It’s an accepted fact that Professional Bodies probably know well what the active minority of their members think but are equally quite remote from the more passive majority. Routinely, they are in dialogue with perhaps 20% of the membership, whilst having little real knowledge of the opinions of the other 80%.
Traditional on-line surveys routinely attract responses from 10% or so of members (who can anyway be considered as “engaged” because they do respond, and probably reflect what the organisation knows about them already). That’s a very small and non-representative sample to base any conclusions upon.
When we carry out member research, we consult with, and open up a meaningful dialogue with all members, but especially with those who do not normally engage with our client and whose opinions are largely unknown. Typically, our approach is to conduct a quantitative online survey of members and non-members past and present, a qualitative telephone-based interview exercise, and focus group type consultations with sections of all communities where possible.
Our objective is to ensure that the sum of our research and the feedback that we capture is representative of all internal and external communities and can be relied upon.