In accordance with the present invention, a controller such as a cable television company receives a survey including survey questions from a client desiring to have a survey conducted. The controller creates respondent questions based on the survey questions. The controller also selects one or more respondents from a group of respondents requesting to participate in a survey. The respondent questions are transmitted to the selected respondents via a television transmission network, e.g., a cable television transmission network. Responses corresponding to the respondent questions are received. The controller applies an inconsistency test to the responses to generate an inconsistency test result. The inconsistency test determines if the responses originate from computers or humans not paying attention to the questions. Based on the inconsistency test result, a fraud signal may be generated. The fraud signal may result in several actions, such as the controller ignoring the responses received from the corresponding respondent, reducing or eliminating payment to the respondent, transmitting a message of reprimand to the respondent, and/or barring the respondent from future participation in surveys.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS
The present application is a continuation in-part application of patent application Ser. No. 09/110,626, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ADMINISTERING A SURVEY", filed on Jul. 6, 1998, and issued on Jul. 25, 2000 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,093,026, which is a continuation-in-part application of patent application Ser. No. 08/685,706, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A CRYPTOGRAPHICALLY-ASSISTED COMMERCIAL NETWORK SYSTEM DESIGNED TO FACILITATE AND SUPPORT EXPERT-BASED COMMERCE, filed on Jul. 24, 1996, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,223 on Jan. 19, 1999, the entirety of which are incorporated by reference herein as part of the present disclosure.
The invention concerns a method for performing an inquiry in a telecommunications network, in which the inquiry is carried out in the following steps: --creating a database of persons, --forming and recording the questions, --selecting from the database a set satisfying desired conditions, --sending the inquiry in the form of text messages (SMS, Short Message Service) to the persons included in the set, --receiving text message replies for a predetermined length of time, --storing and interpreting each reply, so that, according to each set criterion, the question arranged to be the next one is sent to the same person, --generating a report.
A method and apparatus for automating surveys over a network system causes an interface to be displayed to a particular client of the network system. This interface can be used by the particular client to define a survey. In response to the client interacting with the interface, a sequence of steps is automatically performed. The sequence of steps includes generating a survey based on information received over the network system from the particular client interacting with the interface; fielding the survey to a group of target users on the network system; gathering results of from network users participating in the survey; and providing the particular client, over said network system, with data that reflects the results of the survey.
A screening and survey selection system, method of screening and selecting for a survey and a computer system employing the system and method. In one embodiment, the screening and survey selection system includes a survey queue having a plurality of queue slots, each of the plurality of queue slots including a survey available for a respondent. The screening and survey selection system also includes a random number generator that generates a number pertaining to a selected one of the plurality of queue slots as a function of at least one characteristic associated with the respondent. The screening and survey selection system still further includes a screener block question generator that develops a plurality of screener block questions that determine if the respondent is qualified to participate in a survey corresponding to the selected one of the plurality of queue slots.
A computer implemented method to estimate a respondent's or a set of respondents' rank order with respect to a number of attribute options (i.e. alternative prices, features, benefits, ways of expressing benefits, brand names, slogans, logos, graphic treatments such as package design elements and any other stimuli that the researcher believes may influence the individual's opinion such as a statement, graphic or brief audio). The method can be used when the number of stimuli to be presented exceeds the number that can be presented at one time to a respondent, most typically, exceeding the number that can be legibly displayed on one computer screen for rank ordering by a respondent. The estimated rank order is highly accurate, especially for the highest ranked stimuli, but requires only a small fraction of the respondent input that would be needed to capture a complete rank order from that respondent. This abstract is provided as an aid for finding relevant disclosures and not as a limitation on the scope of the claims.
