NatCen Social Research

Who we are
NatCen’s Methodology & Innovation Hub (MIH) is a collective of highly skilled experts in social research methodology and practice, led by Gerry Nicolaas.

The Hub provides independent advice on the design, conduct and analysis of social research and undertakes methodological research that supports the development of policy and practice.
Methodology & Innovation at NatCen
Leading the UK in the collection of bio-measures in household surveys

Synthesising different forms of evidence to create accessible policy insights

Bringing deliberative research online to engage the public on key policy issues
News
10 June

Research Director Curtis Jessop has a new paper on linking Twitter and survey data, examining the amount of social media data available to link to surveys. The paper is based on research funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council, involving colleagues at the Universities of Cardiff, Essex and Mannheim (Germany).

19 Feb

GenPopWeb2 is organising a webinar series looking at complex measures in web surveys: cognition on 26 Feb, data linkage consents 5 Mar, and occupational coding on 12 Mar.

GenPopWeb2 is an ESRC-funded network of UK-based academic and non-academic partners to share knowledge and collaborate in the area of online data collection in social surveys. The network is led by Olga Maslovskaya (University of Southampton), Lisa Calderwood (UCL), Laura Wilson (ONS) and Gerry Nicolaas (NatCen).

15 Jan

NEW BLOG: Natasha Phillips, researcher in the Methodology & Innovation Hub and questionnaire design expert, discusses how video interviewing has proved to be an excellent option for testing questionnaires during the pandemic, and one that can be utilised alongside more conventional modes now and in the future.

13 Jan 2021

The latest edition of the SRA journal Social Research Practice includes an article looking at How should we present ‘don’t know’ options in self-completion surveys? Lessons from three experiments (pdf), co-authored by Bernard Steen.

12 Jan 2021

Our Director of NatCen Learning, Debbie Collins, has written a quick start guide for the NCRM on planning to teach social research methods online - guiding principles. Find out more about the online courses that NatCen Learning can offer.

28 Dec 2020

In an article for the SRA Research Matters magazine, Kirsty Cole from NatCen and Erica Wong from UCL describe the results of a small-scale feasibility study testing the use of computer-assisted video interviewing on the Age 50 Survey of the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70).

21 August 2020

NEW BLOG: Martin Wood, NatCen's Director of Longitudinal Surveys, discusses how the UK’s longitudinal social research studies have stepped forward to offer a means of understanding the Covid-19 outbreak’s impact on work, family life, wellbeing and health-related behaviour.

7 July 2020

Ceri Davies speaks to Impact Magazine about bringing deliberative research online, for an article on the rise of citizens’ assemblies and the future of deliberation.

14 April 2020

NEW BLOG: How do we best adapt social survey questionnaires for the era of online data collection? As @GerryNicolaas explains, success lies in going back to the basics. This article first appeared in @TheSRAOrg’s Research Matters magazine

28 February 2020

New ESRC-funded @GenPopWeb2 network, involving NatCen with researchers from University College London, University of Southampton and the Office for National Statistics aims to develop knowledge and practice in relation to transitioning face-to-face surveys to online data collection.

10 December 2019

Ceri Davies and Anna Marcinklewicz run a workshop on Digital deliberations: creating a tool for thoughtful democracy? at the Social Research Association Annual Conference

5 November 2019

NatCen and Dr Heather Wardle report for the Gambling Commission - Longitudinal Study of Gambling: Consultation and Scoping Review is published as part of the Commission’s National Strategy

21 November 2019

Gerry Nicolaas talks about Questionnaire design for online surveys. The future of online data collection in social surveys, Social Statistics Section, Royal Statistical Society, London, 21 November 2019

21 November 2019

Ceri Davies and Debbie Collins talk about Innovation in Research Methods at NatCen to HMRC government social researchers and analysts at their mini conference.

18 July 2019

Anne Connolly presents paper at European Survey Research Association conference, July 2019 Overweight & obesity within households: An exploration using objective physical measurements and subjective self-assessments from the Health Survey for England

21 June 2019

Head of Methods, Gerry Nicolaas, delivers keynote address to the 2019 Future of Online Data Collection in Social Surveys international conference Online data collection for social surveys: back to basics.

8 March 2019

Bernard Steen discusses The Presentation of Don’t Know Answer Options in Web Surveys: an experiment with the NatCen Panel at the 2019 General Online Research Conference.
Methodology research reports
Our reports on research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council are available for download as pdfs:

Joanna D’Ardenne, Martin Wood and Bruno Pacchiotti: Considering alternative fieldwork designs for a biennial face-to-face longitudinal survey

Gerry Nicolaas, Emma Corteen and Byron Davies: The use of incentives to recruit and retain hard-to-get populations in longitudinal studies

Curtis Jessop, Dave Hussey, Klaudia Lubian and Martin Wood: Using a targeted design and R-indicators to enhance sample quality in a web-CATI longitudinal study
- Methods seminars
  
  Next webinar:
  
  Taking deliberations online with Ceri Davies, Director of Deliberative Research Centre, NatCen on 28 May
  
  Latest webinar:
  
  Transition to multimode data collection: understanding the measurement dimension with Alexandru Cernat, University of Manchester on 17 March
  
  #Methodsem shares findings from the latest methodological research projects and discusses current issues in survey methodology. The seminar series is a joint initiative between NatCen, the European Social Survey ERIC and City University (London).
  
  Recordings of past seminars are available here and on YouTube.
Training courses
Through NatCen Learning, we run short courses for the Social Research Association, National Centre for Research Methods, and for a range of organisations wanting bespoke training.

We also work with UK Q-Step centres, providing work placements for their students.

Find out more about NatCen Learning here
Keen to work with our researchers?
Get in touch at 0207 549 9584 or new-business@natcen.ac.uk