RSS Social Statistics Section: Survey research and new forms of data

Date: Tuesday 23 March 2021, 5.00PM
Location: On-line
Online-joining instructions will be emailed to those registered
Section Group Meeting


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Recent years have seen an upheaval in the world of survey research with shifts to online and mobile data collection, use of mixed-mode designs and the implementation of adaptive designs. Part of this fast paced development is the addition of new forms of data to traditional surveys. This can take different forms, from biological data to social media or passive data from mobile devices. While these new forms of data give rise to exciting opportunities for the survey methods field it also creates challenges. There is a clear need for high quality methodological work to understand the possibilities and limitations of these new forms data.
 
The Social Statistics Section of the Royal Statistical Society is very excited to announce a new event which contains three presentations from experts in this research area.  They will present the cutting-edge evidence regarding the methods and the quality of these new forms of data.
 
Event timings are GMT

This 1.5 hour event will include three 20 minutes talks with some time available for questions followed by 30 minutes extended discussion.
 
The event will include the following presentations:
 
Data Collection using Smartphone Sensors and Apps: Understanding Participants' Sharing Decisions and Assessing Nonparticipation Bias
Bella Struminskaya, Department of Methods and Statistics, Utrecht University
 
Using smartphone sensors and apps can offer researchers detailed information about behaviours that are difficult or impossible to capture via self-report, reduce respondent burden and improve measurement accuracy. However, if respondents who are not willing or able to collect sensor data differ from those who are, the results can be biased. This presentation provides an overview of our recent research on mechanisms of sharing smartphone sensor data from (general population) randomized experiments, focusing on how features of the request and respondent characteristics influence willingness and actually sharing smartphone-sensor data. 
 
Longitudinal Research: Innovations in Data Collection
Emily Gilbert, Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London
 
New technology presents us with new opportunities for data collection in social research. This talk will discuss some of the innovations in data collection which have been implemented on the British birth cohort studies run by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, UCL. The focus will be on wearable technology to measure physical activity, and the capture of time use data using a mixed mode approach.
 
Linking Twitter and Survey Data: Quantity and its Impact
Tarek Al Baghal, Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex
 
Linked social media and survey data have the potential to be a unique source of information for social research. While the potential usefulness of this methodology is widely acknowledged, very few studies have explored methodological aspects of such linkage, although initial research has focused on ethical issues. In this talk I will explore the amount of social media data available to link to surveys in a longitudinal setting.
 
 
Bella Struminskaya, Department of Methods and Statistics, Utrecht University
 
Emily Gilbert, Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London
 
Tarek Al Baghal, Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex
 
 
 
Olga Maslovskaya and Alexandru Cernat for the RSS Social Statistics Section