CaseStudy GESISPanel EN 2015
TOP SCIENTIFIC TOOL Free, fast, flexible: The GESIS Panel enables the academic community to research the attitudes and thoughts of the general population.
CASE STUDY GESIS PANEL
www.questback.com People matter. Get their insight.
CASE STUDY GESIS PANEL
TOP SCIENTIFIC TOOL The GESIS Panel is a free, fast and flexible research panel designed to make it extremely easy for social scientists to generate representative data on the attitudes and responses of the general population. Based on Questback’s Enterprise Feedback Suite (EFS), and launched in 2014, this open, multiple topic panel meets the most rigorous scientific standards and has already been used by dozens of primary and secondary researchers.
Objectives: › Create a mixed-mode panel that is representative of the general population, and designed for the needs of social scientists › Ensure the solution is fast, flexible and free for academic surveys › Build a technically innovative solution that meets the most rigorous scientific standards for methodol-
SITUATION The GESIS – Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences is Germany’s largest social sciences infrastructure facility. With over 250 employees in Mannheim, Cologne, and Berlin, GESIS delivers internationally recognized research-based services. In 2013, GESIS looked to make research much easier for social scientists – through a panel that allow them to access a representative sample of the population. The challenge was to ensure that the panel was easy and fast to use, meet the highest academic, methodological and technical standards and should provide social scientists of all types with valid research data.
ogy and quality
SOLUTION Together with Questback, GESIS developed a mixed-mode panel infrastructure, combining online and physical surveys, based on Questback’s Enterprise Feedback Suite (EFS). Scientists are now able to use it to easily generate demographically representative data on the opinions, attitudes and behavior of German-speaking residents between 18 and 70 who live permanently in the country. It also has an additional key benefit for scientists – it is free to use the platform and access the survey data that it creates. When developing the panel, GESIS and Questback had to combine the needs of two distinct target audiences. Firstly it had to meet the rigorous scientific, methodological and technology requirements of primary and secondary researchers. At the same time, panelists wanted it to be quick and easy to participate in surveys. For both groups, the highest levels of data security and anonymity were essential.
The GESIS Panel offers the academic community an innovative, free way of accessing a survey sample that is representative of the population.
To ensure the panel is truly representative of the population, panelists can participate either online or offline. Currently, around 65% of panelists answer through the web, with the remaining 35% filling in, and posting back, a printed questionnaire. Physical survey data is entered into EFS using high quality, automated and standardized processes, allowing it to be prepared for analysis alongside online results. EFS is at the heart of the GESIS Panel, ensuring that the collection, panel management and analysis processes are smooth, fast, and efficient.
PROF. DR. MICHAEL BOSNJAK, GESIS Panel and Survey Operations Team Leader of the Survey Design and Methodology Department, GESIS - Leibniz-Institute for Social Sciences.
Panel members are surveyed every two months on a range of sociological, political, psychological and economic issues. Each survey takes around 20 minutes, 15 minutes of which is spent on omnibus questions. Scientists from universities and external research institutes, including sociologists, psychologists, political scientists, economic scientists and criminologists can use the panel to generate up-to-date data for their research. They simply upload their project details and questions via a dedicated website. Questions are then programmed into the
CASE STUDY GESIS PANEL
system based on a template within EFS. This procedure ensures all the surveys have the correct layout, which makes processing them within the GESIS Panel much easier. Additionally, every social scientist that wants to run an omnibus study through the GESIS panel receives access to their own, free Questback Unipark account.
RESULTS The project has created a completely new way for academic researchers to survey a representative sample of the German population. Scientists are benefiting both from the panel’s free usage model, and its speed and efficiency. So far 46 studies have been run through the tool. Previously scientists would have had to build their own demographically representative panel – which would have been time-consuming and expensive. Essentially, many of these projects would not have been possible without the GESIS Panel. Researchers are able to set up their projects automatically using Questback EFS, ensuring they benefit from fast, easy and methodologically sound data for their scientific work. As the survey designs on the GESIS Panel are checked by experts before they are run, the results are more consistent and therefore more likely to get published, further benefiting researchers.
Results at-a-glance: › Created a representative panel of the German-speaking population between 18 and 70, who live permanently in the country › Around 5,000 panelists at the start of the project › Provides 8 core surveys annually, with nearly 50 other surveys carried out by June 2014 › Web-based survey creation and data access via www.gesis-panel.org
The GESIS Panel was launched in February 2014 with around 5,000 panelists. Since its launch, eight core studies have been developed which are run annually. Topics covered range from research into subjective wellness and quality of life, political and social engagement, attitudes and behavior towards the environment, personality and personal values, and the use of information and communications technology. Survey capacity for 2014 and 2015 was quickly filled, but additional capacity has been made available for 2016 and 2017 (Updated: June 2015) It’s also clear that the panelists themselves feel engaged, with low voluntary dropout rates of around 2%. Building on this success, the GESIS Panel will be extended across Europe in the future. Initially it will be used for international omnibus studies, with a harmonized European panel infrastructure then planned, This will collect data from multiple European countries, allowing scientists to carry out culturally comprehensive social research.
CASE STUDY GESIS PANEL
About GESIS The GESIS – Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences is Germany’s largest social sciences infrastructure facility. With over 250 employees in Mannheim, Cologne, and Berlin, GESIS delivers internaInstitution
tionally recognized research-based services. Funded by the Federal Department for Education
GESIS - Leibniz-Institute for Social
and Research, the GESIS Panel is a demographically representative omnibus access panel. It
Science
offers social scientists the chance to quickly and flexibly collect demographically representative data on attitudes and behaviors, identify changing trends within the population, and test their
Sector
ideas through experimental surveys.
Academic research Usage Demographically representative research into the attitudes and behaviors of the German population for social scientists.
Questback is not just powerful software that allows you to send powerful surveys or collect data. It’s an all-in-one enterprise solution that puts the right customer, employee and market data at your fingertips. Whatever industry you’re in, whatever answers you need, real-time insight for real world decisionmaking is always available to you. www.questback.com
People matter. Get their insight.
CASE STUDY GESIS PANEL
www.questback.com People matter. Get their insight.
CASE STUDY GESIS PANEL
TOP SCIENTIFIC TOOL The GESIS Panel is a free, fast and flexible research panel designed to make it extremely easy for social scientists to generate representative data on the attitudes and responses of the general population. Based on Questback’s Enterprise Feedback Suite (EFS), and launched in 2014, this open, multiple topic panel meets the most rigorous scientific standards and has already been used by dozens of primary and secondary researchers.
Objectives: › Create a mixed-mode panel that is representative of the general population, and designed for the needs of social scientists › Ensure the solution is fast, flexible and free for academic surveys › Build a technically innovative solution that meets the most rigorous scientific standards for methodol-
SITUATION The GESIS – Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences is Germany’s largest social sciences infrastructure facility. With over 250 employees in Mannheim, Cologne, and Berlin, GESIS delivers internationally recognized research-based services. In 2013, GESIS looked to make research much easier for social scientists – through a panel that allow them to access a representative sample of the population. The challenge was to ensure that the panel was easy and fast to use, meet the highest academic, methodological and technical standards and should provide social scientists of all types with valid research data.
ogy and quality
SOLUTION Together with Questback, GESIS developed a mixed-mode panel infrastructure, combining online and physical surveys, based on Questback’s Enterprise Feedback Suite (EFS). Scientists are now able to use it to easily generate demographically representative data on the opinions, attitudes and behavior of German-speaking residents between 18 and 70 who live permanently in the country. It also has an additional key benefit for scientists – it is free to use the platform and access the survey data that it creates. When developing the panel, GESIS and Questback had to combine the needs of two distinct target audiences. Firstly it had to meet the rigorous scientific, methodological and technology requirements of primary and secondary researchers. At the same time, panelists wanted it to be quick and easy to participate in surveys. For both groups, the highest levels of data security and anonymity were essential.
The GESIS Panel offers the academic community an innovative, free way of accessing a survey sample that is representative of the population.
To ensure the panel is truly representative of the population, panelists can participate either online or offline. Currently, around 65% of panelists answer through the web, with the remaining 35% filling in, and posting back, a printed questionnaire. Physical survey data is entered into EFS using high quality, automated and standardized processes, allowing it to be prepared for analysis alongside online results. EFS is at the heart of the GESIS Panel, ensuring that the collection, panel management and analysis processes are smooth, fast, and efficient.
PROF. DR. MICHAEL BOSNJAK, GESIS Panel and Survey Operations Team Leader of the Survey Design and Methodology Department, GESIS - Leibniz-Institute for Social Sciences.
Panel members are surveyed every two months on a range of sociological, political, psychological and economic issues. Each survey takes around 20 minutes, 15 minutes of which is spent on omnibus questions. Scientists from universities and external research institutes, including sociologists, psychologists, political scientists, economic scientists and criminologists can use the panel to generate up-to-date data for their research. They simply upload their project details and questions via a dedicated website. Questions are then programmed into the
CASE STUDY GESIS PANEL
system based on a template within EFS. This procedure ensures all the surveys have the correct layout, which makes processing them within the GESIS Panel much easier. Additionally, every social scientist that wants to run an omnibus study through the GESIS panel receives access to their own, free Questback Unipark account.
RESULTS The project has created a completely new way for academic researchers to survey a representative sample of the German population. Scientists are benefiting both from the panel’s free usage model, and its speed and efficiency. So far 46 studies have been run through the tool. Previously scientists would have had to build their own demographically representative panel – which would have been time-consuming and expensive. Essentially, many of these projects would not have been possible without the GESIS Panel. Researchers are able to set up their projects automatically using Questback EFS, ensuring they benefit from fast, easy and methodologically sound data for their scientific work. As the survey designs on the GESIS Panel are checked by experts before they are run, the results are more consistent and therefore more likely to get published, further benefiting researchers.
Results at-a-glance: › Created a representative panel of the German-speaking population between 18 and 70, who live permanently in the country › Around 5,000 panelists at the start of the project › Provides 8 core surveys annually, with nearly 50 other surveys carried out by June 2014 › Web-based survey creation and data access via www.gesis-panel.org
The GESIS Panel was launched in February 2014 with around 5,000 panelists. Since its launch, eight core studies have been developed which are run annually. Topics covered range from research into subjective wellness and quality of life, political and social engagement, attitudes and behavior towards the environment, personality and personal values, and the use of information and communications technology. Survey capacity for 2014 and 2015 was quickly filled, but additional capacity has been made available for 2016 and 2017 (Updated: June 2015) It’s also clear that the panelists themselves feel engaged, with low voluntary dropout rates of around 2%. Building on this success, the GESIS Panel will be extended across Europe in the future. Initially it will be used for international omnibus studies, with a harmonized European panel infrastructure then planned, This will collect data from multiple European countries, allowing scientists to carry out culturally comprehensive social research.
CASE STUDY GESIS PANEL
About GESIS The GESIS – Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences is Germany’s largest social sciences infrastructure facility. With over 250 employees in Mannheim, Cologne, and Berlin, GESIS delivers internaInstitution
tionally recognized research-based services. Funded by the Federal Department for Education
GESIS - Leibniz-Institute for Social
and Research, the GESIS Panel is a demographically representative omnibus access panel. It
Science
offers social scientists the chance to quickly and flexibly collect demographically representative data on attitudes and behaviors, identify changing trends within the population, and test their
Sector
ideas through experimental surveys.
Academic research Usage Demographically representative research into the attitudes and behaviors of the German population for social scientists.
Questback is not just powerful software that allows you to send powerful surveys or collect data. It’s an all-in-one enterprise solution that puts the right customer, employee and market data at your fingertips. Whatever industry you’re in, whatever answers you need, real-time insight for real world decisionmaking is always available to you. www.questback.com
People matter. Get their insight.
