James Barlow writes about the worst survey ever. The accused is the Bristol City Council who run a Citizens Panel for the local community.

After having a quick look through the survey I would agree that there are some parts which could be improved. The worst, I’m not so sure.

The oddest thing about the survey that stood out for me was the question 16 which asks:

• Q16 Do you have access to the Internet? (this may be at home, work or somewhere else)

As it is an online survey it is pretty likely that they do!!??

Time for researchers to reinvent research itself?, Jonathan Dodd raises this questions in his article “Online surveys don’t tick all the boxes “

The key issue raised is with consumer panels and the detrimental effects that ‘professional’ respondents can have on research results. I have to agree with the arguments raised in this article and this is why Rock Research has to date stayed away from consumer panels.

One type of panel which we have implemented with success is the Rock Research Citizens Panel This is an online Panel which randomly recruits members from the community in order to provide feedback to Local Government. While a small incentive is used the main focus is to allow community members to have a say in key topical issues that are affecting the community. To date the Citizens Panels have been very successful at providing timely and accurate feedback from the community to Council decision makers.

Palmerston North City Council have recently successfully implemented a Rock Research Citizens Panel which has surveyed residents on issues from rates rises to recreation strategies.

In Thomas F. Stafford’s and Dennis Gonier’s article “The Online Research “Bubble” – Seeking to improve the commonly used online
survey sampling approaches” they seek to offer some improvements to the current online survey sampling methods which are in vogue with market researchers. The practice of large online consumer panels is posing a serious threat to the industry due to the fact that there is an emerging phenomenon of quasi-professional survey takers. Research from one large panel has shown that 1% of the panel was responsible for 30% of the online surveys completed. These survey takers are less likely to be fully employed and spend a disproportionate amount of time online.

The solution that Stafford & Gonier suggest is to look beyond the panel. They make the point that it is worthwhile considering other alternatives. They argue that To get your online research one quickly, you’ll either have to sacrifice cost or quality. It’s an easy choice: two of three important characteristics are available. You just don’t get it all, because the free lunch” of cheap, quick, and valid results doesn’t exist in online studies any more than it did in the world of offline research. Good sampling takes time or money; take your choice.

One thing that I do think that is worthwhile considering is designing purpose built panels. Custom online panels can can offer a pretty neat solution and at a reasonable price. While not suitable for all research problems instances they do particularly well within closed groups i.e. customer research, citizens panels.

While ‘online panels’ are nothing new, their potential to help organisations to gain a greater understanding of their customers and their markets is enormous. It is most likely that you would of heard of some of pre-existing panels that exist, but rather than borrow someone else’s panel – why not build your own?

Custom online panels can provide a multitude benefits to both profit, non-profit and Government organisations. Just three of the benefits are:

1. BECOME ENGAGED WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS:By creating an ongoing dialogue with a group of existing and potential customers you can strengthen existing relationships. With a panel you create an ongoing dialogue, unlike a survey or focus group you can ask follow-up questions. The panel tells you something, you respond and together you both explore. Read the rest of this entry »

As I reported yesterday in Australia Gets Own Version of YouGov the Sydney Morning Herald has covered the response from YouGov to criticisms from the the ‘Old Brigade’ – Newspoll and Roy Morgan Research. “It’s a joke. You’re wasting your time even reporting it,” Roy Morgan Research’s executive chairman, Gary Morgan, said. “Online research is growing but you need a cross-section of people. The problem with online surveys is that 70 per cent of people who do online surveys are broadband users so they are skewed to heavy Internet users.”

Yet as Ray Poynter points out in It’s the results not the inputs “YouGov in the UK, and Harris in the US, have a long track record of predicting election results at least as accurately as the conventional polling organisations, but quicker and cheaper. There is no point in old fashioned providers bleating about methodology, in this field the results speak for themselves, and the results favour online.”

The proof will be in the pudding and the upcoming elections and the polls will be fascinating to watch.

As reported in The Australian, the high profile Internet researcher YouGov is planning to launch an Australian Internet panel with up to 50,000 members. They claim that they can predict the result of the federal election to within 1 percent.

Newspoll chief executive Martin O’Shannessy was dismissive of online polling, saying it was less statistically rigorous because it was not random, such as a telephone survey. While there is some truth to what Martin has to say it would be wise not to underestimate YouGov.

YouGov has done well in the UK and have performed better than the telephone pollsters in predicting the outcomes of the elections in Great Britain. Revenue growth has been strong and they are now about to double in size.

E-democracy is defined by Wikipedia as the use of electronic communications technologies, such as the Internet, in enhancing democratic processes within a democratic republic or representative democracy. It is a political development still in its infancy, as well as the subject of much debate and activity within government, civic-oriented groups and societies around the world.

E-democracy is a broad term and can encompass anything from Government consultation through to voting via electronic means. The potential of these technologies is large yet in New Zealand there are few examples where this technology is being used to its full advantage.

Citizens’ Panels offer New Zealand local authorities a chance to dip their toes into e-democracy. Citizens’ Panels utilise similar methodologies to those used by consumer panels. Consumer panels or online research panels are used heavily by corporates to gain an greater understanding of their customers. Likewise Citizens’ Panels can enable local authorities to get a greater understanding of their communities as well as to fulfill the requirement to consult which is stipulated under the Local Government Act 2002.

What is required to establish a Citizens’ Panel?

Read the rest of this entry »