As high-quality probability-based surveys increasingly move towards online and mixed-mode designs that include self-administration, innovative recruitment approaches are required to ensure participation and representativeness. Knock-to-nudge (KtN) is one such approach. Originally introduced during a period when COVID-19 restrictions were moderately relaxed, KtN can be broadly defined as a contact method in which trained interviewers visit sampled households and encourage respondents at the doorstep to participate in a non-face-to-face survey at a later date. Either an appointment is made for the survey, which is conducted subsequently, usually by telephone, video interview, or a combination of these modes, or respondents are asked to complete an online survey. While various UK surveys have ceased using KtN after the COVID-19 restrictions were fully lifted, others have continued to use it.
Although the research evidence base remains limited, early findings suggest that KtN methods can substantially increase response rates and improve sample composition by incorporating harder-to-reach groups, notably including those with lower educational attainment and socio-economic status. However, the use of KtN increases fieldwork costs, as it requires deploying interviewers to the field. Assessing the effectiveness of a KtN strategy, and its feasibility for a particular survey, requires acknowledging its benefits and potential disadvantages, and recognising the underlying trade-offs.
This workshop will feature research conducted as part of the Survey Futures Research Strand 4: “Recruitment for surveys without field interviewers”, led by Professor Olga Maslosvkaya, including an evidence review, academic research outputs, and a survey practice guide. In addition, the workshop will feature presentations by survey methodologists and practitioners exploring the benefits and disadvantages of KtN in the current social survey landscape. We will conclude with a panel discussion on the likely future of KtN in social survey research.
The workshop is aimed at survey practitioners and researchers from across sectors and career stages and will provide practical recommendations informed by the research findings.
Provisional schedule: All times are GMT (UTC+0).
10:00 – Welcome and intros
Olga Maslovskaya (University of Southampton)
10:05 – Knock-to nudge approach to establishing contact with respondents: Participation, representativeness and data quality
Cristian Domarchi, Olga Maslovskaya, and Peter W. F. Smith (University of Southampton)
10:30 – Using knock-to-nudge methods for recruitment to a probability-based online panel: findings from Australia
Benjamin Phillips, Anna Lethborg, Dina Neiger, Tharaka Kaluarachchi (Social Research Centre), and Juan Zapata Trujillo (University of Sydney; formerly, Social Research Centre)
11:55 – From design to delivery: What we have learned from knock-to-nudge on the Transformed Labour Force Survey
Maria Tortoriello, Jennifer Langer and Seb Odell (Office for National Statistics, UK)
11:20 – Administering a knock-to-nudge phase to support self-completion data collection: the experience of the European Social Survey in the UK
Tim Hanson (European Social Survey / City St George’s University London), Natalie Maplethorpe (National Centre for Social Research – NatCen), and Bethany Chapman (National Centre for Social Research – NatCen)
11:45 – National Survey for Wales redesign: Moving away from visits to addresses
Chris McGowan (Welsh Government)
12:10 – Panel session
Discussion moderated by Olga Maslovskaya (University of Southampton)
13:00 – End of event
Please register here for the event: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/knock-to-nudge-new-recruitment-strategy-in-social-surveys-tickets-2002143744837