Request for Proposals

Representative opinion surveys in Brazil, India and South Africa

The Institut für Strategischen Dialog gGmbH (ISD Germany) is seeking a survey provider to deliver three representative population surveys as part of a research project funded by the German Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt).  The project examines self-reported exposure to narratives about Germany, perceptions of their accuracy, and how false or misleading narratives may influence political attitudes towards Germany and personal intentions, including travel, work and relocation.

Scope

Three representative surveys of about 1,000 respondents each in Brazil, India and South Africa, fielded in the first quarter of 2027. Interviews of roughly 20 minutes, online where representative coverage allows (provider recommendations on mode welcome). The questionnaire will include a paired conjoint experiment with approximately eight tasks per respondent. The experiment will investigate the influence of factual accuracy, tone and attributed source on support for competing positions. A central hypothesis concerns political alignment: we are considering hypothetical party attributions to test whether respondents are more likely to support positions associated with a party they previously voted for. The precise experimental design and integration of political-party attribution are still being developed. ISD leads on questionnaire design, translation specifications, sampling and weighting specifications and conducts the analysis; the provider delivers translation and localisation, programming, fieldwork, quality control, weighting and a cleaned dataset with codebook and field report. Providers may bid for one, several or all three countries.

Separately: If your organisation could also deliver a comparable survey for a different ISD project in Austria, we would be glad to know. This relates to an entirely separate procurement and is not part of this call. Please simply note it in your cover email, not in your formal proposal, which should address this RFP only.

How to apply

Please submit a short proposal setting out your feasibility and recommended approach per country, a transparent cost breakdown per country, fielding windows and lead times, your translation and quality-control approach, and your data-protection arrangements (GDPR-compliant processing, data location, and willingness to enter a data processing agreement). Please name a single point of contact. Please also comment on the feasibility of the proposed conjoint design, including randomization, the availability of previous-vote data and statistical power for main effects and selected interactions, particularly between political alignment and factual accuracy. We would welcome recommendations on the appropriate sample size and any country-specific design constraints.

Please provide separate cost estimates for (a) a quantitative pilot of up to 200 respondents per country, allowing for preliminary analysis and potential questionnaire adjustments, and (b) qualitative cognitive pre-tests assessing comprehension, plausibility and the suitability of experimental stimuli across languages and country contexts.

Eligibility

• Demonstrated expertise in delivering representative surveys of over 1,000 respondents.
• Ability to deliver in at least one of the three country contexts.
• Availability during the first quarter of 2027.
• GDPR-compliant data processing, with appropriate safeguards for the three countries.

Evaluation criteria

• Experience and expertise — 30%: track record on large representative surveys in the relevant contexts.
• Technical competence — 30%: fit with ISD’s requirements, proposed approach and responsiveness.
• Cost and value for money — 30%: total cost, transparency and any economies of scale across countries.
• Availability and capacity — 10%: confirmed availability and responsiveness during the procurement period.

Submission

Please send your proposal by email to ISD Germany at [email protected] by 9 November. This is an open call; ISD may also approach suppliers directly and will assess all eligible proposals against the criteria above. ISD reserves the right to award by country, to request clarifications or not to award a contract.