Call for Application-IRI Tunisia Retour vers les opportunités

Background The International Republican Institute (IRI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, organization dedicated to advancing freedom and democracy worldwide. Since 1983, IRI has worked to develop democratic institutions and ideals, carrying out a variety of international programs to promote freedom, self-government and the rule of law worldwide. IRI provides technical assistance in the areas of political party strengthening, developing civic institutions and open elections, promoting democratic governance and advancing the rule of law. 

IRI Tunisia will conduct 3-4 public opinion polls over the next year, its qualitative and quantitative public opinion research that tracks important social, economic and political trends and perceptions underpins IRI’s programming in Tunisia. Since March 2011, IRI has conducted over 20 nationwide public opinion polls and thousands of interviews investigating Tunisians’ perceptions of government performance, policy, political parties, elections, the economy, violent extremism and other timely issues. The Institute’s polling has been featured in the New York Times, the Economist and many other news outlets and is a valuable resource for Tunisian political leaders and decision makers. 

IRI uses these polls to provide Tunisian political parties, government officials, civil society and other important stakeholders an unbiased idea of what Tunisian citizens expect and want from their government. IRI believes that public opinion research plays a crucial role in democratic transitions. 

Period of Performance August 2020- September 30, 2021 

Statement of Work IRI seeks proposals from organizations to perform the following: 

OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH 

A nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing democracy worldwide 

Public opinion data shall be obtained through a series of nationally representative surveys of Tunisia using the highest methodological standards possible to measure indicators of: 

(1) Perceptions of the current political, economic, and social situation of the country (2) Confidence in the political process and citizen willingness or reluctance to 

participate in it (3) Priorities for economic policy and the government’s reform agenda 

It is IRI’s preference that data collection for this survey is conducted through face-to-face interviews (PAPI/CAPI). Should this be impossible or inadvisable, IRI will accept proposals for phone interviews (CATI.) 

RESEARCH TASKS 

(1) General Responsibilities of Bidder. The bidder shall be responsible for the project design and execution, including the following specific tasks: 

(a) translation, formatting, pretesting, adaptation, and printing of questionnaires (PAPI) 

or programming of questionnaires (CAPI/CATI); (b) development of a Sampling Plan, to be based a multistage stratified plan 

(PAPI/CAPI) or a CATI sampling methodology (CATI); list and explain any geographic or other exclusions; the proposed Sampling Plan will be reviewed by and any further changes agreed upon by IRI and Bidder will be incorporated; (c) training supervisors and interviewers; (d) arranging and supervising all aspects of fieldwork, including back-checks; (e) entering (only if PAPI) and processing the survey data, including data cleaning and 

encoding survey responses; (f) ascertaining the representativeness of the sample and weighting the data, if 

necessary; 

(g) Statistical analysis of findings and writing an 3-5 page analytic report to place the 

findings within the local political and other context. 

(2) Questionnaire. For each of the polls, IRI will provide a draft questionnaire and the bidder will provide input, such as a need for rephrasing certain terms for local context. Questionnaire will be 75% identical across all polls. 

IRI requests translation into Tunisian-Arabic and French translations will be reviewed and approved by IRI. 

For CAPI/CATI at least the main interview language must be programmed—only programming in English (unless English is the main interview language) is not sufficient. For PAPI/CAPI, the questionnaire may call for showcards, which need to be printed in all translated languages. For PAPI/CAPI, the estimated average interview duration is 25 minutes, and for CATI the estimated average interview duration is 15 minutes. 

3) Sample Design.

For each of the polls, IRI requires a national sample of a minimum of 1,000 adults, age 18 or older, that is representative of the population of the survey universe (Bidders should provide a research design for sample sizes of n=1000, n=1200, and n=1400 with price comparisons). Planned exclusions of the population of the survey universe (e.g. geographic, linguistic, lacking accessing to a phone etc.) must be discussed during quotation stage. 

Sample Sampling Plan for n=1,000 with 10 interviews per Sampling Point (SP) 

A detailed sampling plan shall be submitted to the IRI prior to fieldwork, including a description of the survey coverage, allocation of the sample, description of the sampling frame, description of any stratification criteria to be used, description of the stages of selection and the selections methods to be used at each stage, a definition of the Sampling Points and approximate number of interviews to be conducted within each Sampling Point, the method to be used for selection of the respondent at the household level, an explanation for any divergence from use of the KISH grid for respondent selection, and call- back rules to be employed. It is assumed that the sample will be distributed in proportion to the population of each region or other geographic unit to be surveyed; in the event that the bidder wishes to propose a sample design departing from this principle the proposal should describe the allocation to be used and the reasons for doing so. 

For CATI, the sample shall be drawn using recognized probability methods, all the way down to the selection of the individual respondent. In the event that any departure from probability sampling methods is recommended by the bidder for all or any part of the survey, the sampling methodologies to be employed shall be described in detail and a rationale for their use shall be provided. IRI’s preferred approach to CATI is sampling list- based, provided that recent sampling frame data exists in form of listings of all phone numbers (landline and mobile, incl. of all major mobile phone service providers.) Alternatively, IRI accepts an RDD approach, ideally with some stratification, e.g. by area code. A detailed sampling methodology shall be submitted to the IRI prior to 

fieldwork, including a description of the survey coverage, allocation of the sample, description of the sampling frame, description of any stratification criteria to be used, description of the stages of selection and the selections methods to be used at each stage, the method to be used for selection of the respondent in case of shared phone numbers, and call-back rules to be employed. It is assumed that the sample will be distributed in proportion to the population of each region or other geographic unit to be surveyed; in the event that the bidder wishes to propose a sample design departing from this principle the proposal should describe the allocation to be used and the reasons for doing so. 

(4) Pre-test. For each of the polls, the questionnaire shall be pre-tested by the bidder prior to the commencement of any fieldwork. No less than 20 pre-test interviews shall be conducted and in surveys with translations into multiple language, no less than 10 interviews per language. The bidder shall provide IRI with a written report of the results of the pre-test, along with details of any problems encountered and suggested remedies, prior to the commencement of any fieldwork. 

(5) Fieldwork. Interviews shall be conducted by experienced field workers who shall be thoroughly briefed by bidder prior to commencement of any fieldwork. Remote training via video-conference is acceptable. The bidder shall ensure that interviewers are thoroughly familiar with household and respondent selection procedures, call back procedures (at least 3 attempts before substituting a selected respondent), and the structure of the questionnaire, including routing and filtering. Interviewer training shall include practice sessions in administering the questionnaire. All interviewers must have at least completed secondary education and must be fully fluent (reading and speaking) in the language(s) in which they are to administer the interviews. A minimum of 10% of interviews shall be back checked or accompanied by a team supervisor. 

For CATI, the interviews will be conducted on the phone. 

Household and respondent selection must be tracked on a contact tracking sheet or similar—this will be needed to calculate the response rate. Informed consent (oral is acceptable unless country laws require written) must be sought prior to commencing the interview. IRI will provide draft informed consent language to the bidder and this template may be updated by the bidder to conform with the country’s legal requirements. 

(6) Data Processing. The bidder shall be responsible for data entry with a 10% double- punch standard (if PAPI), cleaning, and processing, including development and implementation of a coding scheme for all open-ended questions. The bidder shall supply data to IRI as a clean, fully labeled in English SPSS “*.sav” file with a complete data dictionary of variable names and value labels. There shall be one data record for each respondent and records shall be of fixed length. The bidder shall be responsible for deriving and applying any post-stratification weights required to bring the sample into conformity with the demographic profile of the population at the very least for gender and 

age groups, as well as any additional weighting factors required to correct for disproportionate allocation, if use. Ideally, IRI would want education groups included in weights, and if available demographic data allows it, those without formal education will be assigned a separately code from those with a least some primary education. If demographic weights were to exceed a factor 1:8, this must be discussed in writing with IRI before the weight is applied. IRI has strict upper limits on post-weighting and requires unweighted samples already generally matching the population’s rough gender and age distribution. For example, an unweighted sample of 65% male and 35% female would not be accepted, even if corrected with post-weights, unless the potential for this skew is already disclosed in the proposal. 

Each record shall include a unique respondent ID number, interviewer ID number, interview duration, Sampling Point ID number for PAPI/CAPI, landline versus mobile phone for CATI, interview start and end times, date of interview, GPS coordinates if using CAPI devices capable of capturing this data, and interview language if there is more than one. Each record shall include demographic information about the respondent, including: gender, exact age, and education level. 

(7) Technical Report. When delivering data, the bidder shall provide a Technical Report which shall include the following: 

(a) CATI/CAPI/PAPI: Complete sampling methodology (b) Details of response rates, including tabulation of unsuccessful interview attempts, with reasons for non-response (i.e. respondent refusal, proxy refusal, inability to locate selected respondent, etc.). (c) A brief report on survey operations including any practical difficulties encountered in carrying out the survey; (d) Estimated sampling error; 

(e) A complete explanation of the weighting scheme including details of how weighting factors were developed and applied, as well as the demographic data on which weights were based (i.e., age, gender, and education distributions in the population); (f) any abnormalities encountered during data QC, including but not limited to: suspicious patterns by interviewer ID (e.g. usually fast completion rates), for CAPI GPS coordinates not matching the selected sampling point, potential contradictions (e.g. respondents who rate a certain politician as highly untrustworthy yet definitely plan on voting for this person), significant data changes of indicators since the previous poll etc. 

(8) PowerPoint Presentation. For each of the polls, the bidder will provide a presentation with a chart for every survey question. A template (already completed with historic data for trend charts if applicable) will be provided by IRI. 

(9) Summary of deliverables. For each of the polls, the Deliverables to be provided to IRI by the bidder are as follows: 

(a) Sampling Plan/ Methodology (b) Pretest report (c) Copies of the final questionnaire, as fielded, in English and translations (d) A complete data set formatted as SPSS file (e) A technical report (f) PowerPoint Presentation 

(10) Delivery Schedule. Bidder will advise IRI on a feasible timeline for completing work on this project as soon as possible, with the deliverables c-e listed in Section 9 above to be submitted no later than two weeks after the conclusion of fieldwork, and deliverable f no later than one week after acceptance of the data by IRI. Currently, IRI envisions each of the polls to be conducted quarterly starting in August 2020, for a total of either 3 or 4 polls with fieldwork conducted approximately from August/September 2020 – June/July 2021. 

Technical Proposals All proposals submitted to IRI must include: 

1. Information addressing Bidder’s experience in providing each of the services identified in the above Statement of Work and Bidder’s proposed specific approach for providing those services to IRI under this contract, including sufficient information to determine a clear definition of services as it relates to other providers that may be involved. 2. The name, address, and telephone and facsimile numbers of the Bidder (and electronic address if available). If the Bidder is a firm, name(s) should be provided for individuals authorized to conduct business on behalf of the firm. 3. Bidders may provide a list of up to three references for work performed of a similar nature during the last three years, along with contact details. IRI may contact the references to evaluate past performance. 4. If the Bidder is a U.S. organization/resident, or a foreign organization/resident which has income effectively connected with the conduct of activities in the U.S. or has an office or a place of business or a fiscal paying agent in the U.S., the information submitted must contain Bidder’s Taxpayer Identification Number. 5. Proposals will not exceed 5 pages (not including cover page). 6. Proposals must address the following: 
2. List surveys with similar specifications previously conducted in this country b. Explain if planning on using subcontractors for any tasks c. Is bidder able to comply with all requirements listed on the SOW without 

alterations? If any proposed alterations, explain. d. Coverage, if not 100% of non-institutionalized adults aged 18+: e. Describe sampling methodology, including design and the source the sampling frame is drawn from, household selection, respondent selection, number of call-backs f. Anticipated response rate g. List interview method (F2F Paper and Pencil, CAPI) h. Describe Interviewer Training (duration, topics etc.) 

1. Describe fieldwork quality control (direct observation, personal backchecks, 

phone backchecks etc.) j. Describe data entry and data checks protocol (e.g. checks for duplicate entries, 

logic checks etc.) k. Explain any risks associated with the Coronavirus situation to your company’s operations, employees, and respondents, and how you intend to mitigate such risks l. Describe anticipated challenges, if any m. Attached CVs/Resumes of key personnel (do not count towards proposal page 

limit) 

Price Proposals Bidders must propose a firm-fixed Unit Price for each of the deliverables identified below and in the format of the table below. The Bidder’s pricing must be valid for at least 60 (sixty) calendar days after the due date for proposal submission. The proposed Unit Price should be fixed and inclusive of all costs to perform, including inspection services, transportation, taxes, import duties (if any), and other levies. To the extent that a Bidder proposed to include any pricing not reflected in the table below, such pricing must be fully described in the proposal. Proposals must be submitted in USD, payments under any resulting contract will be made in this currency. 

Evaluation and Award Process 

1. IRI may contact any Bidder for clarification or additional information, but Bidders are advised that IRI intends to evaluate the offers based on the written proposals, without discussions, and reserves the right to make decisions based solely on the information provided with the initial proposals. IRI may but is not obligated to conduct additional negotiations with the most highly rated Bidders prior to award of a contract, and may at its sole discretion elect to issue contracts to one or more Bidders. 2. Mathematical errors will be corrected in the following manner: If a discrepancy exists between the total price proposed and the total price resulting from multiplying the unit price by the corresponding amounts, then the unit price will prevail and the total price will be corrected. If there is a discrepancy between the numbers written out in words and the amounts in numbers, then the amount expressed in words will prevail. If the Bidder does not accept the correction, the offer will be rejected. 3. IRI may determine that a proposal is unacceptable if the prices proposed are materially unbalanced between line items or sub-line items. Unbalanced pricing exists when, despite an acceptable total evaluated price, the price of one or more contract line items is significantly overstated or understated as indicated by the application of cost or price analysis techniques. A proposal may be rejected if IRI determines that the lack of balance poses an unacceptable risk. 4. IRI will conduct a source selection based as follows: 

Best Value IRI intends to make an award to the responsible Bidder based on the following evaluation factors: 

1. a) Technical evaluation, (including technical capabilities, proposed 

technical approach, and personnel qualifications) – 40 percent 

• Sampling Methodology- 20 percent 
• Field work quality control- 10 percent 
• Personnel Qualifications- 10 percent b) Experience conducting public opinion polls in Tunisia – 35 percent c) Price – 25 percent 

IRI intends to evaluate Bidders’ proposals in accordance with these factors and make an award to the responsible Bidder whose proposal is most advantageous to the program. 

5. If a cost realism analysis is performed, cost realism may be considered in evaluating 

performance or price. 

Submission Instructions Bids must be submitted via email to Alexander Robson, at arobson@iri.org with the subject line “MENA2020T11o” by the deadline listed above. 

RFP Terms and Conditions 

1. Prospective Bidders are requested to review clauses incorporated by reference in the 

section “Notice Listing Contract Clauses Incorporated by Reference”. 2. IRI may reject any or all proposals if such is within IRI’s interest. 3. Proof of costs incurred, such as but not limited to receipts, pictures and financial documents, may be requested during and for up to three years after the end of the contract period. 4. The Bidder’s initial proposal should contain the Bidder’s best offer. 5. Payment will be made upon receipt of invoices and deliverables/services. 6. Discussions with Bidders following the receipt of a proposal do not constitute a 

rejection or counteroffer by IRI. 7. IRI will hold all submissions as confidential and submissions shall not be disclosed to third parties. IRI reserves the right to share proposals internally, across divisions, for the purposes of evaluating the proposals. 8. For any currency conversion, the exchange rate to US Dollars listed on oanda.com on 

the closing date of this solicitation shall be used. 9. Every contract will contain provisions governing termination for cause and 

termination for convenience. 10. By submitting a proposal, offeror agrees to comply with all terms, conditions, and provisions included in the solicitation and agreement to the services identified above, and will specifically identify any disagreement with or exceptions to the terms, conditions, and provisions. 11. Offerors confirm that the prices in the proposal/proposal/application/quote have been arrived at independently, without any consultation, communication, or 

agreement with any other Bidder or competitor for the purpose of restricting competition. 12. Bidders agree to disclose as part of the proposal submission: 

o Any close, familial, or financial relationships with IRI staff and agents. For example, the Bidder must disclose if a Bidder’s mother conducts volunteer trainings for IRI. o Any family or financial relationship with other Bidders submitting proposals. For example, if the Bidder’s father owns a company that is submitting another proposal, the Bidder must state this. o Any other action that might be interpreted as potential conflict of interest. 

Notice Listing Contract Clauses Incorporated by Reference IRI is required to make the contractor subject to certain flowdown clauses of the prime award. This awarded contract will incorporate one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Where “flow-down” to the contractor is applicable, references to “USAID/Department of State” shall be interpreted to mean “IRI”, “Recipient” to mean “Contractor”, and “Subrecipient” to mean “lower-tier subcontractor.” Included by reference are the applicable provisions contained in Appendix II to 2 CFR Part 200 and USAID Standard Provisions for Non-US Non-governmental Organizations/US Department of State Standard Terms and Conditions. 

IRI Obligations Issuance of this RFP does not constitute an award commitment on the part of IRI, nor does it commit IRI to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal or quotation. 

Required Certifications The following certificates need to be signed by all Bidders. These certifications are an integral part of the quotation/proposal. Please print them off and send back to us with your proposal after signature on each certificate. They are: 

• Certification regarding debarment, suspension, ineligibility and voluntary exclusion lower tier covered transactions 
• Authorized Individuals