Our Methodology

How We Do It

In our 2020 Survey, we aimed to identify – in the midst of global pandemic, economic recession, and a global reckoning with racial inequity – what Issues matter most to Americans today when it comes to just business behavior. And as always, through this report, we provided specific guidance to companies looking to serve their stakeholders through the crises of 2020.

JUST Capital asked a representative sample of more than 4,500 Americans to compare 19 different business Issues on a head-to-head basis, producing a reliable hierarchy of Issues ranked in order of priority. We then assigned each Issue to the stakeholder – either Workers, Customers, Communities, the Environment, or Shareholders – it most impacts.

To produce the Rankings, we collect and evaluate data from different sources on how each company actually performs across each of these Issues and stakeholders. We do this in as fair, unbiased, and rigorous a way possible, taking care to gather the best and most reliable information we can. We share this analysis to each company we rank before we publish our findings, giving them the opportunity to provide feedback and share any additional or up-to-date data.

We work with a diverse Research Advisory Council of academics, economists, and thought leaders, who provide independent guidance on JUST Capital’s research program and technical expertise on specific research matters. We also provide full transparency on our methodology, to ensure what we are doing and how we are doing it is accessible and understandable to anyone.

Explore our full methodology here, as well as the details of our survey methodology in our 2020 Survey Report.