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Web surveys for the general population: How, why and when?

The UK National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) has commissioned a Network for Methodological Innovation which aims to exchange knowledge, generate new thinking and work towards resolving a shared challenge in survey research: how - and to what extent - can the web be used to survey the general population?


This topic requires serious debate. Cultural and technological change has made the web a possible and even desirable mode for complex social surveys, but the financial challenges faced by the Research Councils and the UK Government has accelerated this shift, creating an urgent need to explore both its potential and hazards for a range of studies. Yet while progress in carrying out large-scale complex social surveys on the web has been made, there is still no consensus about how this can best be achieved while maintaining population representativeness and preserving data quality.


To address this problem, the network will share and synthesise existing knowledge and catalyse discussion about future possibilities. We will draw on a wide range of institutions and experts from across the national and international survey research community; including representatives from academia as well as organisations with serious social survey delivery capabilities from government, the private and not-for-profit sectors. The network will host two conferences in 2013 and engage more widely with the international social research community through twitter tweet chats (#genpopweb). It will also publish synthesis papers, blogs and an end of network report on its website.

Listen to Gerry Nicolaas talk about web surveys in NCRM podcast series.

 

Opening conference, 25-26 February 2013


Venue: Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL

This is a two day event to pinpoint what we know, debate key issues and identify questions to be answered through the network. The event addressed three key themes:

  • Coverage & Sampling
  • Participation & Engagement
  • Measurement Challenges

 

Papers from the opening conference are available on the project website.

 

Closing Conference, 6-7 June 2013


Venue: Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, Essex, CO4 3SQ
More details to follow.

 

5th Conference of the European Survey Research Association (ESRA), 15-19 July 2013


Venue: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Kardeljeva ploscad 5, 1000 Ljubljana

We will be hosting a session on web data collection for probability-based general population surveys . Further details about the conference and registration can be found on the conference website.


For further information about the network, follow them on Twitter, see the project website or contact a member of the core group:


Gerry Nicolaas, NatCen Social Research, UK
Lisa Calderwood, Institute of Education, UK
Peter Lynn, University of Essex, UK
Caroline Roberts, University of Lausanne, Switzerland