About AIS Marketing Research

AIS was founded 45 years ago by Patricia Alviso. Industry pioneers such as George Gallup and Mervin Fields personally trained her and this solid foundation is the bedrock of our firm. With that leadership, the executive team is responsible for the daily operations and direction of the company. The primary executive staff team at AIS is comprised of Ken Weikle- Owner and President, Jennifer Dawson- Senior Field Director, Chris Weikle- Senior Programmer, and Dr. Beng Ong- Independent Analyst. Each one of these executive members brings a unique set of skills to the table on behalf of our clients.

Ken Weikle obtained ownership of AIS in January of 2008. Ken has 35 years of proven management expertise as he has worked for three major corporations: Household International, Citi Corporation, and HSBC. This expertise has provided Ken with a strong customer service background. In addition to this expertise, Ken has a degree in business. Ken has conducted numerous training seminars and workshops in a continuing effort to assure that the AIS tradition of quality and integrity is upheld.

Jennifer Dawson brings more than 20 years of market research and data collection experience to AIS projects. She has a thorough and insightful understanding of the research process and the pitfalls that can commonly appear in research projects. Her direction ensures projects are completed on time and on budget and that the quality of our data meets the expectations of our clients.

Chris Weikle is responsible for the entire computer programming at AIS. Chris is able to write and program questionnaires into CATI software as well as enter data and complete crosstab analysis. Chris successfully manages projects, staffing and trainings. He successfully completed the Wincross Training Course in 2009 from The Analytical Group. Chris brings a wide array of computer experience to the AIS staff.

Dr. Ong rounds out the team with a proven and long-standing background in data analysis and research design. As a professor at California State University, Fresno, Dr. Ong brings a distinguished list of qualifications to AIS.

The most critical component to the proven quality and capability of AIS is a team of trained and experienced interviewers. Every interviewer at AIS goes through a proprietary training program prior to their first respondent contact. As they continue to develop their interviewing skills, each interviewer begins to demonstrate a particular skill set in terms of types of interviewing and subject matter. AIS interviewers are therefore divided into interviewing teams, divided by project type. One team for public opinion, another for executive interviewing, another for healthcare and so on. This specialization of interviewing teams allows AIS to efficiently deliver projects and gather data that is beyond expectations in terms of quality and completeness.

Over the past 45 years, a wide variety of public agencies and private businesses have come to recognize and rely on AIS' expertise. Today, AIS is a political and social research firm that combines decades of experience with state-of-the-art technology and methodology orchestrated by a staff of highly trained professionals. AIS has a 50-station CATI (Computer Aided Telephone Interviewing) and NATI (Net-Assisted Telephone Interviewing) equipped phone bank, an on-site focus group room and a staff of more than 40 trained interviewers.