Innovation in online data collection for scientific research The Dutch MESS project Marcel Das

MESS Project Purpose: to build an advanced data collection environment for the social sciences  Maximal opportunities for innovation  Multidisciplinary  Fast  Cost effective  Easy to use for everyone in the scientific community

3  Online panel of 5,000 households  8,000 individuals (>= 16 years)  Questionnaires each month, 30 min.  Incentive € 15 (≈ ₩ 21,500) per hour  At no cost if for scientific use Central element MESS project: the LISS panel

4  Online interviews as method, but:  Probability sample drawn from address sampling frame of Statistics Netherlands  Includes households without Internet access (less than 15%): CentERdata provides equipment  Contacted by letter, telephone or visit LISS panel

5 Very small and silent Only the most frequently used functions Automatic maintenance, virus protected Simple operation and readable screens Installation and support simPC

6 Non-response patterns Similar to those of other leading scientific panels Superior to commercial access and volunteer panels: - no coverage problems - no self-selection

7 Attention for attrition Refreshment sample in 2009 (stratified) and 2011 (random), in close collaboration with Statistics Netherlands

Number of registered households by subsamples; Jan July 2012 Source: Scherpenzeel et al. 2012

Non-Internet households (Leenheer and Scherpenzeel, 2012)  Who are they?  Do we get them in the panel?  Are participants representative?  Do they stay in the panel?  Do they stay representative or do they start to use the Internet more frequently?

Results of study  Differ in many ways from Internet hh  Difficult to get into the panel  In panel: representative with respect to age, household size and origin  Loyal and reliable panel members  About half remain “Non-Internet”  Using Internet does not change the answers to questions Who are they? Get them in the panel? Represen- tative? Stay in the panel? Stay repre- sentative?

11 Use of the LISS panel  New data collection  Academic researchers, irrespective of nationality, can use the LISS panel at no cost  Proposals can be submitted throughout the year (see  Available data (free of charge)  Proposed studies  Longitudinal core study

12 Longitudinal Core Study Questions were designed in close collaboration with experts in the relevant fields Core study borrows from various national and international surveys (to facilitate comparisons with other data sources) Topics: Household and family, Economic situation and housing, Work and schooling, Social integration and leisure, Health, Personality, Religion and ethnicity, Politics and values Wave 5: Nov 2011 to June

13 Innovation in data collection methods

Advanced weighing scales Device that measures body weight and fat percentage, wirelessly transmitted to LISS database Provided to 1,000 households in LISS panel 2011: 80,000 measurements Data can be linked to a wealth of socioeconomic variables

15 Weekly weight cycle Source: Kooreman and Scherpenzeel, 2012

Device provides aggregate indices of activity through the day (24 hours) Wearing the device for 8 days September 2012: feasibility pilot among 200 LISS respondents International collaboration: American Life Panel (ALP) English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA ) Accelerometer study

Smartphone data collection Time Use Research (TUR) usually carried out using questionnaires and diaries  current technology: smartphones and “apps” Also: after consent, connect diary to movements measured by GPS

Pilot experiments (Fernee et al., 2012) Currently < 25% of LISS respondents has smartphone with Internet access Explore the possibility to loan smartphones to LISS respondents 50 respondents with Android smartphone  download app from Android Play-store 50 respondents without Android smartphone  app was already installed

Response Day 1: WednesdaySmartphone owners (50) Inexperienced users (50) Day questions uploaded (complete) 4027 Partially complete215 No observations37 Never logged in51 Day 2: SaturdaySmartphone owners (50) Inexperienced users (50) Day questions uploaded (complete) 3746 Partially complete91 No observations30 Never logged in13

Smartphones: next steps September 2012: start collecting the actual TUR data on iPhones, Android (loan) smartphones (in cooperation with The Netherlands Institute for Social Research) One year: each month a different batch of about 170 respondents Next to the TUR study: -Project measuring travel behavior (GPS) -Software development for smartphones

Linking to admin data Expands the possibilities for scientific research enormously Statistics Netherlands offers a remote access facility to (registered) researchers First project: merging LISS data about minimal and adequate expenditure levels during retirement with administrative data on pension entitlements and various asset categories

LISS data: archive and DDI  Disseminated through website / data archive:  Database is based on DDI 3: one of the first implementations of version 3 (DDI = Data Documentation Initiative, International XML-based standard for data documentation)  Supports ‘Baskets’, allowing researchers to create and download custom datasets