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Top Polling Company MORI Looks
to Motion Tablet PCs as a “Future-Proof” Alternative
for Door-to-Door Surveys
The Background: Tracking the
Opinions of the People
Founded in 1969, MORI (Market and Opinion Research
International) is the largest independently owned market research
company in the UK. MORI helps hundreds of public and private
organisations keep their finger on the pulse of the nation.
The company’s clients include most departments of the
British government and half of the companies in the FTSE Top100.
MORI’s social research helps to shape public policy
in vital areas including housing, education, health and regeneration.
Also, its work with private-sector clients involves corporate
reputation, brand awareness, customer satisfaction, new product
development and employee opinion.
MORI offers a broad range
of research conducted via telephone, online or door-to-door.
A large portion of their surveys are done face-to-face at
people’s homes by about 800 field researchers. After
capturing responses on paper for more than two decades, the
researchers began using portable computing devices in 1996.
More than half now use Tablet PCs equipped with Microsoft
Windows-based CAPI (computer assisted personal interviewing)
software, which allows the researcher to automatically control
the flow of complex interviews.
The Challenge:
Other Tablet PCs Too Expensive, Easily Broken
The biggest challenge to market research agencies is to keep
finding respondents who are willing to be interviewed.
Respondents are also increasingly reluctant to let strangers
into their homes, requiring researchers to conduct the surveys
while standing on the doorstep. Traditional keyboard operated
laptops are impractical for this task, while handheld computers
lack the screen size to easily input answers.
The Solution: The Motion Tablet
PC
The Motion Tablet PC, which can be held like a clipboard, is
ideal for collecting information when the crook of their arm
is the closest thing the researchers have to desk. Researchers
capture responses by tapping or writing on the screen with a
pen-like stylus, and can electronically transmit survey results
directly to MORI via a telephone modem.
In May 2004, MORI adopted the Motion Computing Tablet PC supplied
by Box Technologies as its model of choice. “A company
with our reputation needed a reputable, reliable source for
our hardware,” Johnson said.
The devices feature a bright, 12.1-inch screen, integrated wireless
capabilities and pen-based input, made possible by Microsoft’s
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition operating system. The 1.1 gigahertz
Intel Celeron processor can handle tasks similar to a desktop
PC, while also offering ultra-low power consumption.
“We wanted to go with a hardware manufacturer that specialises
in Tablet PCs - a manufacturer that doesn’t view the Tablet
as a sideline technology,” Johnson said. “Our Motion
Computing Tablet PCs not only offer us greater stability today;
they are also future proof. We know that Motion will be around
to support our hardware and is spending the time and resources
to continue developing its products.”
The Results: More Reliable, More
Professional Technology
Robustness is an all important
feature of the Motion Tablet PCs when MORI’s researchers
are using these out in the field. The protective guards on
the Tablet PCs have helped prevent any broken screens, which
is a malfunction experienced with Tablet PC devices from other
manufacturers.
The Motion Computing Tablet PCs have proved so intuitive that
MORI hasn’t had to offer researchers any special training
to use them. The company has simply revised the training manual
it provides the researchers. Those who are starting with little
or no computer experience take the same half-day training
course offered in the past.
The sleek, metallic exterior of Motion Tablet
PCs helps MORI researchers appear more professional, which is
particularly important when they are called on to interview
government officials. In fact, the researchers consider it a
commendation when they get one of the Motion Tablet PCs assigned
to them. “They feel they are special, as if they are being
rewarded,” Johnson said.
The CAPI software uses only a fraction of the computing power
and storage of the Motion Tablet PCs. If MORI eventually adopts
surveys that require more intensive computing, the company knows
one thing won’t need to change: “We won’t
have to replace our hardware,” Johnson said.
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