ESOMAR condemns uncorroborated allegations made by Mr. Dominic Cummings
16 February 2021
ESOMAR supports Market Research Society-led efforts reasserting research’s commitment to excellence and professionalism
ESOMAR, the global voice of the data, research and insights community, in support of the UK national association, the Market Research Society (MRS) condemning statements made by former advisor to the UK Prime Minister, Mr Dominic Cummings. The erroneous statements risk undermining public trust and confidence without any evidence to substantiate the allegations.
Mr Cummings submitted a statement to the UK High Court as part of the government’s defense for a research contract that was awarded to a particular agency. Widely relayed in the various media including The Times, the FT, the Evening Standard and the BBC in the UK yesterday, the following excerpt from Mr Dominic Cummings statement was quoted in
the Guardian and
the Independent:
“I knew they would give us honest information unlike many companies in this sector. Very few companies in this field are competent, almost none are very competent, honest and reliable.”
This is an unsubstantiated and misleading statement, and ESOMAR strongly supports its UK partner the Market Research Society (MRS) in refuting the broader sectoral implications from this assertion. The statement from the MRS may be found
on their website and was further relayed by the
Research Live digital magazine.
"Such statements - made by former top government officials - undermine our sector's proven ability to conduct impartial research which is amongst the few independent measures of the health of our democracies. To seek to devalue skilled professionals' expertise for the sake of one's own personal defense is both uncalled for and dangerous at a time when societies are questioning the very basis of truth," said Finn Raben, Director General of ESOMAR....
www.independent.co.uk
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