The Inquiry commissioned by MRS and the British Polling Council (BPC) to examine the discrepancies with pre-election polling in 2015 publishes its final report today.

MRS welcomes the findings of the independently selected panel chaired by Prof. Patrick Sturgis and would like to thank those involved for their swift and robust investigation.

As the sector regulator for market, social and opinion research, MRS fully supports the Inquiry and its findings. MRS is committed to supporting its members to ensure that the recommendations made today are implemented across the sector. As the Code-holder, MRS has scrutinized the panel’s conclusions and recommendations, not just for opinion polling but for research as a whole.

The existing MRS Code of Conduct (2014) outlines comprehensive ethical rules which address all issues raised by today’s findings. MRS will continue to keep the issue under review, and has already initiated a number of voluntary actions as part of its ongoing commitment to high standards across the sector.

These include reviewing and updating the CIPS/MRS/RSS Best Practice Guidelines on Using Statistics in Communications, developing new guidance on age bands within sample frames and developing new guidance for non-researchers on how to interpret opinion polls.

Jane Frost CBE, Chief Executive of MRS, comments: “We would like to offer our thanks to Prof. Patrick Sturgis and his panel for undertaking such a robust investigation, and we welcome their final report, published today. We will do everything we can to support our members in implementing the panel’s recommendations.”

View the full Report of the Inquiry into the 2015 British general election opinion polls.

Further information to download

Contact

Emma Molton
Camargue
+44 (0)20 7636 7366
emolton@camargue.uk

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