It is popular today to tout one's ability to conduct studies of multicultural populations. Yet research of ethnic and racial minorities cannot simply be something research firms "also" can conduct. Studies of such populations require different strategies and a different skill-set than do studies of the general population.

Multicultural research is a primary research focus of SSRS. Indeed, our record speaks to the vast breadth of our experience researching multicultural populations.

As the primary research partner for the Pew Hispanic Center, SSRS has conducted yearly studies with the Center since 1999. We have also conducted seminal research for Harvard University, including a large-scale project that involved more than 1,000 interviews with Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans. In addition, we have conducted groundbreaking studies of ethnic populations for major media outlets. Prominent among these are our study of African American men conducted for The Washington Post (winner of the Gallup Award for Excellence in Journalism), and research on Asian health that was commissioned by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and San Jose Mercury News.

When it comes to multiethnic research, experience is invaluable. SSRS has developed specific expertise that is not easily replicated. We have developed complex, yet time-tested, sampling strategies. We also have a keen awareness of both the specific issues associated with multicultural research (including differential response biases and varied patterns of response) and the methods required to maximize response and response rates across ethnic populations.

Of course, we interview in a vast array of languages. In just the past few years, we have conducted interviews in Spanish, French, Dutch, Tagalog, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian, and Portuguese. Utilizing multiple translators who translate each survey into different dialects, SSRS then redacts the versions together to make universally understood and consistent translations.

Our CATI system can toggle between Western character languages and other languages anywhere within a survey instrument. Thus, if a Hispanic respondent is having difficulty understanding a question in English, the interviewer can switch to Spanish and re-administer the question immediately.

Notably, SSRS principal members, Melissa Herrmann and David Dutwin, are themselves published researchers in the field of multicultural research. Together, they have published articles on: the impact of surveying Hispanics via surname sample; trends within Hispanic political party identification; differences in survey quality by ethnicity; and the impact on data quality of the increasing number of Hispanics now reachable only via cell phone.