General Population Surveys on the web: possibilities and barriers A Symposium Organised by NCRM/SRN British Academy 3 November 2011

Context Costs of data collection increasing Response rates declining CATI increasingly problematic? Internet penetration and operability growing rapidly BUT many problems remain Can we do surveys more cost-effectively (and accurately) by harnessing power of the web?

Morning session Matt DeBell, Stanford University ‘Methodology and Data Quality of the ANES 2008-2009 Panel Study: Lessons for Future Internet Panels’ Marcel Das, Centerdata, Tilburg University ‘Innovation in data collection for scientific research: the Dutch MESS project’ Bengt Oscar Lagerstrom, Statistics Norway 'mixed mode surveys of the general population: the Norwegian experience’ Rroundtable discussion about the state-of-art, potential areas of new development and barriers to implementation. Roundtable participants: Matt DeBell, Marcel Das, Bengt Oscar Lagerstrom, Bill Blyth (TNS-BMRB),

Afternoon session Aat Liefbroer, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demography Institute “Mixed-mode approaches in the Generations and Gender Survey: Past experience and future expectations” Fiona Dawe and Laura Wilson, UK Office for National Statistics “Building Web Collection Capability on ONS Social Surveys” Peter Lynn, ISER (University of Essex) "Opportunities and challenges in introducing web interviewing to Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Survey” Roundtable discussion of key issues arising from the presentations. Roundtable participants: Aat Liefbroer, Fiona Dawe, Peter Lynn, Gerry Nicolaas (NatCen), Jane Elliot (Centre for Longitudinal Studies). Report by Shirley Dex, which will be updated based on today’s papers and discussions