The Innovation Panel (IP) is a sample of households used by researchers as a test-bed for innovative ways of collecting data and for developing new areas of research. The IP helps develop leading-edge survey methods and new content to ensure the success of the main Understanding Society survey. IP participants are, on the whole, asked the same questions, using the same procedures as the main Understanding Society survey. However, the Innovation Panel also includes experiments and methodological tests designed to develop and evaluate methodologies and new content for longitudinal survey research.
Each year the research community is given the opportunity to suggest experiments and new content for the IP through the Innovation Panel competition. The competition for 2023 is now open and we invite researchers to submit proposals to be added to Wave 17 of the IP, which goes into the field in summer 2024.
How to apply
Researchers can submit two types of proposals:
- Proposals for new survey content, that will be used to address innovative research questions. The proposed survey questions can be on any topic.
- Proposals for survey methods experiments and evaluations. Methodological studies could relate to the design of survey instruments (e.g. question wording, item order, etc.) or to survey design features (e.g. procedures intended to reduce non-response or to improve fieldwork efficiency).
Read the full information about the competition and apply online here.
The deadline for applications is 16 April 2023.
Find out more about the IP
You can find out about some of the previous experiments carried in the IP on our website. You can also find out about past experiments in our Working Paper series. The data and documentation area for the IP has a user guide, variables, and the questionnaires used.
Survey methodology
