OCTA Research (stylized as OCTAResearch) is a private polling, research, and consultation firm based in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

which became known for their advisories related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. __TOC__

Background

The OCTA Research Group is alternatively known as UP–OCTA since they are initially composed of eight members affiliated with the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...

(UP). Other faculty and alumni of UP as well as people affiliated with other universities joined the group. The group was established in 2019, initially with the main intention to become a polling group. However with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, OCTA Research decided to focus on making projections related to the health crisis. The OCTA Research Group began conducting study on the pandemic in April 2020 relying on data from the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

. They have issued projections on COVID-19 cases, made recommendations to the government's COVID-19 community quarantine measures, and conducted opinion poll surveys. The organization has been subject to criticism by some members of the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

due to finding OCTA's public releases as alarmist due to the usage of "surge" to refer to a rise of COVID-19 cases and "epicenters" to certain areas with an upward trend of cases. The group has also been perceived to preempt the expectations of lockdown due to their public announcements. The methodology of the group has also been questioned. In August 2021, the group expressed intentions to establish itself in

public opinion polling An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

, naming SWS and

Pulse Asia Pulse Asia Research Inc. is a public opinion polling body in the Philippines. It was founded by Professor Emeritus Felipe B. Miranda (M.A. Political Science, University of Chicago) of the University of the Philippines Diliman. Pulse Asia Inc. wa ...

as benchmarks.

References

{{COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines 2019 establishments in the Philippines Companies associated with the COVID-19 pandemic COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines Public opinion research companies Epidemiology organizations