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.

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• Posted on 21 February 2022 by Sir John Curtice, Senior Research Fellow

  Will COVID-19 prove a ‘Turning Point in History’?

  

  During the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been much discussion about what its long-term legacy would be.

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  Tags: COVID-19, NatCen Panel, benefits system, mixed-mode survey, social and political attitudes

• Posted on 18 September 2020 by Gillian Prior, Deputy Chief Executive and Director

  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.

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  Tags: NatCen Panel, fieldwork, methods, safety

• Posted on 24 April 2020 by Curtis Jessop, Research Director

  Linking survey and Twitter data

  

  Are social media users representative of a wider population? Are the data biased towards the most vocal? And how do you ensure a sample only includes the target population?

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  Tags: NatCen Panel, Twitter, data linkage, household surveys, social media

• Posted on 23 October 2017 by Matt Jonas, Campaigns and Marketing Manager

  Maintaining sample quality of predominantly online panels

  

  Following a trip to the International Survey Non-Response Workshop in Utrecht, Matt Jonas reflects on the emergence of probability-based online panels and how to maintain them.

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  Tags: International Workshop on Household Survey Non-response, NatCen Panel, longitudinal, panel, survey non-response

• Posted on 20 June 2017 by Emily Tanner, Head of Children, Families & Work

  More good schools: Are grammar schools the answer?

  

  The assumption that there is consensus about what makes a good school runs through education policy and debate. But this may not be how the public sees it, as Emily Tanner explains.

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  Tags: NatCen Panel, education, grammar schools, schools

• Posted on 07 June 2017 by Roger Harding, Head of Public Attitudes

  5 key election findings from the NatCen Panel

  

  Only the NatCen Panel has used the sampling approach recommended by the polling inquiry. Roger Harding outlines 5 key findings from the latest Panel research.

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  Tags: British Social Attitudes, NatCen Panel, NatCen on the Election

• Posted on 07 June 2017 by Kirby Swales, Director of Survey Research Centre

  Looking into the crystal ball – polling methods in the 2017 General Election

  

  Who would want to be a pollster? Kirby Swales looks at what lessons have been learned from the 2015 polling miss. 

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  Tags: NatCen Panel, NatCen on the Election, general election, methodology, polling