Happy February from all of us at Saros!  Please relax with a hot cuppa whilst you peruse the latest Saros news...

Partying into the Noughties!

We celebrated the close of 2009 with our first web conference *virtual* Christmas party. We were able to bridge the snowbound distances and party together without leaving our desks!  Being totally aligned with our environmental homeworking philosophies, we all enjoyed luxurious hampers and champagne but still made a big saving on travel costs - not to mention time, at a hugely busy time of year. 

We are now trialling our new web conferencing software for other exciting applications - of which more news in our next edition.

New MRS Code

2010 has brought us a revised MRS Code of Conduct, following a consultation during 2009.  We welcome the clearer language about straightforwardness and honesty with respondents, and the need to balance the needs of individuals, clients, and their professional activities.  There are a few key changes that have implications for qualitative recruitment we must all be aware of in our work particularly from when the code takes effect in April 2010:

Recontacting - it is necessary to include and advise respondents of any planned follow-up that may involve recontacting/recalling following a specific research activity.  When your respondents are recruited through Saros we have ongoing permission to recontact prior respondents at any time due to our membership structure, however this would be regarded as a wholly new project if not advised to the respondents at the outset.

Recording - Respondents must be advised of any intention to record, monitor or observe their research activity at the point of recruitment, as well as at the start of the session.  Saros respondents have to agree to this as part of their application to participate, and we also confirm recording arrangements at the point of sending joining details - to ensure your fieldwork activity all takes place within the framework of the code it is essential to check that all your recruitment suppliers comply with this.

Incentives - Client goods or services, or vouchers to purchase client goods or services, must not be used as incentives in a research project.  This is to protect the integrity of our industry and our outputs, as it cannot be ensure that offering a company’s own goods or services as an incentive to encourage participation in research does not involve promotion of that organisation in some way.  Saros Research is always happy to advise upon appropriate levels and means of incentive payment, at any stage in your fieldwork planning process.  We can also handle the payment of your cash or electronic incentives for any projects we recruit for you.

Live Streaming at The Meadow

Did you know our sister company The Meadow now offers live video streaming?  So your clients don't even have to come along in  person - although they'd miss out on the fantastic Carnaby Street location and attentive and professional service of their first-rate team, as well as the delicious hospitality that wins praise from researchers and respondents alike.  During the recent challenging weather, the live web-streaming service  - which can be set up at very short notice - saved several clients from impossible journeys from the frozen north to the equally frozen south!

Don't forget that in addition to viewing, The Meadow is also a fantastic hosted venue for client meetings, training sessions, and debriefings in central London - call 020 7851 4360 to enquire, and remember Saros clients get priority bookings!

And finally, we had a record-beating January gaining over 4500 new members registering with us... thats another 4500 fresh, real, enthusiastic people, waiting to take part in YOUR next project... so we hope to hear from you very soon!We hope 2010 is treating you well so far, and look forward to hearing from you soon.

The Saros Team

http://www.saros-research-recruitment.com