Survey Sampling Leads Effort to Make Online Surveys Safe for Children

FAIRFIELD, Conn., BUSINESS WIRE -- It is widely known that adults serve as an important source of information to marketing research companies seeking data to help companies formulate promotional strategies for their products or services. What many people don't realize, however, is that children, age 12 and younger, offer marketers an abundance of useful information. Consequently, sampling suppliers tend to pursue today's computer-savvy youngsters via the Internet to obtain the survey data they need.

"This is legitimate and completely legal," says Peter Milla, chief information officer at Survey Sampling International (SSI). "But at SSI, we work to ensure that it's completely safe, since all such surveys must follow strict protocols established by the Federal Trade Commission under its Children's Online Privacy Protection Act or COPPA." Milla further advises that parents should be aware of potential emotional pitfalls associated with online sampling and the interventional role they can play to ensure their child's survey experience is a positive one.

Milla offers several examples of best practices parents should expect to encounter in a bona fide professional online survey, as well as suggestions for ways they can enrich their child's survey participation and make his or her experience fun and successful. He notes the process begins with an email arriving in the parent's inbox inviting the child to participate in the survey.

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Source: http://aecnewsroom.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=349497