CASRO is dedicated to helping the survey research industry (both member and non-member companies) grow and improve their businesses. With over 300 member companies in the U.S. and abroad, CASRO has represented the "voice and values" of survey research and survey research businesses in the U.S. since 1975. Members are required to adhere to the CASRO Code of Standards and Ethics for Survey Research, an internationally-cited set of standards. Adherence to these standards:
• Enhances the image of survey research
• Protects the rights and privacy of the public
• Protects the confidentiality of clients and the work done on their behalf
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The importance of the CASRO Code extends beyond CASRO members. It is a major reference document for international research businesses and for the global research community. Furthermore, CASRO advocates our industry's self-regulation, champions legitimate research companies, and marginalizes disreputable research operations that threaten to tarnish the industry's reputation and alienate respondents.
CASRO's extensive services to members (and non-members) provide information and guidance on research and research business issues and trends. It has also achieved unique status among all North American research associations as an active representative on numerous global initiatives and as the U.S. liaison with several leading international associations. In this latter role, CASRO provided singular leadership as the official U.S. delegate to the Technical Committee (TC) of the International Standards Organization (ISO) in the development of two ISO quality standards for the global research industry. These standards are:
• ISO 20252 for conducting market, opinion and social research, released in 2006
• ISO 26362 for Access Panels, released in early 2009
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CASRO's involvement in the development of these global standards has helped ensure that its members' and the U.S. research industry's research and business processes are recognized and supported internationally. CASRO endorses these new standards as a means to provide a firm foundation of quality for managing any research project and recommends them as a key component of a three-part quality program:
• Pillar 1: The CASRO Code of Standards and Ethics for Survey Research
• Pillar 2: The on-going development and enhancement of best practices guidelines in the sciences and methodologies of market and opinion research
• Pillar 3: ISO research standards that provide the infrastructure needed for quality processes related to research project management
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CASRO believes that certification to the above mentioned ISO standards will provide tangible benefits to research companies, to the clients of research companies, and to the general public.
