Apparatus for collecting television channel data and market research data
First Claim
1. An apparatus for collecting television channel data and market research data, comprising:
- a channel detector means for detecting a channel of a television receiver being viewed by panelists to provide channel data;
a personal data entry device means for entering personal identification information which is added to the channel data supplied from the channel detector means;
a market research data entry device means for entering market research data including a plurality of information items regarding each of a plurality of purchased products, said market research data entry device means including means for entering the market research data in a sequence-non-ordered mode wherein a panelist is not constrained to enter information items for a purchased product in a predetermined order, and means for entering personal identification information which is added to the market research data; and
a data processing device means for receiving the channel data and market research data supplied from the channel detector means and the market research data entry device means, respectively, to provide data having a predetermined format, for storing the data having a predetermined format, and for transmitting the data having a predetermined format to a data center, said data processing device means including means for transmitting the channel data having the personal identification data added thereto and the market research data having the personal identification information added thereto to the data center via a subscriber telephone link of a panelist'"'"'s home in response to a polling from the data center within a predetermined time period.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A data collecting apparatus is used in a survey system in which research data such as television audience ratings and market research data is collected by a data collecting device provided in each of a plurality of panelists'"'"' homes, the collected research data is sent to a data center through telephone links, and, at the data center, the data is processed with the aid of a large scale computer to calculate desired research data. The data collecting apparatus includes a channel detector for detecting a television channel being viewed, a market research data entry device, a personal data entry device, and a data processing device for storing and processing the entered data. The detected channel data and the entered personal data are transferred to the data processing device via domestic power supply lines. The market research data is efficiently entered with the aid of a bar-code reader and a keyboard in a sequence-non-ordered manner. The personal data is entered with an entry device using infrared light. The personal data entry device may have picture-like illustration images of respective panelists so that they need not remember personal identification numbers.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. An apparatus for collecting television channel data and market research data, comprising:
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a channel detector means for detecting a channel of a television receiver being viewed by panelists to provide channel data; a personal data entry device means for entering personal identification information which is added to the channel data supplied from the channel detector means; a market research data entry device means for entering market research data including a plurality of information items regarding each of a plurality of purchased products, said market research data entry device means including means for entering the market research data in a sequence-non-ordered mode wherein a panelist is not constrained to enter information items for a purchased product in a predetermined order, and means for entering personal identification information which is added to the market research data; and a data processing device means for receiving the channel data and market research data supplied from the channel detector means and the market research data entry device means, respectively, to provide data having a predetermined format, for storing the data having a predetermined format, and for transmitting the data having a predetermined format to a data center, said data processing device means including means for transmitting the channel data having the personal identification data added thereto and the market research data having the personal identification information added thereto to the data center via a subscriber telephone link of a panelist'"'"'s home in response to a polling from the data center within a predetermined time period. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for collecting market research data using a market research data entry device at a panelist'"'"'s home, the market research data entry device having data entry means for receiving data manually entered by a panelist, and for collecting data regarding usage of a television receiver at the panelist'"'"'s home, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) manually entering information items regarding a purchased product in a sequence-non-ordered mode wherein the panelist is not constrained to enter information items in a predetermined order, step (a) including the sub-steps of (a-1) entering a number, along with category data identifying whether the number represents a first information item regarding the purchased product or a second information item regarding the purchased product, and (a-2) entering an additional number, along with category data identifying whether the additional number represents the first information item regarding the purchased product or the second information item regarding the purchased product; (b) storing data derived from the manually entered information items at the panelist'"'"'s home; (c) collecting channel data which identifies the channel to which the television receiver is tuned when the television receiver is being watched by at least one person in the panelist'"'"'s home, along with personal identification data which identifies the at least one person watching the television receiver; (d) storing the channel data and the personal identification data at the panelist'"'"'s home; and (e) transmitting the stored data from the panelist'"'"'s home to a data center via a telephone link. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification