Practicum Project: Knowledge Networks

Knowledge Networks has developed a unique web-based panel for both governmental and business interviews. Through careful national sampling they were able to attract more than 40,000 people who are willing to completeapproximately three interviews each month. They compensate these people through a variety of means, but primarily with free internet access or by direct compensation for completing individual studies. This process of acquiring and maintaining this unique panelhas and continues to involve a large investment, but has paid off because Knowledge Networks is able to deliver representative surveys in ways that are very difficult for others to copy.

As examples, Knowledge Networks can:

  • Execute political surveys focused solely republican voters who voted for democratic in the last election
  • Field national surveys in which demographic groups are closely proportional to how they exist in the country
  • Run longitudinal surveys, for example showing shifts in attitudes among arthritis sufferers over time and as a function of their medication

These kinds of surveys would be very expensive and would take much more time if done by phone, mail or in person. Despite their advantages, panels have been criticized compared with random samples in that it can be more difficult to project from a panel to persons not on the panel. For example,Knowledge Networks panel members are unlike others with similar demographics in (1) being more willing to use computers and (2) having more free time, and it can be difficult to project results from their panel to people who would not willingly be part of a panel.

Currently there a legal issue about whether panel data of the sort Knowledge Networks provides is appropriate for governmental or court work. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would like to use Knowledge Networks, but has been limited by the Office of Management and the Budget (OMB) who question the applicability of result using panel instead of random samples. If OMB’s policy were to change then Knowledge Network’s demand could increase ten-fold.

The purpose of the practicum would be to:

  • Develop various scenarios for the growth paths for Knowledge Networks
  • Review the competition for the kinds of services Knowledge Networks provides
  • Find the satisfaction with its services from current customers

The primary process will be in depth phone interviews with current and potential customers, the users of the information, and the gatekeepers such as OMB and legal scholars.