Welcome to Research Tracker^® II
 

"Take a Closer Look" will introduce you to Research Tracker^® II and let you view screen shots of some of the system features.  Be sure to check out other locations in the Research Tracker site to learn more.  Then, call or e-mail MDSS with your questions - or to schedule a live, online demo session.

The opening screen is the Research Tracker^® II Main Switchboard.  The Main Switchboard opens all of the five main system modules - Respondents, Client, Alerts, Jobs, and Maintenance - as well as Exiting from the system.

The Respondent Data screen is used to enter new respondent information or update existing records.   The Main Respondent Data  screen displays the information used most often (name, phone numbers, and demographics).

For the demographic fields, Research Tracker^® II comes with a set of default descriptions and codes. If the default values don't meet your needs, you can edit them easily through the Maintenance module.   This is just one of many ways Research Tracker^® II allows you to customize the system to meet your needs--AT NO ADDITIONAL COST. 

The Main Respondent Data screen has several other great features to help manage respondent information:

LOCATE BY PHONE; LOCATE BY NAME; LOCATE BY EMAIL ADDRESS; LOCATE BY RESPONDENT ID  Quickly locate any record for editing.   And, by using these fields, you can avoid entering duplicate records. 

CALLING NOTE  Lets you indicate calling preferences so recruiters won't disturb respondents at the wrong time or day.  The Calling Note information is displayed on all recruiting lists.

AGE After entering Date of Birth, Research Tracker^® II automatically calculates the respondent's age. 

CLASSIFICATION  Allows you to segment respondents (e.g. Consumers, Executives, and Professionals) so the right type of respondents can be identified for each job.

INELIGIBLE  By selecting this option, you can exclude a respondent from all future jobs as well as indicate the reason for ineligibility.  This field is one of the "Total Tracking" features that help you manage cheaters, repeaters, and other problem respondents.

CAUTION  Use this field to give recruiters, hostesses, and moderators a "heads up" about certain respondents they may call or schedule.  The Caution flag appears on recruiting lists as well as the hostess and moderator reports.

PROFILE  Click here to generate a 2-page summary of all data regarding a respondent, including their participation history. 

MULTI-SELECT FIELDS Research Tracker^® II allows you to define up to 50 multiple category/multiple selection fields.  For example, you might create a Multi-Select field named Health Problems and list as many categories as you wish.  For each respondent, you can mark as many categories as apply to that individual.  You can query on any of the categories in a Multi-Select field.  And, you can add new fields or new categories at any time. Another way Research Tracker^® II allows you to customize the system to meet your needs--AT NO ADDITIONAL COST.

CURRENT JOB(S)  Displays if the respondent is on a list for an active job, and takes you directly to that job list.

The Household Info sub-screen is where home address and children information for the respondent are entered.  This sub-screen also displays the names, gender, and ages of other household members who are in the database.  You can update all household members' information at the same time using the Copy/Paste feature. You can also limit query selections to one member per household.

Respondent Past Participation sub-screen.  Research Tracker^® II automatically updates this screen when a job is closed, recording the date, job number, session, and other details. The screen also displays how many jobs the respondent has participated in.

The Notes sub-screen is an open text box where miscellaneous information about the respondent can be entered. 

The Yes/No Fields sub-screen gives you even more opportunities to customize the system at no additional cost.  You can define up to 50 Yes/No fields and query on any of them. 

Finally, the Referral Info sub-screen lets you link non-household members to one another.  For example, you can make sure adult sisters don't get scheduled for the same group.

The Respondent Reports Menu also offers a number of options including Participation Reports, Reports by Date, Frequency Distributions, and Caution/Ineligible Respondent Reports.

The Client Data screen is used to keep track of information about all the companies for whom you do research--your customers.  The sub-screens let you record information about each contact in the company, as well as other customer information.  In addition to tracking jobs by client, you can print mailing labels or customized letters to your clients and contacts.  Research Tracker^® II also includes an invoicing feature.

The Job Menu provides an overview of each step in the process of creating, querying, recruiting, and completing a job, along with useful reports.  Research Tracker^® II also allows you to Load or check a client-provided list for one-time recruiting.  When the job is complete, you can purge all the names on the list, tracking only those respondents used for the study.

Use the Job Data screen to enter details about each job beginning with a Job Number and Description. Use the Quota Information box to identify the type(s) of respondents needed for the job.  Use the Specs, Cost/Bid Info, Sessions, and Notes sub-screens to record all the job details. You can add as many Quotas and Sessions for a job as you need. The Queries sub-screen is completed after Research Tracker^® II pulls a list. 

Job Query screen.  Research Tracker^® II gives you virtually unlimited options for querying, or searching, your respondent file.  You can query by any of the respondent demographic field, and/or by any custom fields.  With Research Tracker^® II, there are no complicated computer codes to remember. Just point and click.  You can also search for key words found in text fields such as Employer, Occupation Title, and Notes.

The Job Query - Past Participation sub-screen lets you add a variety of participation filters to queries.  You can exclude respondents who have participated within a certain time period, or by other job-related criteria. You may also query based on number of participations.

Additional query selections can be made using the Spouse/Child and Yes/No fields.

After all query selections are made, you input how many names to pull . Later, if you need additional sample for a job, Research Tracker^® II remembers the previous query selections and resets them automatically.

Research Tracker^® II has a randomizing feature that assures you that all the respondents who meet the query criteria have an equal probability of being pulled, or you can select qualifying respondents who have not participated in the longest time.  In addition to the query criteria you specify, Research Tracker^® II also screens out:

• respondents who have been identified as Ineligible
• respondents whose name appears on any other calling list for an active job (This restriction can be relaxed when desired.)
• respondents who have been called within the time period specified in the Maintain Global Omit Period function.
• more than one respondent in the same household or referral set (This restriction can be relaxed when desired.)

How does your company recruit for jobs?  With Research Tracker^® II you can generate an email blast customized to look and say whatever you want. You can also print a variety of pre-formatted lists, create a custom list, or export data to a spreadsheet application. Or, your recruiters can  use on-screen scheduling, dialing directly from their PCs.  View the names of respondents pulled for a job and update recruiting progress on the Job Recruitment screen.  Recruiting lists can be sorted before printing, by last name or by phone number (to randomly display the names). Lists can also be filtered and printed by date and time pulled.

All Research Tracker^® II printed recruiting lists include spaces for your recruiters to record contacts, call status and callback notes, as well as a place to mark "Scheduled" and Session Assignment.  The header portion of all recruiting lists displays information about the job, quotas, and session details.  It also displays the query selections used for each quota.

Research Tracker^® II helps save time and money by automating many clerical tasks associated with each job.  For example, as you recruit for a job, you can create a Profile or Top Line Spreadsheet, then update it automatically whenever the client needs a progress report.  The Job Confirmations/Job Roster lets you send email customized email confirmations as well as generate sign-in sheets,
 hostess and moderator reports.  You can also print mailing labels or envelopes for each respondent if you like.

After the job is complete, use the Job Completion screen to update Research Tracker^® II with information regarding each participant's status (participate, no show, cancel) as well as payment information.  You can also update the Caution and Ineligible fields for each respondent before you close the job. 

The final step in the process is to "Transfer Job to Respondent File".  Research Tracker^® II automatically updates each respondent's record with complete participation information and closes the job.

The Job Reports menu offers several options for reporting job information.

The Maintenance Menu provides access to a variety of system settings so you can customize Research Tracker^® II for your unique needs.  These settings can be changed at any time, giving you complete flexibility in tailoring the database to meet your changing needs.  You can also perform a variety of database maintenance functions like purging invalid email addresses or processing opt-out requests. If you like, you can write your own Visual Basic queries and run them against the data base.

Thanks for taking a Closer Look at Research Tracker^® II.

For pricing, system requirements, networking, and customization, visit the FAQ (frequently asked questions) page.  If you would like to ask a customer about Research Tracker^®, go to the Links page.

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