Our University recently hosted an international conference on the future of online data collection in social surveys.
The conference ran from Thursday 20 – Friday 21 June, and was jointly organised with the Social Survey Transformation Programme of the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The event was part of the ESRC-funded Secondary Data Analysis Initiative (SDAI) project: Understanding Survey Response Behaviour in a Digital Age: Mixed-device Online Surveys and Mobile Device Use and the National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) project: Data Collection for Data Quality.
The international conference brought together world-leading experts in online data collection from academic institutions, national statistical offices, independent research institutes, market research companies, data collection agencies and commercial organisations from 13 countries to discuss the future as well as challenges, opportunities and best practice in social survey online data collection.
Dr Olga Maslovskaya, Principle Investigator on the ESRC-funded SDAI research project said:
“Data collection organisations across the world are undergoing a paradigm shift in data collection, and therefore, social surveys, including censuses, are experiencing major transformations.
“Globally, there is a big move in the direction of online data collection. For example, in the UK 2021 Census, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) plans to collect 75% of household responses online. Some social surveys have either already moved to mixed-mode data collection as a cost-saving initiative or are in the process of testing for the upcoming transformation to online designs.
“It is very important to have cross-sector discussions about challenges, opportunities and best practices in online data collection in social surveys and this conference makes this happen.”
Whilst the event was by invitation only, there are various resources available from the event on the conference website (click the links embedded within the programme).
