A large-scale crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, has the potential to affect non-response in cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys. This study utilises a longitudinal survey, conducted prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, to examine the factors associated with participation in longitudinal surveys during the COVID-19 period, and how this has changed from prior to the pandemic. We find that a number of demographic groups are more likely to be non-responders to COVID-19 surveys, despite having completed pre-COVID surveys, as well as a number of other economic and personality factors. Reassuringly though, there were many more factors that did not have an association. The findings also highlight that two simple questions (with a low time cost) on subjective survey experience early in the pandemic were highly useful in predicting future survey participation. These findings can help to support survey practitioners and data collection companies to develop more robust response improvement strategies during the COVID-19 period.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unexpected disruptions to Western countries which affected women more adversely than men. Previous studies suggest that gender differences are attributable to: women being over-represented in the most affected sectors of the economy, women’s labour market disadvantage as compared to their partners, and mothers taking a bigger share childcare responsibilities following school closures. Using the data from four British nationally representative cohort studies, we test these propositions. Our findings confirm that the adverse labour market effects were still experienced by women a year into the COVID-19 pandemic and that these effects were the most severe for women who lived with a partner and children, even if they worked in critical occupations. We show that adjusting for pre-pandemic job characteristics attenuates the gaps, suggesting that women were over-represented in jobs disproportionately affected by COVID-19 pandemic. However, the remaining gaps are not further attenuated by adjusting for the partner’s job and children characteristics, suggesting that the adversities experienced by women were not driven by their relative labour market position, as compared to their partners or childcare responsibilities. The residual gender differences observed in the rates of active, paid work and furlough for those who live with partner and children point to the importance of unobserved factors such as social norms, preferences, or discrimination. These effects may be long-lasting and jeopardise women’s longer-term position through the loss of experience, leading to reinforcement of gender inequalities or even reversal of the progress towards gender equality.
A household’s financial satisfaction is one of the most significant factors driving subjective well-being. However, Poland ranks close to the lowest position, 22nd out of the 28 EU members, in self-reported financial status. The paper investigates the problem of determining patterns of Polish households’ behaviour and shows the evolution of the subjective assessment of financial situation based on the eight waves of the Polish Household panel data. The analysis is carried out on the basis of latent Markov (LM) models, which allow for socio-economic features affecting the parameters of the latent process. We compare different types of LM models considering: (1) different numbers of latent structures; (2) different types of the latent process constraints; (3) socio-economic background characteristics; and (4) survey weights (being excluded in most of the empirical analyses). The final model identifies three latent states, specifies common initial and transition probabilities over a 15-year period and, as a result, enables us to better characterise the families likely to change their position, especially families reporting worsening in their financial situation. To show the main direction of self-reporting financial condition, we present the predicted path for respondents characterised by the selected socio-economic features, relying on algorithm maximising posterior probabilities of the selected LM model.
Working mothers face challenges in pursuing their career aspirations due to work–family conflict. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has posed added challenges for working mothers by increasing care demands while also causing numerous health, economic and social disruptions. In this paper, we examine the impact of COVID-19 on Korean working mothers’ career aspirations. We employ a longitudinal qualitative design by analysing 64 in-depth interviews with 32 mothers of young children in South Korea. By interviewing the same women before (2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020), we are able to document how working mothers’ career aspirations were impacted by COVID-19. Findings show that all working mothers in the sample experienced increased care demands due to COVID-19. However, the influence of COVID-19 on working mothers’ career aspirations hinged on gendered beliefs related to childcare responsibility. When working mothers believed or were subjected to beliefs that mothers should be the primary caregiver for children (gendered care belief), their career aspirations were tempered or relinquished. On the other hand, those who believed that mothers should not be held solely responsible for childcare (gender egalitarian care belief) continued to pursue their career aspirations or experienced career advancements during COVID-19. Findings suggest that beliefs related to care responsibilities play an important role in working mothers’ pursuit of their career aspirations, and potentially their future careers.
Good background research enables researchers to clarify their thinking regarding their research question and its context in the work of others. It can support the importance, necessity, or relevance of research and enables researchers to find and develop their own standpoint. After a brief introduction, this chapter describes the similarities and differences between document reviews for workplace research and literature reviews for academic research. The importance of good record-keeping is discussed and advice on when and how to read critically or strategically is provided. Ways to find useful academic journal articles are outlined and information is given about how to conduct document reviews and literature reviews. This is followed by information on finding open access materials, using libraries, making notes and knowing when to stop! The chapter concludes with an update of the case studies followed by exercises, discussion questions and a debate topic.
Doing, and using, research is on the increase in public services. Researchers and practitioners need to learn about research techniques and processes so they can understand and make effective use of research in their work, whether or not they are actually conducting research. It is the author’s hope that this book will benefit anybody involved in research in the public services, whether that is part of their paid employment, volunteer work or study. This chapter provides a conclusion to the book and summarises the key points made in the earlier chapters of the book including a list of best practice actions that researchers should take in order to produce good quality, useful research.
The point of disseminating the results of research or evaluation is to share the knowledge gained through the process. Dissemination is not easy but there is no point in doing research if no-one finds out what was discovered. This chapter begins with guidance on how to produce a summary followed by an outline of the barriers to disseminating research, advice on presenting in person and some key points about sharing findings online. There is a brief overview of data visualisation methods then the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of dissemination are discussed. The similarities and differences of workplace and academic research are presented, followed by a discussion of the ethics of dissemination. The chapter concludes with an update of the case studies followed by exercises, discussion questions and a debate topic.
Most people do – or commission, or fund – research because they want to create positive change in the world. This is, ultimately, what research is for. The chapter starts with an overview of the potential impacts of research and the ways in which research evidence can be used to guide policy. Implementation is covered next and includes a discussion of potential barriers and how to create an effective implementation strategy. A section on knowledge exchange explores the ways that research and practice can influence each other to produce progressively better results. The recent move towards a more holistic way of undertaking research is then discussed introducing the terms ‘knowledge translation’ and ‘knowledge mobilisation’. The chapter concludes with an update of the case studies followed by exercises, discussion questions and a debate topic.
This chapter introduces the book by looking at the role of the researcher and examining the skills and characteristics that make a good one. It discusses the various reasons for doing research and includes a comparison of insider and outsider research. Some of the issues that can arise in managing or commissioning research are explored, such as establishing research aims, identifying suitable methods and methodology, allocating resources and project communication. There is a short discussion of the terminology used in the book and more generally in the field of social research. An overview of the changes introduced in this third edition is provided and the chapter concludes with an outline of the book, an introduction to the two case studies that run through the book, plus exercises, discussion questions and a debate topic.
