Representation in research

Redefining research, enhancing insight

The MRS Representation in Research Steering Group is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the research process. Our belief is that everyone should have the opportunity to participate in research, and every voice should not only be heard but authentically represented. 

Today, up to 30% of insight is lost through non-inclusive research, making our sector less impactful. The Group aims to make UK research more robust and insightful by providing relevant and up-to-date resources and guidelines and working to support practitioners in building capability and confidence in designing inclusive research.

Get in touch

If this topic is something that you are interested in, and would like to discuss it further, please contact rebecca@cobalt-sky.com

Representation in Research steering group:

 

Rebecca Cole is Managing Director of Cobalt Sky, an award-winning market research operations company specialising in online data collection and data processing. She joined Cobalt Sky as a graduate in 2006 and is a highly experienced web scripter and quantum programmer. As well as being on the main board of the MRS, Rebecca chairs the MRS Representation in Research steering group and has spent over 10 years on the board of the Association for Survey Computing (ASC) which she now co-chairs.

Trixie is the global lead for Diversity and Inclusion at Ipsos. In her current role she is focusing on how research can be more inclusive through the questions asked and the samples provided, she’s also working across countries to understand the cultural nuances, language and legal implications in each market. She is involved in discussions with many of Ipsos’s key global clients consulting with them on the representation they achieve in their research and how they can best address the needs of underserved communities. She has over 20 years of experience in market research having worked in regional and global roles, including spending several years working in Latin America driving the adoption of online research in the region.
Trixie graduated from the London School of Economics with a Masters degree in Operational Research, and is a regular speaker at global conferences, having presented at Market Research Society, CASRO and ESOMAR events and written for the International Journal of Market Research, most recently having published “A Question of Gender: Gender Classification in International Research”.

Jane is responsible for the leadership of MRS. Jane was previously at HM Revenue & Customs where she developed and led the individual customer function and the behavioural evidence and insight unit.

Before moving to HMRC in 2006, she held senior roles in both public and private sector organisations including Shell, Unilever, the Department of Constitutional Affairs and the BBC, where she was responsible for the iconic 'Perfect Day' campaign which, as well as winning advertisement of the year, raised £2.5m for Children in Need.

With a rich background in terms of research methodologies and sectors, Sania believes strongly that well designed research can help clients meet even the most challenging strategic objectives.

As well as delivering research to major corporate clients, for more than a decade, Sania has specialist expertise in running projects for government and intergovernmental bodies. She is passionate about using research for the enhancement of public good. One of her main areas of specialism relates to minority, and lesser heard groups, and optimising methodologies to ensure that research more accurately represents their experiences/views.

Sania has lived and studied in both the UK and the US, obtaining her policy and research methods-focused Masters Degree from University College London. She is a regular guest radio broadcaster for the BBC, sharing evidence-based knowledge on a range of topics.

Debrah is responsible for all MRS operations and leads the Society’s standards, policy and public affairs activities. Debrah graduated from Southampton University in the early 90’s with an honours degree in Geography.
She first worked in accountancy and then moved to the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) in 1994. After working in auditing and compliance for ABC, she joined the management of MRS in 1999 to establish a new Standards and Policy department.
Debrah is the co-author (with Peter Jackson) of the book, Quality in Market Research: from Theory to Practice and is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Ben Hogg is Managing Director, International for dscout. Ben’s career has spanned more than 20 years working across the online market research and passive measurement industries as a leader and entrepreneur. Prior to Lucid, Ben was the MD of International Markets for Lucid, and before that, MD, EMEA, for Research Now's Portfolio Companies, following its acquisition by e-Rewards, where he was responsible for launching its European business in 2006. Ben is a Fellow of the Market Research Society (MRS).

Bex is an MRS accredited researcher experienced in the design and use of qualitative and quantitative methods. She has a proven track record of delivering research projects of all sizes, and played a key role in the team that developed the crucial “commercial benefits” research for the RinR group.

Ruth is Founder and CEO of award-winning insight localisation agency, EMPOWER Translate. Currently leading on a national vision as Chair of the UK’s Association of Translation Companies, and with 25 years’ experience optimising global research localisation operations for the world’s biggest insight agencies, Ruth has proven experience in developing and implementing roadmaps to tangible, industry-wide change.

Ruth also serves as a Member on the MRS’ Accredited Company Partners Council, where she advises on the creation and implementation of standards, accreditations and best practice for insight operational partners. Ruth’s well-known drive for inclusion, diversity and equality has led to a role in the MRS’ Inclusivity in Sampling Working, and she is currently an active member of the Cardiff University Mentor Programme.


Jo Price is the Research Methods Consultant at Kantar Insights UK. Jo has 25+ years’ experience as a Research Operations expert and has a specialist focus on understanding how best practice sample & survey design influences high quality data.

Cathia Randrianarivo is an Inclusive Research Consultant at The Unmistakables, an award-winning strategic ED&I consultancy, delivering Inside Out Inclusion® that builds cultural confidence and inclusion capability for client partners' leaders and teams.

Cathia oversees in-depth, mixed-method research projects for clients who want to understand and engage underrepresented and underserved communities within their organisation and/or service user base, including BBH, AMV BBDO, Cannes Lions, Macmillan and Mind. As the lead quantitative insights specialist, she thrives on innovating and ensuring inclusion-first thinking is embedded in existing approaches. Prior to The Unmistakables, Cathia spent 10 years as a senior client consultant at global customer-first data science company dunnhumby.

Proud to be a Malagasy-British Third Culture Kid, bridging her expertise and lived experience from Madagascar and the UK, Cathia champions platforming marginalised voices and accelerating inclusion at an individual, organisational and structural level.

Matt Reynolds, the creator of Vitreous World, the Voices4all Initiative is also the Chairman of the PRCA Research Best Practice Committee. A change marker and champion client service excellence, his background spans 15+ years working in Public Relations, Marketing and Market Research.

Zeeshan Siddique is UK Panels Director at GfK, managing one of the largest Media Measurement Panels in the UK. The TV & Radio Panel delivers over 10,000 surveys every single day of the year. Zeeshan has over 20 years of experience in Operational Management across all methodologies including CATI, CAPI, CAWI and Panels and he has extensive experience in Project Management and Pricing. Zeeshan is a big champion of equality and diversity within the MR Industry and is currently part of GfK’s ‘Fast Forward’ network for diversity and inclusion and is also part of the Mentoring programme run by Colour of Research (CORe).

Graham Idehen is Senior Director, International for dscout. He has over 20 years of operational experience within the industry across CAPI, CATI and Online methodologies and is also a co-founder of Colour of Research (CORe), which aims to increase diversity & representation in the Market Research space. Graham was one of the first in the industry to be recognised as one of the MRS' "Research Heroes".

 


National Representation in Research – a commercial study

MRS is committed to providing practitioners with the necessary tools to ensure inclusive research, insight and data collection. In line with this, MRS has issued an update about its current best practice guidance and plans to expand and update its guidance.

More information, including links to current guidance, is available here.

In the UK the industry standard for a Nationally Representative UK adult sample has historically been based on age, gender, location, and sometimes socioeconomic status – however this overlooks a host of minority groups, from ethnic minorities to the LGBTQIA+ community and those with disability, whom in total represent about 30% of the population. Ultimately, this approach risks driving headlines, marketing campaigns and product development that doesn’t reflect the full variety of human experience in our country.

Whilst acknowledging it is morally right to be more inclusive the Commercial Benefits Study 2022 explored and defined what potential commercial benefits are being missed within the traditional approach.  

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Researching the impact of inclusive sampling characteristics on research outputs.

As part of the MRS Representation in Research project, Matt Reynolds and Bex Grove from Vitreous World present the results of their research which explores the differences in research insights when undertaking Nat Rep research with inclusive characteristics.

The session includes a comparison of the results when undertaking a research project using only the ‘traditional’ Nat Rep sampling parameters of age, sex, geography and social grade and the difference in results and insights gathered when additional inclusive parameters of ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation and physical disabilities and/or mental health conditions are included.

The second half of the webinar is a panel discussion reflecting on the results and addressing the perceived difficulties of conducting research using inclusive Nat Rep samples and how these can be overcome. 

WEBINAR: The Future of Nat Rep
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Watch the discussion

In February 2022, the Representation in Research surveyed MRS Company Partners to understand the practice of ‘Nationally Representative’ research in the UK. Hear about  the results of the survey and further debate on the topic.

Further resources produced by the committee

As part of this work, the committee has produced the following resources that research practitioners looking to make improvements in this area may find useful:

Additionally, the MRS Senior Client Council have produced guidelines on sampling, methods and language, that can be downloaded here:

Reports on the following are also available:

Watch an interview video with Rebecca Cole and Matt Reynolds discussing the commercial benefits of representation.

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Interview with Rebecca Cole and Matt Reynolds

Purpose of the steering committee
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Interview with Rebecca Cole and Sania Haq

MRS is committed to ensuring that minority groups are appropriately represented in research samples for both quantitative and qualitative research in line with the national landscape in the UK. To this end, as part of the MRS Diversity and Inclusion strategy, a steering committee has been set up with the following aims:

  • Understand and measure current sampling practice
  • Devise and communicate clear benchmarks and targets for progress for the sector
  • Provide support and resources to the sector to enable progression in this area and overcome potential barriers
Reports on the following are also available:

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