Principal staff:

Ann Stouffer Bisconti, PhD, President
Cherith Avery, Executive Assistant
Sandy Wilkes, Senior Research Associate for Interviews and Focus Groups

Bisconti Research offers top-notch research at affordable prices by streamlining operations.  We call upon an extraordinary network of experts from the U.S. and other countries only when their specific expertise is needed.

Audiences studied include the general public, special segments of the public, leadership groups, public officials, employees, and business customers.  Research methods include, but are not limited to:

• Public opinion surveys;
• In-depth in-person interviews;
• Focus groups;
• Online surveys;
• Message research, and 
• Tests of advertisements and brochures. 

Examples of Bisconti Research Projects that Helped our Clients in 2006

• Major national public opinion tracking surveys informed the nuclear industry and others on the state of public opinion toward nuclear energy and reasons for changing attitudes.
   

• A public opinion survey illustrated public rejection of a proposal in some cities to prohibit police response to burglar alarms unless a third party is able to verify that a crime is in progress.  
   

• Focus groups among building science professionals, officials, and homeowners identified ways to increase the usefulness of government publications for making buildings safe from natural and manmade hazards; the focus groups revealed a need to promote awareness of the publications among potential users in disaster areas and suggested methods for outreach in crisis situations such as Hurricane Katrina. 
   

• A survey and focus groups for a nuclear utility showed how best to communicate about an inadvertent release of a small and safe (according to regulatory standards) quantity of a radioactive substance and actions to prevent such releases in the future.
   

• Focus groups with the public and individual interviews with leadership groups identified best ways to communicate about a visionary plan to reduce the world’s reliance on fossil fuels, the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP); the research also identified concepts that are confusing and terms like “cradle-to-grave” and “burning fuel” that convey inaccurate images. 
   

• Two county-wide surveys for developers of Smart Growth communities found linkages between developers’ goals and public desires for the area to help make a strong case to local officials.
   

• Surveys for two nuclear utilities among the publics in their areas found near unanimous support for plant license renewal and delineated attitudes toward the plants.
   

• Focus groups with nuclear power plant employees revealed factors that promote recruitment and retention among engineering, other technical, and craft workers.
   

• A test of advertising concepts for branding nuclear energy resulted in the selection of an effective new campaign.
   

• Based on case study research and Bisconti Research expertise, we prepared a comprehensive guidebook to good practices in nuclear communications for a Japanese electric company; the guidebook delineated and illustrated good practices for planning, research, communications methods, outreach, crisis communications, and other areas.
   

• Interviews with major players, as well as analysis of documents, were used for an in-depth study of MOX fuel and reprocessing policies in the United States for a Japanese organization.
   

• Periodic articles for a Japanese journal based on key person interviews and other resource materials illuminated U.S. nuclear energy policy issues.
   

• On-line surveys of nuclear industry executives and in-depth interviews with community officials identified effective community outreach practices that can be shared.

  
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