Free online seminar on changing survey methods: from mail surveys to chatbots
October 19, 2026
On 28 October 2026 at 17:00 GMT (19:00 Latvian time), a free online seminar, “From mail surveys to chatbots: Changes in survey modes, methods, and data sources over time”, will take place. It is organised by the European Social Survey (ESS) and NatCen Social Research as part of their survey methodology seminar series.
Survey research is changing. Response rates are falling, costs are rising, new data sources are emerging, and survey data are increasingly linked to administrative records. In the seminar, Professor Kristen Olson of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will review how survey methods and statistics have shifted over time. She will discuss changes in modes and data sources, the continuing role of traditional methods, including a large-scale meta-analysis of mixed-mode web-and-mail surveys, and what new technologies mean for survey costs, research and training.
Professor Olson is Director of the Bureau of Sociological Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology. Her research covers mixed-mode surveys, survey costs, questionnaire design and interviewer effects.
The seminar is open to everyone and will be of particular interest to researchers, doctoral candidates and students who work with survey data. To register, please use an email address linked to a Zoom account.
Registration and further information: event page
