CROss-National Online Survey (CRONOS1) Panel

Building on previous experience of mixed mode research, the ESS developed a CROss-National Online Survey (CRONOS1) panel in 2016.

CRONOS1 was the first attempt to establish a cross-national probability-based online panel following a harmonised approach - from the recruitment stage to data processing. CRONOS1 was a pilot study to evaluate the effectiveness of panel recruitment on the back of an existing cross-national survey in terms of costs, sample representativeness, participation (and attrition rates) and data quality.

CRONOS1 was designed and implemented alongside ESS Round 8 (2016/17), as part of the larger SERISS project. After completing the ESS face-to-face interview, respondents in Estonia, Great Britain and Slovenia aged 18 or older were invited to participate in six 20-minute online surveys over twelve months. Respondents who did not have internet access for private use were offered a tablet and an internet connection for the duration of the project.

After implementing a harmonised recruitment approach, the CRONOS1 panel was managed centrally with continuous and crucial support from relevant national teams. A central panel administration system was set up on Questback-EFS: waves were programmed, distributed and monitored centrally from this system. The national teams translated and adapted all source documents (respondent communications, survey questions), sent out postal and SMS communications, set up experiments and maintained a helpline that panellists could contact for assistance or queries. In addition, national teams worked with the central team in the design of recruitment strategies and experiments.

Data collection took place between December 2016 and February 2018. After a short 10-minute welcome survey, waves 1 to 6 included around 100 questions on diverse topics, often borrowed from high-standard cross-national surveys (e.g., European Values Study, Generations and Gender Programme, International Social Survey Programme, European Quality of Life Survey).