ESRC funded PhD studentship on web survey methodology

We are seeking applications for a PhD studentship in the area of web survey methodology based in the Department of Methodology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. This studentship will commence in September 2021 and it is offered for a 1+3 MSc/PhD programme to applicants in possession of upper second class honours (2:1) degree in social science, or for a +3 MPhil/PhD programme to applicants in possession of a high-level pass in a Master’s degree in an appropriate subject from a UK university or its equivalent elsewhere. The studentship is part of the ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership at the LSE. This is a collaborative studentship for which the non-academic partner is Kantar Public UK Division, one of the leading social research agencies in the UK. It is expected that the research programme of the PhD will be developed in collaboration with Kantar Public and that during the tenure of the award, the student will spend time working with Kantar Public, either virtually or on the premises.

Focus of the studentship

As response rates to face-to-face surveys continue to fall while costs increase, surveys are increasingly switching, in whole or in part, to online data collection including an increasing use of mobile ‘smart’ digital devices for completing questionnaires. This existing trend is likely to be accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to the suspension of face-to-face interviewing around the world. Many surveys that have been forced online by the pandemic are unlikely to return to face-to-face interviewing, even when this becomes possible. There is therefore a pressing need to improve our understanding of how data collection in online environments can be delivered to optimize data quality.

Online surveys have many advantages over traditional modes of interview such as, notably, cost savings, increased frequency of interviewing in longitudinal studies and the potential to reach groups that are normally harder to reach. The earliest adopters of online surveying used non-probability sampling approaches and the vast majority of online surveying continues to use these kinds of sample designs. Increasingly, however, researchers are seeking to implement web surveys using random probability designs with more and more online probability panels appearing in countries around the world. Implementing probability sampling for online surveys raises a number of difficult methodological challenges such as within household respondent selection, identifying ‘fake’ respondents, and achieving satisfactory response rates, to name but a few. This will be the focus of the research funding by this studentship, and the successful candidate will undertake a programme of empirical research focusing on these kinds of challenges.

The research will focus primarily, although not necessarily exclusively, on the Kantar Public Voice probability panel. Kantar Public Voice is one of only two random probability panels in the UK. It currently comprises over 10,000 panel members who were recruited through a combination of face-to-face and postal (push-to-web) invitations. Panel members are invited to complete surveys on a monthly basis and are given a monetary incentive for each survey completion. The studentship will have access to the wealth of paradata emanating from the data collection process, there will also be opportunities for implementing experimental designs as part of future rounds of data collection. The full programme of work to be undertaken for the PhD will be developed collaboratively during the first year of the studentship between the student and the supervisors, which will include a senior methodologist from Kantar Public. 

 

Eligibility

This studentship will commence in September 2021 and it is offered for a 1+3 MSc/PhD programme to applicants in possession of upper second class honours (2:1) degree in social science, or for a +3 MPhil/PhD programme to applicants in possession of a high-level pass in a Master’s degree in an appropriate subject from a UK university or its equivalent elsewhere.

Please ensure that you meet the academic requirements for admission to the programme and can provide evidence of your English proficiency. Details of the relevant academic and English language entry requirements and information about the admissions process and necessary supporting documents can all be found at www.lse.ac.uk/graduate. More information on studying for a PhD in LSE’s Methodology Department can be found at lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Graduate/degree-programmes-2021/MPhilPhD-Social-Research-Methods.

 

 

How to apply

Applicants should submit a CV and two page covering letter to methodology.research@lse.ac.uk by 17:00 GMT on 4 December 2020.

In the covering letter you should set out what interests you in studying for a PhD in survey methodology at the LSE and what you see as the major challenges in transitioning random probability surveys from face-to-face interview to online self-administration.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview, and the successful applicant will be required to complete LSE’s formal online application before 14 January 2021.

Informal inquiries about the collaborative studentship should be directed to Professor Patrick Sturgis at p.sturgis@lse.ac.uk.