Notice of Intent to Sole-Source: Online recruitment platform for behavioral nutrition studies

THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A SOLE SOURCE PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION.  THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION OR A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS.

GENERAL

This notice is issued in accordance with Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) 12.201-1(c)(2), advertising the Government's intent to issue an award on a sole source basis under the authority established in RFO 12.102(a). The National Institutes of Health, Specialized Scientific Information Technology (SSIT) Division anticipates issuing a single Purchase Order (PO) to the following entity:

PROLIFIC ACADEMIC LTD
483 Green Lanes
London, N13 4BS
United Kingdom

BACKGROUND

Researchers within the Division of Population Health Research of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) require services from an online recruitment platform to support behavioral nutrition studies with English-speaking adults. The studies require recruiting participants from specific populations, including adults, parents of young children, and U.S. residents. Access to a separate online participant pool, distinct from those used in other phases of the research, is required to maintain the scientific integrity of the research, as recruiting participants from the same pool across study phases would compromise the study design by increasing the likelihood of prior exposure to study materials and repeat participation. This platform must meet the following requirements:

• The platform must be designed specifically to support research studies rather than general crowdsourcing activities for which research is only a secondary use.
• The platform must allow researchers to estimate, prior to recruitment, the number of active participants available who meet specified eligibility criteria, including demographic, geographic, language, and behavioral characteristics.
• The platform must support longitudinal research by enabling researchers to re-contact and re-recruit participants for follow-up surveys and assessments.
• The platform must allow researchers to directly determine participant compensation rates for individual studies.
• The platform must support rapid recruitment of participants, including the ability to recruit hundreds of eligible participants within days to weeks.
• The platform must allow researchers to review study completion status and directly approve participant compensation.
• The platform must support collection of high-quality research data through participant screening, participant management, and data quality controls.

Based on market research, only Prolific is capable of providing access to the Prolific participant pool and associated participant recruitment platform, which offers data collection from a wide participant pool of primarily English-speaking adults that is more cost-effective and efficient than other vendors. No third-party vendor can provide access to the Prolific participant pool or replicate the platform's participant prescreening and recruitment infrastructure. Therefore, only one source is available to furnish these services.

RESPONSES

There will not be a solicitation or competitive Request for Quotation (RFQ) issued as a result of this announcement. Any responses or inquiries to this notice must demonstrate clear and convincing evidence that competition will be advantageous to the Government. 

Notwithstanding the stated intent, if other organizations believe they can fully meet the Government’s requirement, they must submit written documentation of their capabilities. The capabilities statement must contain sufficient documentation to establish a bona fide capability to fulfill the requirement and must be received by the response date listed in this posting. A general statement which merely states the entity is capable will not be sufficient. A determination not to compete with this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. 

NIH will not be responsible for any costs incurred by interested parties in responding to this notice. Acknowledgement of receipt of responses will not be made, nor will respondents be notified of the evaluation of the information received.  Interested parties may respond and provide a capability statement no later than the date specified in this notice.  Emails must reference the announcement number in the subject line.  This is not an RFQ, and this announcement does not commit the Government to award a contract.