MRUC finds IRS 2013 data valid, lifts abeyance

MRUC finds IRS 2013 data valid, lifts abeyance

MUMBAI: Finally, taking the decision on the latest Indian Readership Survey (IRS) data, the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) said the voluntary abeyance placed on the IRS 2013 has been lifted with effect from 20 August 2014.

 

The IRS 2013 data published on 28 January 2014, evoked several questions from the about the validity of the results. Therefore the Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI) requested subscribers to hold the study in abeyance while it took a revalidation exercise.

 

A committee was then formed with two co-chairmen, one from the publishing industry and one from the advertising agency industry. They decided that the methodology was in order and a process audit needs to be done which was awarded to Praveen Tripathi (Magic 9 Media).

 

The findings of this report were discussed by heads of four industry bodies- MRUC chairman, RSCI chairman, Indian Newspaper Society president and ABC chairman and a decision was to be taken. The heads also discussed it with the RSCI technical committee chairman and the two co-chairmen of the revalidating committee.

 

The audit took place in two stages. The first stage involved direct back checking of respondent homes post which a broad and deep forensic statistical analysis exercise was carried out to identify and isolate both fieldwork compliance deficiencies and incidences of the occurrence of unusual publication incidence in respondent interview records. By sieving the aggregate data set for these issues, the audit was able able to judge unequivocally whether the statistical deviations systematically changed any of the crucial readership outputs. The outcome was conclusive and unequivocal that the study results had not been impacted.