ORS is a social research agency based in the UK. We give local residents the opportunity to take part in research for local councils, police forces, housing associations and other public sector organisations.
If we have called, it will normally be for you to…
We are Opinion Research Services Ltd, a limited company registered in England and Wales to undertake Market Research and Public Opinion Polling and our registered company number is 02904006.
Many of the numbers we call are provided by our clients. They will usually have told you that your contact details might be used to ask for feedback about their services, which is why we are calling.
When clients want to hear from all local residents (and not only those that have recently used their services) we will sometimes call numbers that are randomly generated based on the telephone exchange for your area. We also call mobile numbers bought from commercial suppliers based on where you live.
Giving everyone a chance to take part is important to us, but we understand that sometimes the time might be inconvenient so we will call again later.
We call every number at different times of the day and on different days of the week so that our clients get to hear views from as many different people as possible.
We find that the evening is often the most convenient time for many people to take part. We always follow the Market Research Society guidelines and never call people after 9:00pm.
If you would like take part but would rather not do so in the evening, the interviewer will be pleased to book an appointment and call you back at a more convenient time.
We hope that you find taking part in our research a rewarding process and most people are happy to be given the chance to share their views, but nobody has to take part.
The interviewer will tell you who we are working for and why we are calling when you answer the call, and if you don’t want to take part simply let them know. They won’t pressurise you and you will not receive any more calls for the project.
We are legally bound by the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act which means we can only discuss the purpose of some of the calls that we make with the particular individual we are trying to contact.
If we left a message on your answerphone and somebody else then listened to the recording, that would be a breach of your privacy. To avoid this happening, normally we don’t leave a message.
The numbers we call are provided by clients, randomly generated or from commercial suppliers who have been given consent to provide the number for this type of call. Some numbers may be ex-directory, but these are not excluded and there are no regulations that prohibit us calling for market and social research.
The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) covers sales and marketing calls. It does not apply to calls made for market and social research. Many people who do not want sales or marketing calls still want to give their views about local services.
If you don’t want to take part, simply wait until we call you again. You can let the interviewer know after they have told you who we are working for and why we are calling.
If you never want us to call you, please email surveys@ors.org.uk to confirm this. Please make sure that you provide your contact details, including any telephone numbers that you do not want us to call. It may take up to a week for these numbers to be removed from any current projects. If an interviewer calls during that time, let them know that you have asked for your number to be removed.
ORS is accredited as a Market Research Society Company Partner and we fully comply with the MRS Code of Conduct. This validates that we operate to the highest professional standards.
ORS is also a member of the Interviewer Quality Control Scheme and we always meet and will often exceed the IQCS requirements. These provide the industry benchmark quality standard for data collection.
ORS also complies with regulations and guidelines from all other relevant regulatory bodies including the Information Commissioner’s Office and Ofcom.
All of the data that we process is always safe and secure. You can read our Privacy Notice for further information about how we manage data.
We have an Information Security Management System which is accredited to ISO 27001. This covers the security of our IT systems, the physical security of our premises and the operational measures that are in place through policies, procedures and working practices. Any new systems or software that we develop are designed with privacy in mind.
Our IT systems are also accredited under the scheme Cyber Essentials that is overseen by the National Cyber Security Centre.
If you have any further questions that haven’t been answered above, then please get in touch with us.
ORS provides clients with robust evidence and practical insights based on high quality, thoughtful and impartial social research
