SMA Services
| Public Opinion Polling. |
| SMA specializes in conducting public opinion surveys and analysis for business and industry, communities, advocacy groups, and political candidates. We conduct most of our surveys via random telephone interview, but we can also work from client-supplied lists to test the opinions of customers, clients, members, subscribers or other more narrowly defined categories. We commonly conduct surveys consisting of 60 or more questions and 500 or more interviews, depending upon the client’s needs and budget. |
| Tracking Polls. |
| Tracking is a subset of opinion polling and is essential to gaining an understanding of day-to-day changes in a dynamic political environment. We recommend a program of daily calls into the target market throughout the last six or eight weeks of a campaign in order to identify and chart daily changes as they occur. We provide daily trend reports to our tracking clients and suggest strategic or tactical maneuvers based on our analysis. |
| Focus Groups. |
| Focus groups are very useful for probing the depth and breadth of opinion because the are conducted with a ‘live’ panel of participants by an experienced facilitator who is familiar with the issued to be examined. This allows stated perceptions, ideas and comments to be probed at considerable depth and permits issues to be revisited, as necessary, as the focus group session progresses. Focus group comments and conclusions can be compared with survey results for further validation of the research. |
| Data Analysis. |
| SMA can apply its statistical analysis expertise to databases and surveys generated by clients or by third party vendors. Data analysis services include data entry, error mitigation, and coding; typical statistical analysis techniques such as simple and multiple regression; cross-tabulation analysis; and preparation of reports that include data analysis, cross-tabulations, graphs, and narrative. |
| Political Consulting. |
| SMA offers a wide range of political consulting services in addition to polling and tracking. Opinion survey results are often the fundamental tool used to devise a winning strategy for a candidate or an issue advocacy group. But it is essential to put this information to effective use if victory at the polls or with elected decision-makers is to be achieved. SMA works closely with media and public relations consultants to provide a well-rounded suite of tools to guide a campaign or legislative initiative to a successful result. |
| Public Policy Strategy. |
| It takes special skills to guide a proposal through a legislative body, whether the battleground is the local Town Council or the United States Congress. As a former legislator who served as a Maine State Representative and as a US Congressman, Dave Emery knows how to present your arguments in order to be most effective. SMA can evaluate an argument or proposal and shape it for maximum impact; draft committee testimony; prepare talking points for debate; design informational material for distribution; devise a 'person-to-person' contact plan; and, of course, meet directly with decision makers as necessary. |