The 2019 RDR Corporate Accountability Index is RDR’s fourth Index, published in May 2019. The methodology revision and research processes are described below.
2019 RDR Index Methodology Revision
For the 2019 RDR Index, we introduced minor revisions to two indicators (G4, G6) in the 2018 RDR Index methodology in order to preserve year-on-year comparability. This consisted of two stages:
- Draft revisions were opened for a period of public consultation.
- Feedback from the public consultation was incorporated into the 2019 RDR Index methodology.
- A new list of companies, including two additional companies for 2019, was also published.
2019 RDR Index Research Process
Research for the RDR Index was conducted following a rigorous process of cross-checking, peer review, company feedback, and quality control. It includes the following steps:
- Step 1: Data Collection. The primary research team will collect data for each company and provide a preliminary assessment of company performance across all indicators. Researchers will also evaluate if company policies have changed or have remained the same in comparison to the previous year.
- Step 2: Secondary Review. A second team of researchers conducts a fact-check of assessments provided by primary researchers in Step 1.
- Step 3: Review and Reconciliation. The RDR team examines the results from Steps 1 and 2, and resolves any differences that arise.
- Step 4: First Horizontal Review. The RDR team cross-checks the indicators to ensure they have been evaluated consistently for each company.
- Step 5: Company Feedback. Initial results are sent to companies for comment and feedback.
- Step 6: Secondary Horizontal Review. The RDR team conducts a second horizontal review, drawing on feedback from companies collected in Step 5, and cross-checking the indicators for consistency and quality control.
- Step 7: Final Scoring. The RDR team calculates final scores.
- Companies will receive a cumulative score of their performance across all RDR Index categories, and results will also show how companies performed by individual category and indicator. Findings will also present comparative, year-on-year trends.
Note on national contexts affecting company performance: In most countries, certain laws, regulations, or political factors will either enhance or limit a company’s ability to perform well on certain indicators. Our methodology does not compensate for these factors: in other words, the RDR Index evaluates companies on what they do or don’t do, regardless of the reason. However, reports for each company include analyses of how the company’s home jurisdiction’s legal, regulatory, and political environment may have affected its score. In some cases, the reason for a company’s strong or weak performance on a given indicator will be due to the legal, regulatory, or political environment of that company’s home country. In situations where laws and regulations cause companies to perform poorly, we encourage companies to advocate for laws that enable them to fully respect users’ rights to freedom of expression and privacy by disclosing strong commitments, policies, and practices.
