Research Methods, Privacy, and Ethics

Primary research decision

Conduct interviews or surveys only when the research question cannot be answered adequately with existing lawful evidence. Define the purpose, population, data fields, retention period, and reporting plan before recruitment.

Do not use research as disguised selling, lead generation, political campaigning, or a way to obtain confidential competitor information. Apply the current AAPOR Code of Professional Ethics and Practices, revised in June 2026, alongside the disclosure standards below.

Survey evidence

Follow the AAPOR Disclosure Standards for any survey claim. Record:

• sponsor, funder, and fieldwork organization;
• research objective and target population;
• probability or non-probability design;
• sampling frame, selection, recruitment, eligibility, and incentives;
• mode, language, instrument, exact wording, ordering, and field dates;
• unweighted sample sizes overall and for reported subgroups;
• weighting variables, benchmark sources, trimming, calibration, and design effects;
• dispositions, response/cooperation/participation rates and definitions;
• imputation, exclusions, attention checks, coding, and quality controls;
• appropriate precision measure and assumptions;
• coverage, nonresponse, measurement, processing, and model limitations.

Do not:

• report a conventional margin of sampling error for a non-probability sample unless a defensible model and its assumptions are fully disclosed;
• equate a large sample with representativeness;
• describe opt-in respondents as a random sample;
• compare waves after changing question wording, mode, population, or weighting without analyzing the break;
• report subgroup estimates with undisclosed small bases;
• claim causality from a descriptive cross-sectional survey.

The FCSM's Best Practices for Nonresponse Bias Reporting supports reporting standard response rates and examining key subgroups. A high response rate does not by itself eliminate bias, and a lower rate does not by itself prove bias; analyze the mechanism and available benchmarks.

Interviews and focus groups

Record:

• recruitment criteria and source;
• role categories represented and material gaps;
• consent script, recording permission, incentive, and withdrawal process;
• interview dates, mode, duration, moderator, and guide version;
• coding method, number of coders, disagreements, and use of software;
• whether themes were expected, emergent, divergent, or disconfirming;
• limitations from purposive recruitment, sponsor effects, social desirability, and nonresponse.

Quotes require permission and de-identification appropriate to the context. Paraphrases must not change meaning. Never attach percentages or population prevalence to qualitative themes.

Privacy and data minimization

Collect only data needed for the stated purpose. Before collection:

1. identify applicable privacy, employment, recording, consumer, and research rules in every jurisdiction;
2. provide a clear notice and obtain appropriate consent;
3. avoid sensitive data unless necessary, lawful, and specifically protected;
4. separate contact details from research responses;
5. define role-based access, encryption, retention, deletion, and incident handling;
6. assess re-identification risk from combinations of role, employer, geography, quotes, and rare attributes;
7. aggregate or suppress small groups;
8. document any processor or platform and cross-border transfer.

Never place names, email addresses, phone numbers, account identifiers, raw IP addresses, private messages, recordings, or other direct identifiers in the report evidence ledger. A source ID should identify a controlled record, not a person.

The ICO data minimisation guidance is a useful primary reference where UK GDPR applies. Apply the governing law in the actual jurisdiction rather than assuming one framework is universal.

Lawful customer and competitor research

Permitted evidence may include public filings, regulator records, official registries, public product documentation, published pricing, lawful public procurement records, consented research, and licensed databases used within their terms.

Do not:

• impersonate a customer, employee, regulator, journalist, investor, or prospective hire;
• misstate identity or purpose to gain access;
• evade authentication, access controls, paywalls, technical restrictions, robots policies, or contractual limits;
• solicit or accept trade secrets, source code, credentials, nonpublic pricing, customer lists, roadmaps, bids, or confidential documents;
• use leaked, stolen, inadvertently exposed, or unlawfully obtained material;
• collect personal profiles unrelated to the research purpose;
• infer protected or sensitive attributes;
• contact employees in a manner that pressures them to breach duties;
• turn absence of a public feature statement into a definitive ``no.''

Use unknown when lawful public evidence is insufficient. Keep screenshots or snapshots only when terms allow, and record product edition, geography, account tier, and as-of date.

Competition and antitrust framing

Competitive analysis is descriptive unless qualified counsel performs a legal assessment. The 2023 U.S. Merger Guidelines and the 2024 European Commission Market Definition Notice show why product/geographic market definition, shares, concentration, entry, dynamic competition, and evidence are case-specific.

Rules:

• do not equate a TAM category with a relevant antitrust market;
• state the share denominator and why it reflects competitive reality;
• test alternate product and geographic boundaries;
• consider non-price competition, multi-sided platforms, zero-price services, innovation, capacity, active users, imports, and prospective entry where relevant;
• report unknown participants and residual share;
• treat HHI and concentration ratios as descriptive screening measures, not a legal conclusion;
• do not label a firm a monopoly, dominant, anticompetitive, or collusive without appropriately sourced legal findings or qualified legal analysis.

Conflicts and sponsor influence

Disclose the sponsor, funder, analyst role, material commercial interests, and constraints on publication. A sponsor may set the question but must not dictate the evidence, remove unfavorable results, or suppress material limitations. Keep a record of deviations from the analysis plan.

Decision-use boundary

A market report may inform planning, but it does not guarantee outcomes and must not present itself as:

• investment advice or a solicitation to transact;
• legal, antitrust, tax, accounting, or regulatory advice;
• a fairness opinion, valuation opinion, or assurance engagement;
• confirmation that a market figure is true merely because it appears in a paid report.

For high-stakes decisions, obtain qualified domain, legal, financial, privacy, and statistical review as appropriate.