Making surveys more inclusive and equitable: strategies, actions and challenges |
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| Coordinator 1 | Dr Véronique SIEGLER (Office for National Statistics (ONS)) |
| Coordinator 2 | Line Knudsen (National Centre for Social Research (Natcen)) |
In today's diverse society, ensuring inclusivity in social surveys is essential for generating accurate, representative, and meaningful insights that can shape policies. Without a comprehensive approach to inclusivity, there is a risk of omitting important voices and producing skewed findings. Additionally, inclusivity carries an ethical responsibility to ensure that all groups, particularly marginalised ones, are heard. This session will explore how researchers can adopt a holistic approach to inclusivity across all stages of the survey process, from respondent engagement , sampling and questionnaire design to data analysis requirements. Key to this discussion is the concept of intersectionality—people’s experiences are shaped by multiple, interconnected factors, and ignoring this complexity can lead to oversimplified approaches to inclusivity.
Barriers to inclusivity in social surveys are wide-ranging, including accessibility issues, cultural insensitivity, technological challenges, and lack of trust amongst certain communities or disenfranchised individuals. The aim of this session is to reflect on how to overcome these barriers, to share successes, challenges and lessons learned. The session will provide a platform for researchers to present innovative strategies and approaches that ensure inclusivity, contributing to a more equitable future for social surveys.
We invite papers that address a variety of topics, including but not limited to:
• Inclusivity for individuals experiencing physical or mental health issues, or neurodiversity.
• Overcoming demographic or identity-based barriers.
• Engaging hard-to-reach groups.
• Addressing the complexities of intersectionality in social surveys.
• Building trust in social surveys.
• Leveraging alternative data to address inclusivity challenges.
• Inclusivity in the context of non-traditional data sources.
We particularly welcome submissions from researchers across different sectors—academia, national statistics, and private research organisations. This session aims to inform future strategies and best practices for enhancing inclusivity in social surveys.