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*** an announcement from The Association for Survey Computing.
*** Apologies for any cross-postings
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     INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SURVEY RESEARCH METHODS
               THE CHALLENGE OF THE INTERNET
                      organised by
                   ASC, ONS, MRS, SRA
        Latimer Conference Centre, 11-12 May 2001
      FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR CONTRIBUTED PAPERS

This conference will follow the pattern of the Chilworth conference
held in August 1998 (see www.asc.org.uk/events/c98/summary.htm). These
conferences on Survey Research Methods aim to have more depth and be
more focussed than ASC 1-day meetings or the larger international
conferences. They are residential, giving much greater opportunity for
interaction and discussion between participants and presenters.

The conference will consist of four half-day sessions, each with a
specific theme, an invited keynote speaker and three contributed papers
(no parallel sessions). The proceedings will be prepared in advance and
distributed to participants at the conference.

The conference is residential and will be held at the Latimer
Conference Centre, in the Chiltern Hills, just outside London. The
conference fee is inclusive of meals and 2 nights accommodation (10th
and 11th May), and the event begins with a reception and dinner on the
Thursday evening, 10th May.

CONTRIBUTED PAPERS

Proposals are requested for contributed papers for the conference.

A proposal should contain enough information about the structure and
conclusions of the paper for the programme committee to judge its value
to the whole programme. Complete papers may be submitted where these
are available.  Normally a proposal should indicate which session it is
proposed for and what topic(s) it addresses. Proposals for other,
related, topics will be considered on their merits, but preference will
be given to those topics closest to the overall objectives of the
conference.

Proposals should be sent to [log in to unmask], to arrive by the end of
Friday 12th January 2001. It would be helpful to send an advance
message to this address indicating your intention to submit a proposal
(with a title).  Please note that selected contributors will be
required to register for the conference (at the early booking rate) at
the same time as they submit full papers for review (by 2nd March
2001).

SESSION AND TOPICS

I. Designing on-line studies to maximum advantage

Organised by: Market Research Society
Keynote Speaker: Pete Comley, Virtual Surveys Ltd

o What are the benefits? In what circumstances can they be
  realised?
o What evidence do we have of the benefits and drawbacks?
o How can the internet be used in a mixed mode data collection
  programme?
o What lessons can be learnt from experience to date about questionnaire
  design?
o What are the different ways of setting up internet surveys?

II. Sampling and instrumentation issues

Organised by: Social Research Association
Keynote Speaker: Mick Couper, Survey Research Centre,
    University of Michigan

o What populations can be surveyed?
o What problems of generalisability will there be?'
o Is the Internet good for cross sectional surveys or panel surveys
  or both (or neither ?)?
o Coverage on the Internet is like the early days of the telephone -
  is there a solution?
o Can Internet samples improve on quota samples?
o Are panels the answer, with calibration to population figures?
o What are the implications of mixed mode data collection, with members
  of a classical sample given the option to respond via the Internet?
o What are the mode differentials for level and quality of response?
o What is the nature of human/machine survey interaction on the Internet?
o How can recruitment be maximised?
o What weighting strategies can be used?

III. Dissemination of Survey and other Statistical information

Organised by: Office for National Statistics
Keynote Speaker: Len Cook, ONS

o Production: do we need new tools to speed up analysis and reporting?
o Software and Functionality: what do end users need for browsing and
  in-depth analysis?
o Discovery: how do users find out what exists and what it means?

IV. Integration through Software and Metadata

Organised by: Association for Survey Computing
Keynote Speaker: Chris Nelson, Dimension EDI

o Does current software meet all the needs for survey research
  and analysis on the Internet?
o Will statistical analysis packages and data warehouse systems
  converge?
o Do commercial data warehouse and OLAP systems provide useful
  facilities for statistical manipulation and dissemination?
o Do we need more than data dictionaries to support analysis and
  dissemination?
o Is convergence in sight for standards for statistical metadata?

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION

The cost of the conference will be £550 (no VAT), including all meals
and two nights accommodation (10th and 11th May). A reduced fee of £400
will be available to those who have completed booking (including
payment) by 2nd March. An academic rate of £450 will also be available.
A booking form will be available on the ASC web site (www.asc.org.uk)
shortly.  Participant numbers will be limited to a maximum of about 150
(we had nearly 100 at Chilworth).  There will be an exhibition of
software and services associated with the conference, and potential
exhibitors should contact the ASC Administrator ([log in to unmask]).

LOCATION

The Latimer Conference Centre is situated in the Chiltern Hills, near
to Chesham, and just outside the M25 motorway. There are excellent
modern accommodation and conference facilities. The conference dinners
will be held in the old house, where there are also lounge and bar
facilities.

CRITICAL DATES

Event - Deadline
Proposals for contributions - 12th Jan 2001
Notification of selected papers - 19th Jan
Paper for review - 2nd March (early registration deadline)
Comments to authors - 23rd March
Final version of paper for publication - 12th April
Conference - 11th - 12th May (reception and dinner on evening of
  10th May)

PROGRAMME COMMITTEE

MRS     Malcolm Rigg, BMRB
SRA     Wendy Sykes
ONS     Tricia Dodd
ASC     Andrew Westlake (Chair), John Francis, Randy Banks

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Please reply to:

        Diana Elder, Administrator ([log in to unmask])
        ASC, PO Box 60, Chesham, Bucks, UK  HP5 3QH
        tel/fax: +44 (0)1494 793033
        http://www.asc.org.uk

This message has been sent on behalf the ASC by:

        Randy Banks ([log in to unmask])
        Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER)
        University of Essex, Colchester, UK CO4 3SQ
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