The NatCen Blog

Here we’ll be talking about our research in the context of the latest news, opinion and
analysis through comments from our team of experts. We’d love to hear from you, so post comments or get in touch with us.

To keep up-to-date with our latest blog posts and reports, subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Posted on 18 September 2020 by Gillian Prior, Director, Surveys, Data and Analysis

I hear you knocking…

In this article Gillian Prior, our Head of Surveys, Data and Analysis, considers a new NatCen panel survey examining the public’s views on face-to-face interviews, as well as the current possibilities for restarting face-to-face fieldwork on large-scale surveys.
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: Covid-19, NatCen Panel, fieldwork, methods, safety
Posted on 20 March 2020 by Ceri Davies, Director, NatCen Centre for Deliberative Research

Going digital with deliberation

In the face of measures to delay the spread of Covid-19, qualitative researchers must consider how to continue their research whilst we cannot meet in person. In this blog, Ceri Davies discusses the lessons we’ve learned from running the UK’s first online deliberative poll using videoconferencing software.
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: deliberative polling, deliberative research, digital, methods, videoconference
Posted on 19 May 2017 by Debbie Collins, Director of NatCen Learning

What role can sensor data play in social research?

Following the first NatCen, ESS-ERIC and City University methodology seminar, Debbie Collins outlines the opportunities and challenges presented by the use of sensor data in social research.
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: methodology, methods, sensors
Posted on 10 March 2015

Making research inclusive: gathering the perspectives of vulnerable people detained in police custody

Enabling participation among people who are less easy to reach is at the core of the work carried out by NatCen's Crime and Justice team. This blog explores how we go about making the voices of vulnerable people heard.
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: crime and justice, methodology, methods
Posted on 24 October 2014

Placing bets on action: Experimentation in social innovation

Over the past few decades, we have seen a significant increase in the application of business ideas and practices to non-profit and government work in many countries. Businesses are keener than ever to create social value through corporate social responsibility, corporate citizenship, or socially responsible business.
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: evaluation, experimentation, methods, social innovation
Posted on 21 October 2014

It started with a tweet…

It started with a tweet, a blog post and a nervous laugh. Three months later I found myself looking at a book of blogs. How did that happen?! Being involved in the NSMNSS network since its beginning has been an ongoing delight for me.
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: blogging, book of blogs, e-mail, LinkedIn, NSMNSS, ethics, Facebook, methodology, methods, social media, Twitter
Posted on 18 August 2014

Don’t save all the evaluation for the end

More and more, policymakers want to know ‘what’s working’. Here, Triin talks about how there needs to be a shift in thinking that sees evaluation as an ongoing process.
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: evaluations, impact, policy evaluations, Triin Edovald, methods
Posted on 13 March 2014

Understanding growing up

As Head of the Children & Young People team, our work involves everything from sensitively gauging how new mums are doing, to convincing indifferent teens to tell us about their experience at school. It’s a tough job, but my team are real experts.
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: Jane O'Brien, babies, children, children & young people research, methodology, methods, young people
Posted on 29 November 2013

The enduring salience of qualitative research

Just over a year ago, I joined NatCen Social Research as a research trainee; I had just graduated from University, keen to kick start my career in social research. University psychology exposed me to the theory of qualitative research but working at NatCen underlined the real-world applicability of qualitative research and singularity as a tool for decoding and unpacking complex social issues.
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: methods, qualitative