Dear All,

In preparation for our phone call on Wednesday, I would like to go ahead and share information I have regarding the idea of conducting focus group research to represent consumers on the current effectiveness of Whois policy.

I spoke with a company who specializes in consumer research and has experience doing global scope work.

Their suggestion is that we should take a 2-step process.

Step 1: One-on-one interviews with a very small representative sample of people.  They have found that in this type of subject, people are more open and honest if not in a group setting.  And this approach works well when the people being interviewed are not familiar with Whois, ICANN, etc.

Step 2: The results of the one on one interviews would be used to formulate and build a questionnaire survey.

(We were missing Step 1 in our previous discussions!)

The survey can be conducted in various countries and it is recommended to have a minimum 100-150 responses per country.  For a global scope, they feel that 10 key countries across Asia, the Americas and EMEA would give us valid results.  

Regarding timeframe to accomplish this effort, they advised that 8 weeks would be sufficient.  

I have also obtained a ballpark cost estimate but want to respect the fact that the company I spoke with is in a competitive business.  So I hesitate to share those details on this email.  But I feel I have enough information for us to make a budget request and the estimated cost seems reasonable to me.

My thoughts are that if we agree as a team with this approach, we could submit a budget request.  Then assuming it is approved, we would proceed to solicit competitive proposals. Perhaps there are relevant ICANN procedures and ICANN staff could advise and assist.

Kind regards,

Lynn

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