Keeping the totality of consumer problems in mind can lead to research inquiries that focus on how to use complaint-handling processes to discourage future wrongdoing in the marketplace, thus influencing the broader problem of consumer abuse through a small percentage of cases. This goal should also influence the research regarding how individual complaint handling institutions perform. When single dispute-handling institutions are studied for whatever purpose, it is worthwhile to analyze how those institutions use their procedures to prevent future harm to consumers. A methodology for evaluating complaint handling should encompass consideration of how many consumer problems occur and how people respond to them. Only then is it possible to know how significant an institution's contribution to complaint resolution may be. Moreover, it should be determined whether the institution's work has a positive impact on the broader issue of consumer abuse beyond the particular cases handled. Fifteen notes are listed.