Know Your Respondents — Or Risk Wasting Your Research

In the race for fast insights, some providers promise survey results overnight — n=800, turned around in 24 hours, no problem. But here’s the catch: they rarely tell you where those respondents came from.

And if you don’t know your respondents, you don’t know your data.

Your Data Is Only as Good as Your Sample

Everything starts with the respondent. It’s the foundation for all analysis, all insights, and ultimately, all decisions. If that foundation is shaky — bots, professional survey takers, or respondents misrepresenting themselves — then the entire research effort crumbles.

Think of it like building a house on sand. Sure, it might look solid at first glance. But it won’t withstand pressure, scrutiny, or the weight of real decisions. If you or your research partner can’t clearly explain how respondents were sourced and vetted, the data is no better than guesswork.

The Dark Side of “Fast and Cheap” Samples

Speed and scale can be seductive. But in today’s research world, fraud is real — from bots and duplicate entries to people gaming the system for incentives. Respondents are not always who they say they are. And if your research provider isn’t actively verifying sample quality, you’re at risk of making strategic decisions based on faulty input.

How We Do It Right

At Evolve, we never treat sample as an afterthought. We partner exclusively with trusted industry leaders like Cint, Dynata, and Pure Spectrum, and we interrogate sample quality at every step.

Here’s what that looks like:

• Pre-survey screening: We ask the right questions upfront to make sure respondents fit the target profile.
• Trusted sourcing: Our partners use rigorous recruitment methods, so we know where our sample comes from.
• Post-survey scrubbing: We remove bots, speeders, straight-liners, and low-effort responses — no exceptions.

It’s a layered process, designed to uphold the integrity of your data and the insights we deliver.

Don’t Skip the Hard Questions

The sample process is easy to gloss over — especially in high-pressure, quick-turn situations. But sacrificing sample quality for speed is a dangerous tradeoff.

So ask the hard questions:

• Who are these respondents?
• Are they truly part of our target audience?
• How were they recruited and incentivized?
• How do we know they are who they say they are?

If your team can’t answer these, or if your vendor shrugs them off, it’s time to pause. Because bad data is worse than no data at all.

And if you’re unsure where to start, reach out. We’ll steer you straight — no bots, no fluff, just real people providing real answers.