Top 100 CEO Interviews
Issue No. 18 - August/September 2004
The SA Top 100 Research Methodology
The SA Top 100 company index project was going to be a challenge from day one and our research team leader Susan Smart was not surprised by the enormity of the task.
Before the research could begin we had to evaluate what information would be of relevance and interest to the readers of the magazine. Once this was concluded our next consideration was to ascertain the sufficiency of the information we were seeking and its likely accuracy.
Therefore the research had to be approached from its broadest perspective with both primary and secondary data sources being taken into account.
The specifications for the SA Top 100 were also exclusively geared to private companies that have a majority South Australian shareholding. We also included publicly listed South Australian companies with a local share registry and major business in SA.
Typically, foundations, not-for-profit organisations etc are not included in these types of tables.
Our research team looked at the market and the availability of secondary data which could help shape the list of companies that were likely to be included in the research pool. Secondary research sources were used to refine this list further, to what we referred to as the ‘prospective’ members of the list.
Armed with the prospective list we went about conducting primary data research, which meant moving from desktop research to field research. Specific questionnaires were sent out to all members of the prospe...
