ISO 20252:2019 is the international standard governing the management and delivery of market, opinion and social research, including insight and data analytics. Acuigen was first awarded ISO 20252 certification in 2008 (originally accredited under BS 7791) and has maintained continuous certification since. This reflects the consistency, rigour and maturity of our research operations.
What is ISO 20252?
ISO 20252 is a methodology‑specific research standard that defines best‑practice requirements across the full research lifecycle. It covers:
- Research process management
- Governance and executive oversight of research
- Information security
- Project management
- Subcontractor management
- Internal audit and quality assurance
- Sampling design and execution
- Data collection and fieldwork, including interviewer recruitment, training, verification and appraisal
- Physical, digital and online observation
- Self‑completion methodologies
- Data processing, management and delivery
Unlike general quality standards, ISO 20252 specifies how research must be conducted, depending on the methodology used.
Scope of our ISO 20252 Certification
The scope of our certification is defined in our Statement of Applicability (SoA), aligned to the ISO 20252:2019 standard for market, opinion and social research. Our certified activities cover three core areas:
- Client feedback programmes
- Research services
- CustomServe insight technology
We deliver insight services to professional services firms, commercial organisations, government bodies and public sector organisations, operating across the UK, Europe, North America and internationally.
Independent Assessment
As part of our ISO 20252 certification, Acuigen is subject to a comprehensive annual independent assessment, conducted by Marketing Quality Assurance (MQA). Our most recent assessment visit took place in February 2026. These assessments provide independent assurance that our research processes remain compliant, well‑governed and consistently applied.
ISO 9001, ISO 20252 and ISO 27001 - What’s the difference?
Our 3 ISO standards address different but complementary aspects of how we deliver quality, conduct research and protect information:
- ISO 9001 is a quality system that ensures that clients receive a great service and that our service and products are continually improved. We define the internal quality systems and ensure that we deliver to them for the 2 certified scopes (research and software development/hosting of services). ISO 9001 takes a risk assessment and mitigation approach to managing quality.
- ISO 20252, by contrast to ISO 9001, is a ‘best of class’ prescriptive standard that defines standard ways and standards dependent upon the appropriate research methodology. For example, when undertaking telephone interviews, the standard defines the minimum number of interviews that have to be validated per interviewer and the methods of assuring the quality of their work.
- ISO 27001 is an information security standard that uses a risk assessment and mitigation approach in the same manner as ISO 9001. An information security management system (ISMS) is set up with circa 93 different controls (listed in ISO 27002) to cover different areas of risk, including; people, organisation, physical and technology risks.
UKAS Accreditation - Why is it so important?
Our certification processes are accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), the UK government‑appointed body responsible for assessing organisations that provide certification services. UKAS is also a signatory to international accreditation agreements, enabling the mutual recognition of certifications globally.
Only UKAS‑accredited certification bodies have been formally assessed by the UK’s national accreditation authority. Certification issued by non‑accredited bodies may not be subject to the same level of independent oversight or international recognition.