The Harris Poll: Strengthening quantitative governance with Data Quality Co-op

"DQC has helped us move data quality from something we evaluate after the fact to something we can actively manage. Having consistent, objective quality signals across suppliers gives us a much stronger basis for making sample allocation and procurement decisions - and for having more meaningful conversations with our partners about performance." - Monica Feldt,
Director, Sample Acquisition, The Harris Poll

Background

The Harris Poll is a global consulting and market research firm that helps organizations build corporate reputation, develop brand strategy and measure performance. One of the longest-running surveys in the United States, The Harris Poll has tracked public opinion, motivations and social sentiment since 1963.

To support that work, The Harris Poll has made data quality a strategic priority through annual Research-on-Research benchmarking and structured reviews of supplier performance. As online survey fraud became more sophisticated and clients demanded greater transparency around sample quality, the company expanded those efforts by implementing continuous quality monitoring to strengthen quantitative governance and support procurement decisions throughout the year.

Challenge

Traditional benchmarking studies provide valuable insight into supplier performance, but they represent a snapshot in time. Between studies, quality issues can emerge during live projects, while procurement teams often have limited objective information available when evaluating suppliers.

The Harris Poll wanted a more systematic approach to monitoring supplier quality, identifying potential issues earlier and making procurement decisions based on measurable quality signals rather than cost or familiarity alone. The company also wanted greater visibility into the operational costs associated with poor-quality sample, including additional data cleaning, weighting and re-fielding.

Solution

The Harris Poll expanded its existing quality governance program by incorporating Data Quality Co-op's Quality Intelligence Infrastructure alongside its annual Research on Research benchmarking and Quality Study.

Through DQC, The Harris Poll added:

• Quality Quadrant visualizations to monitor supplier performance.
• Vendor Scorecard Rankings that standardize quality measurement across suppliers.
• Failure Ratio Scores to quantify respondent and supplier quality.
• Vendor Performance Score (VPS) reporting within the DQC dashboard, combining project feedback on communication, performance reliability, data quality, solution orientation and sampling execution.
• Automated post-fielding satisfaction surveys that capture consistent feedback after every project.

Together, these capabilities gave The Harris Poll continuous visibility into supplier performance between annual benchmarking studies, allowing research teams to identify issues earlier and support procurement decisions with objective quality data. 

Results

DQC became the backbone of The Harris Poll's quantitative governance process, providing continuous quality measurement alongside its annual Research-on-Research benchmarking.

• Rebalanced 70% of tracker sample within three months after identifying a supplier quality issue during a syndicated tracking study.
• Reduced time spent reweighting data by approximately 80% after rebalancing supplier mix.
• Monitored supplier quality in real time, giving research teams visibility between annual benchmarking studies.
• Supported supplier decisions with measurable quality data, including maintaining a supplier relationship after DQC Vendor Scorecard data showed performance remained stable despite industry concerns. The decision was later confirmed through the annual Research-on-Research study.