Ensuring inclusivity & accessibility market research

Delivering accessible and inclusive research is a way of thinking and working; it’s not just what we do, but how we do it. Our work is guided by an overarching set of participant-focused principles to ensure equitable practices and representational outputs – and we’re always learning.

What do we mean by inclusive market research?

By inclusive research we mean projects where the voices of all potential audiences are sought, heard and valued equally; where individuals feel safe to express themselves fully, and where we as researchers actively challenge established bias, hierarchy and marginalisation to promote a fairer and more equitable future.

What do we mean by accessible market research?

By accessible research we mean projects where all potential audiences can take part on an equal basis regardless of their disability or personal circumstances. Accessibility is just one aspect of inclusive research.

How do we ensure our approaches are accessible and inclusive?

Ensuring market research projects are both accessible and inclusive goes far beyond best practice guidelines. It requires a thoughtful and carefully considered approach and a commitment to understanding the holistic needs of your audience.

The core principles that underpin our approach include:

• Access and inclusion start before day one: These fundamentals must be part of the conversation right from the scoping stage. This mindful consideration ensures audience needs remain central to our research process, end-to-end.
• Tailoring to audience needs: What may be best practice for one community or context could be wholly inappropriate for another. The cardinal rule of inclusive practice is to tailor your approach to the specific circumstances – everything we do is bespoke.
• Building in diversity: Gathering a diverse range of perspectives is essential to achieving meaningful representativeness or inclusion. Our in-house online panel, Opinion Exchange, provides direct access to over 25,000 individuals across the UK from all demographic groups. The volume and granularity of our panellist data enables us to build bespoke audience profiles and, where required, we work with trusted recruiters to enhance our access to diverse groups. 
• Accessibility by default: Screens are ubiquitous in market research as in life, but the ‘standard’ settings – from font colour and size to alt-text composition – are far from accessible for all. In contrast, wherever possible in our online surveys and across our company website, we make accessibility our default option. We adopt a range of measures to ensure our questionnaires meet audience requirements.
• Aim to offer alternatives: It’s unlikely that a single modality will work for everyone, so wherever possible we try to build in flexibility. We create tailored, effective mixed-mode solutions, selecting the right blend of channels to maximise participation.
• Ask participants what they need: Waiting for a participant to voice their needs assumes they feel comfortable doing so and puts the onus, unfairly, onto them. To ensure avoidable barriers do not prevent people from taking part in research studies, we’ll always take the lead. Our proactive approach makes it easier for individuals to express their needs and sets the standard that accessibility is the rule, not the exception.
• Think about the hidden costs of disability: Being disabled costs more. A lot more. If your brief includes research with disabled people, we’ll help you identify additional costs they might incur whilst participating in your research. We carefully consider all impacts from the outset to ensure marginalised respondents aren’t disadvantaged or excluded due to cost.

As a proud signatory of the Market Research Society (MRS) Inclusion Pledge we have pledged our commitment to ensuring our research practices, and our outputs, are continually evolving to ensure fair representation of the changing world around us.

The need to prioritise respondent experience in market research

At DJS Research, we place great emphasis on creating safe environments for our respondents where they feel at ease, both to protect their welfare and to ensure they feel confident to share their genuine views and insights.

This goes far beyond where and when research takes place and can include:

• Giving respondents a choice of venue for in-person encounters.
• Providing information prior to an event to set expectations or allay concerns.
• Matching moderator to participant based on relevant characteristics (where requested or deemed appropriate to do so).
• Using specialist methodologies like trauma-informed approaches as required.

These are just a few examples of the measures we put in place in addition to standard best practice in terms of informed consent, privacy, anonymity and the right to withdraw.

We challenge our own assumptions and embrace change

Striving for inclusion means actively challenging our own (often subconscious) assumptions and ‘norms’ and looking for ways to improve. We don’t just stick with 'tried and tested' we examine and critique existing questions and frameworks and work towards inclusive language and unbiased interpretations.

Making progress in any area, but particularly when it comes to inclusivity and accessibility, means being open to change. Even with best efforts to accommodate a particular group or need, your first attempt might miss the mark. Being inclusive means thinking creatively, listening to feedback and being prepared to adjust and adapt as you go.

We listen and collaborate to drive positive action

We’re experienced researchers, and we’re often called on to connect with under-served and under-researched groups, but we don’t know everything. Moreover, our experience doesn’t substitute for specific professional expertise or lived experience working with specific communities. That’s why we’re not afraid to bring in outside advisors.

We have developed relationships with several specialist practitioners who bring fresh perspectives, robust challenges, and diverse voices to our research design, delivery and analysis. And we’re always open to developing new relationships dependent on project needs; we’ll continue to deepen our knowledge and build partnerships to enhance our application of accessible and inclusive practices to ensure all voices can be heard through our research.

To find out more about our commitment to ensuring inclusivity and accessibility in market research, contact our team today.