How Patrick Stokes and Rep Data Are Rebuilding Market Research Around Data Integrity

1. How is your organization addressing data quality challenges in your research or analytics processes, and are you leveraging external partners for this?

Data quality is at the heart of everything we do. In fact, we built our entire business around solving the persistent data quality issues plaguing the research industry. That’s why, in 2023, we acquired Research Defender—the industry’s most comprehensive fraud prevention platform. It allows us to screen out fraudulent or low-quality responses before they ever reach a dataset. Research Defender analyzes billions of behavioral signals annually, identifying bad actors who mask their location, reuse IP addresses, spoof device information, or copy-paste responses. It’s a multilayered defense system that goes well beyond traditional quality checks. You can see the full glossary of fraud types we monitor and prevent here. This capability is baked into everything we do, whether clients are sourcing sample through our Research Desk platform or working directly with our managed services team. And while we partner with over 250 sample providers globally, all respondents are pre-vetted through Research Defender, ensuring high-quality, high-integrity data every time.

2. What are your top priorities when selecting market research providers—speed, quality, innovation, or do you have any other approach?

Quality comes first. That’s non-negotiable. But we also know clients need fast, flexible solutions,so we’ve built our model to balance both. Our approach is to source validated respondents through double-opted-in panels that have already been vetted by Research Defender before they enter a project. We also use a multi-source methodology to avoid the bias or limitations of single-panel sourcing. We believe innovation should remove friction, not create it. That’s why we created Research Desk, a tech-enabled platform that allows researchers to source high-quality sample quickly and confidently, with built-in fraud prevention and automated reconciliation. Whether clients choose self-service or full-service support, our priority is delivering data they can trust without slowing them down.

3. How critical is it for your business to have scalable, globally consistent research methodologies and insights?

It’s absolutely mission critical. We serve clients across industries and continents, so we need to deliver consistency at scale. That means adhering to rigorous data quality standards no matter where the research takes place. Our multi-source model, combined with our proprietary fraud prevention tech, ensures that every respondent, in every market, is evaluated against the same high bar. We are members of respected global organizations in the research field and adhere to international standards in all of our work. 

4. What role do industry veterans and advisory boards play in shaping your company’s innovation roadmap or go-to-market strategies?

They play a major role. Our executive team averages about 20 years of experience in the industry, so we’ve seen the evolution of research technology, the rise of programmatic sampling, and the persistent challenge of fraud. That experience shapes how we build solutions that are both practical and future-focused. We also lean heavily on our board for strategic guidance. For example, Kurt Knapton, one of our board members, was a founding executive at e-Rewards, which pioneered the by-invitation-only panel model and evolved into what is now Dynata. His insights have been instrumental in helping us scale thoughtfully while staying laser-focused on our core mission of data integrity. 

5. Do you actively engage with research or technology partners that have strategic backing (e.g., private equity) to ensure long-term innovation and stability?

Yes. Rep Data is proud to be Partnered with leading private equity firm Mountaingate Capital to scale innovation, a private equity firm that specializes in helping high-growth companies scale responsibly. Their investment has allowed us to accelerate product development, expand our fraud detection capabilities, and invest in the kind of infrastructure that ensures long-term stability. Mountaingate’s support also reinforces our ability to remain independent, while still pursuing bold innovation. Their focus on customer value and shared ownership aligns perfectly with our mission. The full announcement of our partnership can be found here.

6. To what extent is AI being integrated into your data collection and validation strategies to ensure high-integrity insights?

One way we use AI is to assess whether a survey taker’s responses are contextually relevant to the questions being asked. This helps us identify and flag respondents who are not truly engaging with the survey content. Beyond that, machine learning and automation are embedded across our entire product suite to improve efficiency and maintain consistency in quality. We don’t view AI as a silver bullet, but as an important tool in a broader strategy to protect and validate our data. It works alongside our fraud prevention platform, Research Defender, and our expert team to ensure high-integrity insights every time.

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