How we survey
The Consumer Reports National Research Center is a research arm of Consumer Report’s National Testing and Research Center
in Yonkers, N.Y. and is comprised of highly-trained social scientists using state-of-the art techniques to survey well over
one million consumers each year for their feedback on a broad range of experiences with products, services and health care.
The Research Center effectively expands the reach of the world-renowned Consumer Reports testing labs into the consumer marketplace. Using scientifically valid research methods, the Research Center surveys consumers about topics that matter to them. Questions range from which brands of appliances and electronics have been more reliable, to which companies offer the best services (e.g., cell phone service, hotels, airlines, auto and homeowners insurance), to the best places to purchase products (e.g., electronics, appliances, clothing, eyeglasses). The Research Center provides auto owner satisfaction information for hundreds of models based on responses from hundreds of thousands of car owners. Complex health care topics such as treatment of specific conditions and health insurance – including ratings of HMOs and PPOs – are covered regularly.
Surveys allow us to capture real-world consumer experiences. When we ask consumers to share their experiences, we discover such things as how well a product held up over time, how often it had to be repaired and at what cost. To provide that perspective, the Research Center surveys well over one million people each year about the products and services they buy and use including cars, electronics, appliances, home and garden supplies, financial services and health care. Our research calendar includes more than 100 topics each year.
We conduct most of our surveys by polling a portion of the several million readers who subscribe to Consumer Reports or to ConsumerReports.org. Our biggest effort, the Annual Questionnaire, is sent to all subscribers each spring. Our surveys of our subscribers afford us very large sample sizes and permit extensive and detailed analysis, which allows us to rate a large number of brands for quality of service and for product reliability. We also survey consumers outside our readership to get the most accurate representation of U.S. households.
Like the rest of Consumers Union, the Research Center is free of corporate influence and advertising. Its surveys are not commissioned or funded by industry, government, academia or big media. Rather, these surveys are designed to gather unbiased, objective information from consumers for the sole purpose of informing and protecting them.
The Research Center effectively expands the reach of the world-renowned Consumer Reports testing labs into the consumer marketplace. Using scientifically valid research methods, the Research Center surveys consumers about topics that matter to them. Questions range from which brands of appliances and electronics have been more reliable, to which companies offer the best services (e.g., cell phone service, hotels, airlines, auto and homeowners insurance), to the best places to purchase products (e.g., electronics, appliances, clothing, eyeglasses). The Research Center provides auto owner satisfaction information for hundreds of models based on responses from hundreds of thousands of car owners. Complex health care topics such as treatment of specific conditions and health insurance – including ratings of HMOs and PPOs – are covered regularly.
Surveys allow us to capture real-world consumer experiences. When we ask consumers to share their experiences, we discover such things as how well a product held up over time, how often it had to be repaired and at what cost. To provide that perspective, the Research Center surveys well over one million people each year about the products and services they buy and use including cars, electronics, appliances, home and garden supplies, financial services and health care. Our research calendar includes more than 100 topics each year.
We conduct most of our surveys by polling a portion of the several million readers who subscribe to Consumer Reports or to ConsumerReports.org. Our biggest effort, the Annual Questionnaire, is sent to all subscribers each spring. Our surveys of our subscribers afford us very large sample sizes and permit extensive and detailed analysis, which allows us to rate a large number of brands for quality of service and for product reliability. We also survey consumers outside our readership to get the most accurate representation of U.S. households.
Like the rest of Consumers Union, the Research Center is free of corporate influence and advertising. Its surveys are not commissioned or funded by industry, government, academia or big media. Rather, these surveys are designed to gather unbiased, objective information from consumers for the sole purpose of informing and protecting them.
