IRS Methodology

Questionnaire Administration

IRS captures data on a continuous basis via a face-to-face Computer Aided Personal Interview (CAPI) device. The entire study is conducted using Dual Screen CAPI methodology.

Household data is collected by interviewing the householder. Information in the household section is focused on all household details from household composition, durables owned, household items purchased and other key demographic variables.

Individual data is collected from a systematic randomly selected person who is 12 years or older and stays in the household. The individual questionnaire is mainly focused on capturing readership of publications, television viewing, radio listening, mobile usage, internet usage, cinema viewing habits, and personal usage of selected products.

IRS uses a multi-stage stratified random sampling method. Each reporting unit meets a reporting standard designed to minimise the margin of error, thus ensuring highest levels of accuracy in data.

More focused scheme to capture listenership at radio station level:

Radio station coverage matrix is now based on the district of broadcast. Earlier it was based on state-wise broadcast. This will allow an uncluttered list of radio stations which are exposed to the listeners and enable us to get a more accurate response.

  • Coverage: 28 States and 4 Union Territories
  • 91 Individual Districts reported individually
  • 502 Districts are reported as 101 District Clusters
  • Sample Size: 3.30 Lakh (IRS 2017)
  • Sample Size: 3.60 Lakh (IRS 2018)
  • Security Enhancements: MRUC has added a number of safety enhancement layers in IRS 2016, namely, GPS location of interviewers, enhanced audio recording, electronic addressed forms, flying squad for focused back-checks and accompaniments.
  • GPS capture: Each interviewer will be provided with a GPS device. This will help MRUC keep track of the interview and ensure he/she is at the right location. The device will also help the interviewer in finding the address of the respondents swiftly.
  • Electronic address forms: This system is a transition from carrying the starting point address of respondents on paper to a system where these addresses would be made available electronically. This ensures that the forms reach the right field team at the right time and not well in advance.
  • Flying squad checks: This is another layer in conducting back checks. The members of Flying Squad will make a surprise or unannounced visits to field for accompaniments and back checks. They will directly report to the central IRS leadership team. The aim is to ensure adequate and stringent quality control checks in the fieldwork.
    In addition to these developments, MRUC has appointed a third-party audit for monitoring the end-to-end process of survey design and quality control checks. These enhancements in IRS ensure a more robust and accurate fieldwork.