Research Support Services

What Research Support Services does

Research Support Services Inc. (RSS) is a privately held, Evanston, Illinois-based professional services firm founded in 1996 that delivers survey design, data collection, and analysis for social, health, and policy research. The firm operates as a small, specialized practice with six named staff members — two co-principals (Alisú Schoua-Glusberg and Martín Glusberg), two project managers, and two support staff — supported by nearly 150 years of combined senior methodological experience. Its go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven, with no disclosed intermediaries or resellers; client acquisition is anchored in professional reputation, conference participation, and a sustained publication record.

RSS delivers four integrated service lines: (i) Instrument Design and Pretesting, including survey and questionnaire validation; (ii) Data Collection, Cleaning and Analysis, leveraging multimode reach (web, phone, in-person) with specialization in hard-to-reach populations; (iii) Qualitative Research, including cognitive interviews, usability interviews, in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, and focus groups conducted in English, Spanish, and other languages; and (iv) Translation Services, focused on linguistic and cultural equivalence of research instruments. Underlying technology is methodological rather than platform-based — there is no proprietary software product, no API, no SDK, and no mobile application; delivery rests on the senior team's domain expertise and multilingual field capability.

The firm operates on project-based professional services contracts with three primary segments: federal government agencies (notably the U.S. Census Bureau and CDC), academic and research institutions (Northwestern University, Case Western Reserve University, Urban Institute), and large corporations (Pfizer, Meta). Revenue is generated per engagement without publicly disclosed pricing; no funding rounds, M&A, subsidiaries, or parent company exist, and the firm has been continuously operating for 26+ years under stable ownership.

Name

Research Support Services

Legal name

Research Support Services Inc.

Website

https://researchsupportservices.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Research Support Services is an Evanston, Illinois-based B2B professional services firm founded in 1996 that provides survey design, multimode data collection, and qualitative research for U.S. federal agencies, academic institutions, and large corporations. It operates with a six-person team and specializes in multilingual and hard-to-reach population research.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Survey, Panel & Fieldwork Services (BPAHALAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE), Policy, Regulatory & Public Affairs Research (BPAHALAF)

Keywords

• Survey design services
• Qualitative research services
• Quantitative research services
• Multilingual data collection
• Research instrument translation

Headquarters

HQ city

Evanston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research Services: Project-based professional services providing research design, data collection, analysis, and translation services for health, social and policy research studies. Revenue generated through client contracts for specific research projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Research Support Services provides professional research services for social, health, and policy studies, including survey instrument design and pretesting, multimode quantitative data collection (web, phone, in-person), cleaning and statistical analysis, qualitative research (cognitive interviews, usability interviews, in-depth interviews, focus groups) conducted in English, Spanish, and other languages, and translation of research instruments. The firm delivers end-to-end study execution from design through analysis for federal agencies, academic institutions, and large corporations.

Product overview

Research Support Services provides a unified suite of research services for social, health, and policy studies. The company operates four integrated service lines: Instrument Design and Pretesting (survey development and validation), Data Collection/Cleaning/Analysis (multimode quantitative research), Qualitative Research (cognitive interviews, usability testing, focus groups in multiple languages), and Translation Services (cross-cultural translation of research instruments). These services are designed to work together as a comprehensive research solution from study design through execution and analysis.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Instrument Design and Pretesting

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• RTI International: Nonprofit research institute with deep survey methodology, multilingual data collection, and federal health research practices. Overlaps with RSS in CDC, NIH-adjacent, and Census survey work.
• NORC at the University of Chicago: Independent research institution providing survey research, data collection, and policy analysis for government, academic, and corporate clients. Competes directly with RSS for federal health and policy survey methodology work.
• SSRS: U.S. survey research firm specializing in probability-based survey design, multimode data collection, and methodological research for academic, media, and nonprofit clients. Closest mid-sized direct peer in terms of methodology focus.
• Abt Associates: Global research and program implementation firm with a large U.S. survey research practice serving federal health and demographic clients. Direct competitor on CDC, Census-adjacent, and policy research contracts.
• Westat: Large U.S. employee-owned research firm that conducts survey design, data collection, and statistical analysis for federal agencies (including CDC and Census). Closest large-scale analog to RSS, with the same core federal survey methodology practice.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/100057658531207
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/research-support-services-inc-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Research Support Services