What AAPOR standards mean for your decisions
Every research report gives you a number. The standards behind that number decide whether you can trust it.
AAPOR, the American Association for Public Opinion Research, publishes a code of ethics and best practices that researchers around the world use as a benchmark. Its core idea is simple: a result is only as credible as its method, and the method must be open to inspection.
Four questions to ask any research provider
- Who was surveyed, and how were they selected? A sample that mirrors the population supports broad conclusions. A convenience sample does not.
- How many people responded, out of how many were approached? A low response rate does not make a study useless, but it must be measured and explained.
- What exactly was asked? Wording and question order change answers. You should be able to see the full questionnaire.
- How was the data weighted, and what are the limits? Every estimate carries uncertainty. A trustworthy report states it instead of hiding it.
A provider that follows these standards can answer all four in plain language. If the answers are vague, treat the headline number with caution.
At Ayandehnegar, every project follows AAPOR protocols, and we report the limits of our findings next to the findings themselves.