New data from Understanding Society Innovation Panel have been released offering exciting new research opportunities. Data from waves 3 and 4 are now available to download.
The panel is principally used to test questions, procedures and methods in a context that is similar to the main Understanding Society survey and other household panel surveys, but with adults and young people from 1500 households it also has a sample size sufficiently large to enable quantitative evaluation.
Four waves of data have been collected so far, and all are now available to download from the Economic and Social Data Service.
The first four waves of the panel included innovative studies aiming at improving survey processes, at reducing non-response, non-response bias and attrition, and examining statistical issues for data analysis. The panel survey is developed in part through an annual competition in which academics and other interested groups can propose methodological tests and experiments. The competition is announced annually in spring.
The data from waves 3 and 4 include 19 different experiments, including tests of :-
- different ways to measure participants’ savings;
- how advance materials and encouraging people to contact their interviewer to book an appointment affected response rates; and
- participants’ preference between paper and computer-based surveys.
Wave 5 is currently in the field and includes the world’s first testing of online vs face-to-face interviewing on an established face-to-face sample.
Innovation Panel Research Director Dr Annette Jäckle said:
“The Innovation Panel is a unique resource for researchers, as it is both a part of one of the world’s largest panel surveys, a test-bed for innovative thinking on survey methodology and a significant survey sample in its own right. We have longitudinal data and retrospective histories about people’s lives before the start of the panel, but we also have experimental and methodological data, and these are also available to use in secondary research. As a researcher, I’m excited by what the panel is producing, and I hope research colleagues across the world will share my excitement and be keen to use the data from the panel as well as the main data from Understanding Society.”
Notes to editors:
Understanding Society is a world-leading study of the socio-economic circumstances of people living in 40,000 UK households. The survey has been commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council and is supported by 11 Government departments and administrations. The research team is led by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, and the survey is delivered by NatCen Social Research.
Dr Annette Jäckle is a research fellow at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex.
For more information contact Steve Roberts-Mee at sdmee@essex.ac.uk or on 01206 874823. Follow Understanding Society on Twitter @usociety.