Fieldwork Agency VS Research Agency

Index

Fieldwork Agency VS Research Agency

There is a difference between the tasks a fieldwork agency and a research agency can perform for an organization that cannot conduct research itself. It is wise to choose the right fieldwork agency or research agency when outsourcing research. If the wrong question is posed to a fieldwork agency or research agency, the outsourcing organization may only receive raw data or a report with the most important results, conclusions, and recommendations/ advise. These are the two extremes in the research results that can be delivered. A fieldwork agency can provide up to and including cleansed raw data, while a research agency can handle all phases of research and fieldwork. Be very specific about which research tasks are outsourced to the fieldwork agency or research agency.

Fieldwork Agency

A fieldwork agency (veldwerkbureau) only coordinates the fieldwork and sometimes performs the basic data cleaning. A fieldwork agency doesn't analyze the collected data itself. The tasks of a fieldwork agency is planning, coordinating and monitoring fieldwork and supervising and checking the fieldworkers. After the fieldwork the collected data is sent directly to the organization that requested it, or basic data cleaning is performed and the 'cleaned' data is sent to the organization that requested it. I worked for the fieldwork agency Inview Veldwerk. Inview worked for private companies, government agencies and government-related companies. This is the only fieldwork only agency I worked for. Inview arranged the fieldwork assignments for me. I wrote a blog post for each type of fieldwork I did for them: Surveying Retired People Using The Library In Breda, Surveying Visitors & Customers Of Department Stores & Drogisterijen, Surveying Dutch Visitors Workwear Fair In Dusseldorf, Surveying 1 Question In Jail With VOG, Surveying Tourists In Rotterdam and Handing out 'Openbaar Vervoer' surveys, Fieldwork Supermarkets, Taste Tests & Shopper Lab & Counting passenger For Inview.

Research Agency With Its Own Fieldwork Department

Some research agencies have their own fieldwork department, meaning they collect and analyze data for their clients. These agencies with their own fieldwork department can handle all phases of the research for the client, so the client doesn't have to worry about the research itself. Most of these agencies are large or highly specialized in a specific field. These agencies are selective about the research and fieldwork they conduct, and they conduct the research and fieldwork for the client over an extended period. The fieldwork department of the research agency has the same tasks as fieldwork agencies: planning, coordinating, and monitoring the fieldwork, and supervising the fieldworkers. The only difference between a fieldwork agency and a research agency is that the research agency analyzes the collected data for the client. The research agencies with their own fieldwork department that I have worked for are: IPSOS I&O (Blog posts: Ipsos I&O, fieldwork & Taking Minutes, Een veldwerkdag van een kwantitatief onderzoek) and Forum Research (Blog posts: Coding Emotions In Categories From A Survey Answer, To interview by phone or not? and Forum Research, Projects Done As An Entrepreneur). At STOGO Onderzoek + Advies my colleagues and me did our own fieldwork (Blog posts: Actualisatie ruimtebehoefte gemeente Rijssen Holten, Actualisatie Ruimtebehoefte Gemeente Zwartewaterland, Actualisatie ruimtebehoefte Wierden, Komt het juiste bedrijf wel op de juiste plaats?, Plan Oosterzij Heiloo een analyse van de vraag naar woonwerkpanden, Plan Oosterzij Heiloo een analyse van de vraag naar woonwerkpanden, Utrechtse Waarden Welke dynamiek vindt er plaats? and Voor wie ontwikkelen we nog bedrijventerreinen?). I still do fieldwork for IPSOS I&O (2026).