Quality Matters

The driving force for establishing this company is the shared belief that quality matters.  Quality in survey design, project management, data collection and in feedback and reporting. We have an ethic of proactive customer service of the highest standard.

Quality Processes

The Lighthouse Data Collection focus is ‘quality matters’ and we place a high degree of emphasis on procedures to achieve the right data quality standards. 

We apply quality processes to the following areas:

• project documentation including supervisor and interviewer briefing instructions and specific call back procedure requirements
• full program checking and testing by two senior managers, other than the analyst, prior to fieldwork commencement
• all interviewers on each project fully conduct all reiterations of the questionnaire in a specific test program. The interviewers then carry out mock interviews in the test program where they take turns as the interviewer and respondent
• daily checking of verbatim 'other specify' responses and open-ended responses to ensure quality probing and comprehension
• sample control including appointment follow up, refusal rate and response rate management
• audit and verification of interviewing standards beyond minimum standards utilizing our monitoring facility. ISO standards are 10% validation of each interviewers work on every project and a full observational report on commencement and then at least once a year
• output checking against specifications at final reporting stage

AMSRS Membership & Code of Professional Behavior

All Lighthouse Data Collection directors and full time employees are members of the Australian Market and Social Research Society, and as such are bound by the AMSRS ESOMAR / ICC Code of Professional Behaviour.

Client Viewing of Live Interviewing

We adopt an open and collaborative approach with our clients, and welcome client participation and involvement in the data collection process.  Any stakeholders are most welcome to listen into interviewing at our telephone centre in Blackburn.  The telephone centre has a separate monitoring and viewing area, enabling observation of the interviewers.

Australian Privacy Principles

Each director and full time employee in Lighthouse Data Collection fully understands the high degree of confidentiality required when dealing with respondent records.  To this end, details of respondents will only be passed to our clients when express permission is given by the respondent.

Each director has attended detailed seminars on the Australian Privacy Principles that are contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) ("Privacy Act").

Lighthouse Data Collection will fully comply with the Australian Privacy Principles that are contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) ("Privacy Act") for handling personal information provided to or collected by us.

Lighthouse_Australian_Privacy_Principles_Privacy_Policy.pdf (81KB)

Data Security and Confidentiality

Lighthouse Data Collection can ensure total confidentiality of information and security of data.  All network computer systems are protected by use of passwords and strict access right limitations. Premises are protected by monitored office alarms, building alarms and security patrols. A contractor is used for secure storing and destruction of survey documentation.