WO2002065681A2

WO2002065681A2 - Method for sending and collecting data through mobile communications system

Info

Publication number: WO2002065681A2
Application number: PCT/IB2001/002869
Authority: WO
Inventors: Olivier Marie Marcel Autran; Paulo Fernandes Duarte Loureiro
Original assignee: Olivier Marie Marcel Autran; Loureiro Paulo Fernandes Duart
Priority date: 2000-12-22
Filing date: 2001-12-21
Publication date: 2002-08-22
Also published as: WO2002065681A3; BR0007130A; AU2002249484A1

Abstract

The present invention provides a new and improved method for ending and collecting data via mobile communication (Fig 4 wireless respodent) , comprising the features of not requiring the participation of researchers, the real time data sending, collecting and processing, as well as sending research results, also in real time, to an user (42); the present invention also discloses a new and improved method for faster sending and collecting data which is also more efficiently, and at lower cost, overcoming the technical problems associated with surveys and researches and also making possible the dynamic refining of respondent's profile(44).

Description

Method For Sending And Collecting Data Through Mobile Communications System

Field Of The Invention

Present invention is related to systems and methods for sending and collecting data which use bi-directional message sending operated in mobile communications systems and automated communication with databases. More specifically, present invention is related to the construction of said databases, in such a way as to allow sun/eying and/or market research without the need of researchers.

Description Of The Related Art

Data collection systems are well known in the art. The commonest ones use questionnaires or printed survey lists that can be sent by mail to a group of researchers and later hand filled so as to save the collected informations regarding specific shopping preferences for particular products and re-sending such informations to the research company for further data processing. This technique, although satisfactory in some circumstances, is costly, time consuming and allows the occurrence of many errors during data transfer in the various steps performed by the researchers. Additionally, this technique is also limited in that it does not allow fast survey reorganization or conduction thereof anytime based on the previous results, as well as does not allow fast collection and analysis of the collected data. Accordingly, with the advent of electronics stock control and optic readers currently used on supermarkets considerable efforts have been invested for the development of electronics data collection systems. The collection, organization and sending of market informations for market research is an old and known practice, particularly since the development of optic readers and the spread of the universal bar code. This kind of research is based on the use of a data controller which is located within the shopping places or in a different place, connected to the optic reader controllers through a computer or logic processor. The informations summary is usually sent to the data users through any data retrieving and transmitting means, for example, magnetic discs or tapes, diskettes, telephone, cable or satellite data transmission. The related art includes Brazilian patent PI 9300200, which discloses an automatic market survey device working at the market places; Brazilian utility model MU 400836, which discloses an interactive electronic module for market survey which is physically connected to the market place; and the Brazilian utility model MU 7400334, similar to the one described in MU 400836, but with slight device architectural differences. In both cases, although there is bi-directional flow of data, the scope of the survey is restricted to its physical location, since the disclosed inventions require the use of fixed devices.

Another example of data collection system is available in document US 4355372, which discloses a data collection method for independently and electronically market surveying of a plurality of locations, thus surpassing the limitations of the previous art. However, this method does not comprise any questionnaire sending step or the possibility of sending different questionnaires to the same researcher or to different researchers, or even the possibility of rapidly changing the survey contents or changing the way of carrying out a survey modified in accordance with the previous results, through the simple sending of a new questionnaire by the bi-directional connection which allows survey results transmission back to a central processor. Accordingly, although the survey data collection is fast and the data is sent through telephone lines, there is no rapid survey dissemination. The developments disclosed in US 4355372 comprise solutions for the disadvantages of the previous art. However, although the concept of sending software per se is known in the art, as disclosed in US 4064490, and the concept of remote data transmission through telephone lines per se is also known, as disclosed in US 3210472 e US 3950618, and the concept of survey questionnaires dissemination per se is also known, as disclosed in US 4151370, US 4107735 e US 3546791 , to our knowledge no prior art discloses a method for electronic data collection and dissemination thereof that combine all of these features in a single method of sending and collecting data useful for market surveys which is efficient and flexible enough so as to allow sending a plurality of variable survey questionnaires to a group of researchers and individually suited to each researcher to allow obtaining substantially immediate responses for rapid retrieval and analysis, as well as the follow up of multiple surveys. Document US 4603232 discloses a method comprising bidirectional data and questionnaire transfer between the researchers and the central system, but such method requires researchers and therefore limits the survey scope to the locations and where the researcher meets the respondents. Similarly, patent US 5970467 discloses a market data collecting method comprising electronic data retrieval through the internet or television spectators. This invention limits the survey scope to internet users and TV watchers, which, respectively, have equipment therefor and are prone to answer questions through telephone calls.

All the limitations so far pointed out render surveys costly and may also mask their results, mainly in great cities where respondents do not have available time or are somehow bored by the researchers^' approach. The same is valid for surveys performed by call centers, in which groups of attendants receive answers to questions made by telephone or at television programs. Accordingly, the survey results may be at least in part influenced by the kind of approach adopted by the researcher. Present invention circumvent all these limitations by providing a new and improved method for sending and collecting data through mobile communications system which comprises the features of automatically and bi-directionally sending data without the need of researchers and with improved comfort for the respondents. In addition, the lack of sending and collecting methods which allow automatic survey refinement depending on respondent's answers has highlighted the need for the development of improved survey methods. Present invention solves this technical problem with the additional advantage of providing means for establishing different statistical thresholds required for specific surveys, for example, sample stratification. Sample stratification can be exemplified by the case in which 5 questions may be sent to 1000 respondents or 1 question may be sent to 5000 respondents: in both cases the same number of answers can be obtained. This feature of the invention also circumvents the cost problem associated with data collected by methods without stratification capabilities, since in these methods much of the collected data may not fit the survey requirement criteria.

The features of the invention render it useful for knowledge tests such as quizzes, since respondent's performance may be a key for determining the next questions to be sent by present method. The art regarding knowledge tests or quizzes comprises document US 4681548, disclosing an equipment and method for teaching, training, performing games, quizzes and tests by means of data cards that activate a circuit comprising computational resources for response analysis. More recently, document US 5657256 disclosed a method for conducting computerized tests which comprises a series of respondent performance evaluation elements. The disclosure is limited to the description of system's logic of questionnaire formulation and delivery and does not comprise the means through which the tests can be actually performed. Accordingly, present invention is also related to method by which knowledge tests or quizzes can be advantageously performed.

Summary Of The Invention

One objective of present invention is to provide a new and improved method for sending and collecting data through communications system, said method being useful for market survey. Another objective of the invention is to provide a new and improved method for conducting research. An additional objective of present invention is to provide a new and improved method for sending and collecting data in which the participation of researchers is not necessary. Another objective of present invention is to provide a new and improved method for sending and collecting data through communications system in which sending data, collecting data and the processing thereof can be performed in real time and the data are transmitted to a database and questions are transmitted to the surveyed public through mobile communications system. Another objective of present invention is to provide a new and improved method for sending and collecting data in which the questions sent to the respondents are refined in accordance with the previous answers. Another objective of present invention is to provide a new and improved method for sending and collecting data in which the processed data can be automatically sent to the user of a specific research or survey. Another objective of present invention is to provide a new and improved method for sending and collecting data through communications system in which respondent's answers are retrieved in a database, thus allowing continuous respondent profile refinement. An additional objective of present invention is to provide a new and improved method for sending and collecting data in which the data of a specific panel containing respondent's informations can be accessed by an user with access authorization to said database and/or specific panel. Another objective of present invention is to provide a new and improved method for sending and collecting data in which user access panels can be assembled when individuals agree in participating on the survey/research. Another objective of present invention is to provide a new and improved method for sending and collecting data through communications system in which the user access panels can be supplied with the set of respondent's informations sent by communications net or telephone system. Another objective of present invention is to provide a new and improved method for sending and collecting data through communications system in which the respondents are automatically invited to participate on surveys through their mobile communication devices. An additional objective of present invention is to provide a new and improved method for sending and collecting data through communications system in which the messages and questions are automatically generated by one or more databases and sent form the system server to the respondent through mobile communication. Another objective of present invention is to provide a new and improved method for conducting knowledge tests or quizzes, with advantages and comfort for the respondents.

Brief Description Of The Drawings

Another features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from its detailed description taken together with figures 1 , 2, 3 and 4.

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the steps taken by present method.

Figure 2 describes the data flow through the automated communication with system's databases, being said data flow controlled by a software. Figure 3 is a class diagram, that is, a general view of the logic components of the system, herein described in unified modeling language (UML).

Figure 4 is a schematic representation of the physical components of present invention.

Detailed Description Of The Invention And The Preferred

Embodiments

Definitions

Respondent 44: any individual who owns or have access to a device working with any mobile communication protocol compatible with SMS (Short Message System) and/or WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), or any other protocol which allows message sending and receiving. Respondent 44 may also be classified in this invention as any individual which uses a mobile communications system for sending and receiving messages from a plurality of people. To stimulate the participation in surveys respondents 44 may receive different forms of incentive. User 42: any individual or entity which requests the data obtained by system 30 described on present invention. Said request may be performed after the user 42 is previously logged on, that is, system 30 of the invention also permits the user 42 to be anonymous.

The method of present invention can be described by the following steps, which are intended to exemplify, but not to limit, the scope of the invention. System 30 may be loaded with informations about respondents 44 and/or users 42, by means of the following steps:

Respondent 44 subscription 10

Respondent 44 may subscribe by means of any communications provider 20, for example by a call center, calling from a fixed or mobile phone or through the internet, using the system 30 herein described. When the subscription 10 is external and automatic, system 30 may be optionally protected by a Firewall or similar protection equipment. Respondent 44 loads the requested informations such as name, age, address, mobile phone number and, if applicable, other informations regarding his social and/or economic profile. System 30 then delivers a password to respondent 44, allowing the adaptation of his/her profile at any moment by the same steps taken for subscribing. Additionally, other specific informations may be requested to respondent 44, such as the frequency at which he/she is prone to answer the questions, or the kind of incentive (credits or other incentives). System 30 also allow the respondent 44 to cancel the subscription anytime. The informations loaded to system 30 can contain data commonly requested by research companies and can be made available to users 42. The message exchange between system 30 and respondent 44 can be performed by a SMS message or any other available mobile transmission protocol, after informing the previously subscribed respondent 44 and inviting him/her to participate in the survey/research. If accepting, questions will be sent to respondent 44. System 30 further allows the choice of a defined timing for receiving the answers, so as to render them valid or not according to any specific criteria. Additionally, system 30 allow each question to be sent in accordance with the previous answer. Another way of exchanging data in the system 30 of present invention is sending a message to respondent 44, inviting him/her to visit a web site in which the questions are available. If the respondent does not answer a pre-determined number of surveys, or a pre-determined days, he/she can be inactivated so as he/she will not receive any other question until re-subscribing or reactivated by other means.

Treatment of a survey request from the user 42 User 42, after subscribing 10 in the system 30, receives a user code and a password. Optionally, user 42 may be anonymous, in the case the kind of survey requires so. By using the code and password, user 42 may send the questions which will be part of the survey. The information flow for a survey requested by user 42 may use two different ways, as follows:

a) New survey requests (elaborated by the user 42)

In this case, user 42 may submit the survey form by the internet and system 30 or an operator thereof will analyze and validate the survey before it is disseminated to respondents 44. Once the survey model is validated by the system 30, this model may be defined as a standard survey model which can become available at the model database 34, which in turn can be accessed by users 42.

b) Surveys based on standard survey models

In this case the standard survey models are previously defined by the system 30, or by a survey previously submitted by a user 42 that has already been analyzed and validated by the system 30 and/or an operator thereof. Accordingly, user 42 may submit the survey model by the internet and the system will automatically generate the survey without requiring prior validation and thus improving the overall performance. Survey is then submitted to respondents 44.

Regardless of the information flow described above, a password may be delivered to user 42 for each submitted survey. After receiving a predetermined number of responses the system 30 may compile the data in the form of graphics and reports, which are then sent to user 42 or accessed in the system 30 by user 42. User 42 may also use statistical tools to change the data output layout. In this case, the user 42 will be able to submit the desired research model through an internet site, that will automatically give back a research without the need of approval or validation; in this manner, increasing the process speed, that will be submitted to the respondents 44 for answers.

Independent on the preceding flow, a password could be delivered to the user 42 for each research he/she submits. After receiving a predetermined number of answers, the system 30 can synthesize all the data in the form of graphics and/or reports, which can be sent to the user

42 that demanded the research or accessed in the system 30 by the user 42. The user 42 could still use the statistical tools to modify the form the data will be visualized.

For each submitted research, the user 42 will define the desired profile that will be automatically selected on the respondents database

31. After the research running, the user 42 can be warned, by telephone, by electronic mail or by a SMS message or equivalent, about the research result or the page (URL) where the result is shown and could be accessed with a password linked to this research, in case of it contains a password associated to the referred research. The user 42 can have access to the database 31 and can define the output results layout at his/her convenience.

Respondents database 31 This database 31 is dynamic, improving itself with the respondents 44 answers. The surveys can be an information source used for better knowing the respondents 44, being the database 31 related to other databases 32, 33, 34 of the system 30. This database 31 can be in various formats, for example, relational, object-oriented or any other equivalent data retrieving technology. Users database 32

This database 32 is used by the system 30 for receiving the users 42 subscription, the following up of the services provided to the user 42, the presentation of the research results, information of use, and other related information to user 42. This database 32 is related to other databases

31 , 33, 34 of the system 30. This database 32 may be configured in many formats, as for example, relational, object-oriented, or any other equivalent data retrieval technology.

Prizes database 33

The respondent 44 can be stimulated to take part in the researches by means of prizes. This database 33 has been developed to contain the required information in order that raffles can be made among the respondents 44 of each research and will select one or more winners, besides accumulating received points of each respondent 44. This database 33 is related to other databases 31 , 32, 34 of the system 30 and can be configured in many formats, as for example, relational, object-oriented, or any other equivalent data retrieval technology.

Research databases and research model 34

All data related to research and research models are stored in this database 34 which is related to the other databases 31 , 32, 33 of the system 30. This database 34 is loaded with: a) Standard research models defined by system 30, besides the research models submitted by the users 42. b) Researches themselves

This database 34 can be configured in many formats, as for example, relational, object-oriented, or any other equivalent data retrieval technology. Gateway 35 The gateway 35 has the function of transforming the questions into understandable formats by the mobile communication operators. This format can be SMS or any other data transfer technology over the network of cell phones operators, which can include GSM, GPRS, EDGE, 3G (respectively Global System Mobile Communications,

General Packet Radio Service, Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution, 3rd Generation) or other similar technology. This gateway 35 is responsible for the communication with the operators server. To adapt to these different servers, according to the manufacturers, which can include, for example, Logica, CMG, Comverse, Ericsson, or others available suppliers.

The database 31 , 32, 33 and 34 and the gateway 35 can be interconnected through the interconnection 50, that can be of any connection type available, or be located in a same physical database, accordingly to the demand and scale of the operation.

Communication with the operators 20

Type of connection

The communication with the operator 20 system 30 can use a dedicated physical method to data transmission (cable, radio etc.) or via a public network (internet, X25, FR frame relay, ATM asynchronous transfer mode, etc.). In the case of a public network, the access to the operator can be protected by devices of Firewall type.

Types of protocols

The protocols used to connect to the operator 20 can be of the SMPP

(Short Message Peer to Peer), EMIL, CIDM type if the operator is equipped with a SMS-C type equipment, WAP if the operator is equipped with a WAP Gateway, or any other type of protocol depending upon the available technology.

Communication with the respondents 44

Development of MMI

Until the cell phones terminal screens are all uniform and answer to an international standard, each type of screen can be different in size, data capacity, colors, etc. The communication with each type of cell terminal can be done by any kind of MMI (Man-Machine Interface).

Interconnection 50

The interconnection 50 can be of any kind of available connection, of physical type, establishing the individual bases connection, or of logical type, when the database 31 , 32, 33 and 34 are all in a same physical database. In both cases, the system 30 modules are interconnected by interconnection 50, that comprises interfaces, characteristics, methods, relationship and packages that make possible interconnection of the elements that create the system 30 and make possible the connection with the users 42 and respondents 44 through operators 20. Figure 3 presents the modules that comprise the logical organization of interconnection 50 in UML format. The Standard UML is a way of standardize de modeling oriented to objects in a way that any system, of any kind, can be correctly modeled, with consistency, ease of communication with other applications, ease to be updated and understandable. The UML is destined to be dominant, a common language of modeling to be used in softwares development. It is totally based in concepts and standards extensively tested, forthcoming from previously existent methodology, and also is very well documented with all the specification of language semantics represented in meta-models. In a particular embodiment of the present invention, the method for sending and collecting data comprises concepts and steps involved in the conduction of market surveys. In this way, aiming to facilitate the understanding of a particular embodiment of the logical organization of interconnection 50 of the present invention, some definitions of the UML standard are presented. • Interfaces

An interface is a device that defines a group or methods (operations) and attributes (characteristics) of an object, without, nevertheless, implement them. A class can implement an interface, which means that it will implement all the methods defined in the interface. To high level system diagrams, the interfaces are broadly used since it is not the intent of these diagrams, details of implementation logic, but a description of which methods and characteristics needed for the functioning of the system. The technique used in this system infers that all the system classes have an corresponding interface for the making of relationships between the interfaces and not directly between the classes. In this way, it is guaranteed that eventual changes in the implementation techniques do not disturb the logical model of the application.

In the diagram, according to figure 3, the interfaces can be identified by a box divided in three parts: name, characteristics, and methods. Some special diagram interfaces are identified as actors of the system. They are not computational modules but represents system's interacting people. They are represented by the sketch of a person. In this logical project, some interfaces are found with the suffix Home (SurveyHome, RespondentHome, etc.). This is a characteristic of the use of special interfaces for the creation, surveillance and deletion control of the system objects technique. In the concept of object orientation, these interfaces represent the group of methods of a class of a certain object. • Attributes

Represent the belonging characteristics to an object. In this project, the attribute definitions follow the Java language, but other languages could be used with the same objective. As for example, ate the Question Interface, we will have: public interface Question{

String Question;

Alternative!] Alternatives;

} where can be understood:

❖ String: Is the attribute type. The term string means that this object is text-type. A type can be primitive (text, number, data, etc..) or yet a system object. In this project it is used the Java definition in which the following primitives types are in evidence: int. integer; string: text; boolean: logical (accept <true> and <false> values);

❖ Question: the attribute name; ❖ Alternative [ ]: means another type of attribute. The brackets, in this case, means that this attribute is actually a group of objects.

❖ Alternatives: the name of the second attribute of this interface;

• Methods

Represent the operations that specific interface is capable of doing. Unlike the structured programming, each object of a system possess a group of methods related to its purpose, i.e., the operations about an object are made solely by invocation of such a method. So, the code duplicity does not exist and any alteration in implementation can be done from a single location. In this technical project the methods are described accordingly to Java language, as for example in the interface SurveyHome, where we can find the following method:

public abstract Survey createSurvey(SponsorRecord sponsor, Question!] questions, string Key)

that is understood in the following way

❖ Public: means that is a public method, i.e., can be invoked by any other system method;

❖ abstract: means that is a not-implemented method. In this project case, all methods are abstract for solely interfaces are described, which, by definition, do not support implementation;

❖ Survey: is the method return type. In this case, the method will be executed and as return will have an Survey-kind object. It is possible for a method to have no response at all; to achieve this, the return object must have the term Void; ❖ createSurvey: is the method's name. It is common suggestive names of the method functionality;

❖ ( ): the parenthesis after the method's name are the difference between this term and the definition of an attribute, since both have the same syntax. They contain the parameters passed to the execution of the method. A method can have no parameters or several, each separated by comma.

❖ SponsorRecord sponsor, represents a parameter passed to the method. The syntax requires that must be first passed the type of this parameter (SponsorRecord) and second the parameter name (sponsor), and this last is the reference name to the method. ❖ Question!] questions: represents another method parameter differing in being a group of identified-type objects (Question[]). Does not mean that several objects will pass to the method, but an object, which is a list of other objects will pass. ❖ string key: last parameter of this method. Brings as type the term string which means the object is the text type.

The method syntax must still consist two braces ( { } ) which ascertain the limits of the method body. In this project, the methods have no braces because all of the objects are interfaces and in this way, do not support implementation.

• Relationships

There are several kinds of relationships defined by the UML standard and applied in the classes diagrams.

• Association: a structured relationship which describes a group of object links. There are two special ways of association:

• Aggregation: a special type of association that denotes that the object is an integral part of the "whole" which it is related;

• Composition: a way of stronger aggregation where the parts can be created and then composed, but once composed, its dependency in the system depends on the other related parts. In the diagrams, the aggregations are shown by a straight line or arrow connecting two classes or interfaces.

• Generalization: denotes a relationship where the special element objects can be substituted by a more generic object (father). It is represented in the diagrams by an arrow with a void end; • Implementation: it's the same of generalization, visually. It's used to show the heritage of the implementation in a more specific element;

• Dependency: shows the semantic of a relationship between two (or more) elements of the model where any independent element change probably affects the dependent element. It's shown as a dotted line.

• Package A package is a group of items of a physical model or grouping of logical components of a model. It is represented in the diagrams by a box containing the interfaces.

Also to exemplify a particular embodiment of present invention, interface and package details that compose the class diagram of figure 3 are presented below. Each element of the diagram has a textual description explaining the functionality of the same. Also, to the interfaces methods, a description and particularization about which return values, parameters, and which classes that possibly will call this method is done. Finally, the attributes are also reported with its functionality and possible values that it might assume.

Figure 3 represents a class diagram, which brings a general view of the research system logical components. The packages represent the modules and are groups of interfaces common of a subsystem. The actors represent the people that will interact with the system. The relationship between the packages suggest dependency between the interfaces of two distinct packages. These relationships are not only visual, but because the interfaces possess methods or attributes that refer to other system components Package Details

Bl Survey package

This package has the classes and interfaces related to the research itself. Through this module is sent the questions by the user 42 (sponsor), is selected the profile of the respondents 44 and is sent the questions to the gateway 35 SMS. This package has a great involvement with the Web Server and acts as a main module of the process of collect public opinion by mobile communication systems, for example, cell phones.

il Respondent package

It is the responsible part by the survey and respondents 44 management. Just as the other surveys in the system, this has a great involvement with the Web Server. This module does not contemplate solely a simple survey but also questions that should be well elaborated for the establishment of the respondent 44 profile. A further detail is the confirmation of the respondent(44)'s mobile communication device number, which occurs through a direct communication with the mobile communication device number informed by the respondent 44.

Bl Sponsor package

Responsible for all the communication with the users 42 (sponsors). Through theses interfaces it is possible the survey and validation for the fulfilling of the research fields.

El Operator Package

It is the part of the operator's 20 subscription. It is a simple module to support the rest of the system's modules. B Results Package

This package contains the needed functionalities to consult the researches results by the users 42; Has a great interface with the Web Server and other softwares for the reports and graphs generation.

El Gateway Package

It is the part responsible for the questions transformation into SMS format for sending and reception of SMS-centers. Has as additional functionality the connections monitoring with the Operators 20.

Interfaces details

Interface Attendant

Represents the system's attendant even for an user 42 or for a respondent 44, working analog to a CallCenter.

C> Cell Phone Interface

This interface represents the system itself or mobile communication device, preferably a cellular telephone.

C MainServer Interface

It is the external players communication with the system. Represents the Webserver set with the Servlet Java and the connections with the others system's modules. It is through this interface that the users 42 subscriptions, respondents 44 and results consults are created. O Moderator Interface

Represents the responsible person for the approval and possible corrections in the researches, when needed. The moderator is notified all the time a new research is submitted to the Webserver and has the responsibility for approving or suggesting changes in the text. Only after the research approval the questions are sent to the respondents 44.

O Respondent Interface

It represents the physical person 42 that will participate of the research answering the sent questions.

O Sponsor Interface

Identifies an operator which makes the access to the system for a research submission.

For example, the figure 4 shows a physical network diagram, that brings all the physical components necessary for the sending and collecting data process execution for the present invention. The connections with the operator, that can be more than one, are only exemplifying which are the connection possibilities.

Claims

1. A method for sending and collecting data via mobile communication characterised in that it does not require the participation of researchers and comprises the steps of: sending the data to a respondent (44), through mobile communication; collecting the data from a respondent (44), through mobile communication; processing the collected data in a central processing (30); elaboration of reports of the processed data; and sending said reports to an user (42) of the method.

2. A method for sending and collecting data, as described in claim 1 , characterised in that the sending and collecting of data occur in real time.

3. A method for sending and collecting data, as described in claim 1 , characterised in that the processing of said data occurs in real time.

4. A method for sending and collecting data, as described in claim 1 , characterised in that the respondents (44) are automatically invited to take part of researches directly from their system or mobile communication device.

5. A method for sending and collecting data, as described in claim 1 , characterised in that the processed data can be automatically sent to a research user (42).

6. A method for sending and collecting data, as described in claim 1 , characterised in that the messages and/or questions are automatically created from one or more databases (31, 32, 33, 34) and sent from the system server (30) to the respondent (44).

7. A method for sending and collecting data, as described in claim 1 , characterised in that it tests the knowledge in a quiz-like test.

8. A method for sending and collecting data, as described in claim 1 , characterised in that the respondents'(44) data, including answers to sent questions, are stored in a dynamic respondents database (31).

9. A method for sending and collecting data, as described in claim 6, characterised in that the said messages and/or questions are refined according to the response to prior questions.

10. A method for sending and collecting data, as described in claim 8, characterised in that the said database (31) comprises the respondents' (44) profiles.

11. A method for sending and collecting data, as described in claim 10, in which the related databases (31) comprises the respondents' (44) profiles, characterised in that panels of respondents' (44) profiles can be accessed by an user (42) who has permission to access said panels.

12. A method for sending and collecting data, as described in claim 10, characterised in that the messages and/or questions are sent in a stratified way to respondents (44) with specific profiles.

13. A method for sending and collecting data, as described in claim 1 1 , characterised in that the accessible panels by an user (42) can be loaded by the register of the respondents' (44) group, via network communications or via telephone central system

14. A method for sending and collecting data, as described in claim 1 1 , characterised in that the said panels, containing the respondents' (44) profiles can be refined with profiles defined through a plurality of parameters.

15. A method for sending and collecting data, as described in claim 14, characterised in that it sends questions to the respondents (44) who have user(42)-defined profiles through the said plurality of parameters.