Consulting the Unresponsive – There is much to consider when assessing the views of the silent majority

For those whose lot it is to consult the public at large – rather than identifiable stakeholder organisations, there has always been a nagging issue. How do we know that those who have responded to us mirror the views of those that didn’t? In other words, what about the silent majority?

Professional market researchers can, of course explain their confidence levels in different samples – but the fact remains that many public sector consultations rely on postal surveys or other self-selected responses. Only rarely do consultors organise a structurally-sampled reference group against which to benchmark the results. So, for whatever reason, there are many who cannot be absolutely sure they can read the minds of the community as a whole.