TrueNorth

TrueNorth: Your data deserves an upgrade

TrueNorth® fixes questionable consumer research so business leaders can make smarter decisions. How? Learn more below and at TrueNorth.norc.org.

Confidence at a reasonable price

TrueNorth is an especially inspired choice for businesses that need:

• Surveys of low-incidence populations, residents of particular states, and other targeted audiences
• Large-scale tracking surveys of consumers, voters, and other groups

Our dependable findings come at an accessible price. TrueNorth® is the smart choice for clients who would otherwise make key decisions based on suspect data or no data at all.

How we make your survey results more reliable

• TrueNorth upgrades a company’s data by surveying two groups of people at the same time: members of AmeriSpeak’s scientifically recruited panel and a lower-cost nonprobability sample.
• TrueNorth then calibrates data from the lower-quality nonprobability survey, truing it up with the higher-quality AmeriSpeak data.
• The additional responses and calibration ensure that respondents truly represent the groups our clients are seeking to survey and, thus, generate more reliable results.

The AmeriSpeak Panel is a game changer because:

• AmeriSpeak uses aggressive techniques, such as in-person visits, to line up survey takers in hard-to-reach categories.
• AmeriSpeak has a gold-standard response rate.

Here’s recent research by NORC at the University of Chicago that shows how TrueNorth® Calibration can upgrade your survey results.

Consumer Behavior

NORC used its scientifically assembled panels to survey consumers on their purchases of 42 items and compared the results with those of three separate nonprobability surveys. Then, by blending the probability and nonprobability data using the newly developed TrueNorth Calibration system, AmeriSpeak was able to significantly improve the quality of the nonprobability results.

A white paper on this study cites a few examples that demonstrate TrueNorth’s value. Findings about Sierra Mist beverage showed that nonprobability surveys consistently overstated the number of people who purchased the product. TrueNorth addressed the problem. Results on another item, a nail care product, made clear that TrueNorth delivered more precise results on age-related subgroups—an especially valuable breakdown for companies marketing such products.

Food Allergies

AmeriSpeak worked with Northwestern and Stanford universities to conduct a national survey on the rates of rare and common types of food-specific allergies. The project involved 7,000 interviews from the AmeriSpeak Panel’s probability-based sample and more than 30,000 from nonprobability online sampling. Then TrueNorth combined the surveys to take advantage of the precision and reliability of the AmeriSpeak Panel and the added reach of nonprobability-based samples.

The study findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019, providing a dependable, sweeping overview of food allergies in the United States. The survey found that at least 1 in 10 U.S. adults are food allergic, but nearly 1 in 5 adults think they are. JAMA’s article was the first peer-reviewed publication of results using TrueNorth.

Sesame Workshop

A study by Sesame Workshop and NORC at the University of Chicago found that most parents rarely, if ever, discuss social identity such as race/ethnicity, gender, or class with their children. White parents were the least likely to do so.

This survey included a mix of more than 6,000 parents and caregivers from the AmeriSpeak Panel and nonprobability surveying. Then TrueNorth made the most of the data to formulate accurate conclusions that were featured on a variety of news outlets, including National Public Radio. NORC’s partner in the study, Sesame Workshop, is the research arm of the children’s educational television program “Sesame Street.”

Learn More

To learn more about upgrading your data with TrueNorth contact NORC's TrueNorth team at TrueNorth@norc.org.