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B -- MEDIA RESEARCH SURVEY PROJECT POC Herman Shaw, Tele: 202-205-8412 17. B -- MEDIA RESEARCH SURVEY PROJECT. The International Bureau of Broadcasting (IBB), Voice of America (VOA) requires a Contractor to obtain data on the size, composition, and media habits of the audience to its broadcasts in the following languages: Burmese, Tibetan, Khmer, Dari, Pashto, and Kurdish. Interested contractors are invited to submit proposals for research projects designed to collect and analyze such information. Because of the complexities involved in obtaining information about media behaviour in the target areas, potential contractors are encouraged to propose creative solutions to this requirement. This request for proposal (RFP) is a full and open procurement with the possibility of multiple awards as noted below. The SIC code is 8732 with a size standard of $5 million. Please note that this RFP includes the Statement of Work (SOW), deliverable and reporting requirements, technical evaluation and selection criteria and proposal preparation instructions. All information required for the submission of an offer will be contained in the RFP package. The VOA research projects, at a minimum, will be designed to obtain the most accurate possible information about: 1) The number of regular (i.e. weekly) listeners to VOA language services listed above, 2) The demographic characteristics and geographical distribution of this audience, 3) The size of the regular listening audience for other international and domestic radio and television broadcasters, 4) General patterns of media use by residents of the broadcast target areas, 5) Opinions on the part of the audience as to the accuracy, reliability, and relevance of the programs of VOA and other media. Contractor deliverables shall include: 1) A detailed narrative report on the findings of each study. 2) Fully cleaned data sets for each study, with topline summaries and supporting codebooks. Data sets shall be provided in hard copy and diskette. 3) Translated transcripts and audio tapes of any focus groups conducted in connectionwith each study. The Contractor shall be responsible for project design, translation and, if necessary, adaptation of VOA-supplied questionnaires, training of interviewers, supervision of fieldwork, data processing and cleaning, and preparation of summary reports. Potential sources may submit offers for research on all or any of the languages listed above. However, in all cases, offers shall be broken down to reflect the proposed research costs per language. Preference will be given to sources who indicate an ability to fulfill the entire requirement. Due to budgetary considerations, VOA may choose to award a contract for only part of the requirement stated herein. The estimated period of performance will be one (1) year. The contract will be of the firm-fixed price (FFP) type. The RFP package will be available on January 7, 1997. Contractors' proposal shall include: 1) A detailed description of the proposed research methodology, including specific listing of organizations that contractor would propose touse for fieldwork; 2) Justification for the methodology chosen, along with the Contractor's assessment of the quality of information that could be obtained; 3) Estimates of cost and time required to complete the projects; 4) Statement of Contractor's qualifications pertinent to the proposed projects. The evaluation and selection of a contractor will be made on the basis of the equally important criteria listed below, in addition to total project cost and ability to meet the proposed schedule. Please note that technical merit is considered more important than cost. a. Past performance and experience of firm with at least three (3) references. b. Recent and demonstrated ability to conduct research on the media use of audiences in closed societies. c. Quality of proposed data collection techniques and overall project design. d. Ability to carry out the entire project with in-house staff. Proposals for the above are due at the address listed above before 2:00 PM on February 7, 1997. Written questions concerning the technical specifications may be faxed to Mr. Herman Shaw at (202) 205-5466. This notice will represent the only official notice of publication for this requirement from date of publication through at least 30 days thereafter. All interested offerors may submit an offer which shall be considered. This advertisement does not comit the Government to award a contract. (0359)

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