37+ years of experience
Your Strategic Partner for Research That Drives Decisions
From designing the perfect survey question to delivering boardroom-ready insights, we bring precision, purpose, and partnership to every stage of the research journey. With in-house data collection, advanced analytics, and decades of field-tested experience, we help you understand what matters—and act on it with confidence.
6 STEP PROCESS:
Design.
We start by asking you the right questions, before we ever ask your questions to the public. Every research project begins with a clear understanding of what success looks like. We help you sharpen your goals, identify the audiences that matter, and choose the right methods to get reliable, relevant insights. We often use focus groups to ensure your survey will yield useful, actionable data.
At CERC, smart design is what sets the stage for winning insights. We bring decades of experience to survey construction, message testing, and focus group facilitation. Our team understands that even small choices — like a single word in a ballot measure — can make or break a campaign. That’s why our designs are always precise, purposeful, and pressure-tested to perform.
Collect.
At CERC, we don’t outsource our credibility. With decades of experience operating our own call centers and managing online panels, we ensure quality control from start to finish. Whether it’s live phone interviews, online surveys, focus groups, or in-depth interviews, we gather data using skilled interviewers, strong recruitment, and sampling strategies that reflect the populations you care about.
We’ve built and managed our own infrastructure to ensure quality, consistency, and trust. Our data collection process is led by seasoned professionals with thousands of interviews under their belts. We do field research with real people, real voices, and real conversations that capture nuances others might miss.
Analyze.
Accuracy isn’t the end goal – it’s the baseline. We go further by using advanced techniques like segmentation, regression modeling, and predictive analytics to uncover what’s really going on beneath the surface. Which message moves the needle? Which audiences are persuadable? What’s driving opinion and what’s noise? We pore over the data.
At CERC, analysis is where the magic happens. From M-Power™ and E-Power™ message testing to complex multivariate models, we go beyond surface-level stats to identify the drivers of opinion and behavior. We don’t just analyze what people say – we analyze what matters most and how you can act on it.
Understand.
Research isn’t valuable until it’s understood. We break down complex results into meaningful takeaways. Want to know why people think what they think? That’s where we shine. Our insights help you understand motivations, not just opinions, so that you can influence hearts, minds, and behavior.
We focus on the “so what” of the research. Our clients rely on us to make the abstract concrete, to bring clarity to the chaos. We know that true understanding doesn’t come from data dumps – it comes from thoughtful interpretation, strategic guidance, and a commitment to objectivity.
Report.
We don’t bury you in crosstabs. Our reports are tailored to your team and your goals — from executive briefings to deep-dive decks with compelling data visualization. You’ll know what we found, why it matters, and how to act on it.
Our deliverables are designed to drive impact. Whether you’re presenting to a board, talking to reporters, or making decisions behind closed doors, we supply you tools that communicate results with confidence. Our reports are clean, persuasive, and purposeful and designed to help put you in control of the narrative.
Decide.
Good research changes things. Whether it’s shaping campaign messaging, targeting communications, testing policy positions, or allocating resources, our findings guide real decisions. We don’t just hand off a report. We help you turn insights into strategy.
We work like your strategic partner. For over 37 years, CERC has been trusted by decision-makers who can’t afford to guess. From city halls to campaign war rooms, professional baseball teams to leading corporations, our research helps leaders make the right move at the right time. When the stakes are high, we help you decide with data.