IQCA also offers accreditation to companies without a fieldforce who undertake to purchase fieldwork from IQCA accredited companies and satisfy the requirements of a non-field company audit.

Meanwhile, MRQA Executive Director Elissa Molloy has been appointed chairperson of the Standards Australia technical committee, which will extend the quality accreditation to cover all aspects of the market research industry.

At its last meeting, the technical committee agreed on the scope of the four modules. Both buyers and suppliers on the committee agreed that they should contain not only a compliance component for audit, but should also include an ÔaspirationalÕ component that reflects best practice.

However, it is not envisaged that the aspirational component will be audited in the first instance.

The next meeting of the technical committee takes place this month.

For a complete list of IQCA accredited suppliers, contact MRQA or visit www.mrqa.com.au. A new list will be published in July this year after the 2002 audit period.