Written Statement of the President and Chief Executive Officer
                           Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350

     Solely for the purposes of complying with 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, I, the
undersigned President and Chief Executive Officer of National Research
Corporation (the "Company"), hereby certify, based on my knowledge, that the
Annual Report on Form 10-K of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2002
(the "Report") fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and that information contained in the Report
fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results
of operations of the Company.


/s/ Michael D. Hays
-----------------------------
Michael D. Hays
March 31, 2003