Decision Research is a small but highly experienced consulting firm. It has carried out more than 50 projects with a large proportion of projects conducted for previous clients. The principals of Decision Research have between them more than forty years experience in private and public sector management.

They founded the company in 1995, in the belief that decision-making in New Zealand businesses and in the public sector would be improved if research was specifically designed to help managers choose between alternative courses of action. We were, and are, convinced that much research does not do this. It is all too common, in both the private and the public sectors, for research to be carried out simply to increase general understanding of the situation. Recent research at Massey University shows that such research projects are, on average, markedly less successful than projects that predict the results of adopting specific alternative actions.

Another concern was with the technical quality of much research carried out commercially in New Zealand. True response rates in telephone surveys are commonly around 25%, and for face to face surveys no higher than 50%. Interviewers often go into the field with no more than a few hours training. Budgets seldom allow for adequate pre-testing and piloting. For these reasons, we favour mail surveys were we consistently achieve an average of 70%). Decision Research does not have the overhead of maintaining a field force, so we have no incentive to recommend survey work unless it is really the best way to get the information needed.