Panel investigations are a collection Design. They are the repeated collections at the same investigation objects. Typical panels are person panels, with which the same persons are repeated asked, and operating panels, with which the same enterprises are repeated asked. By the repeated questioning the examined objects can change, e.g. persons can develop attitudes to a topic only by the questioning ("“panel Conditioning"”). The high load of the asked ones by the repeated questionings often leads to panel-conditioned losses by Verweigerung, the "“panel mortality"”. The most important person panel in the Federal Republic is the "“socio-economic panel"” (SOEP,); the most important operating panel is the "“IAB operating panel"”.

see also: Profile study

The panel research is occupied with investigations, with those the same persons in regular intervals during a longer period either

• always to the same topic or
• over different in each case topics or
• into a mixed topic catalog remaining over alike and changing topics

are asked.

Term demarcation

Definition characteristic of the panel is not the remaining alike topic, but in principle equal lasting quantity of the asked persons. One calls studies, with which in several questioning waves different persons are always asked over the same topic, profile studies. Panels can be profile studies, must it however not. Profile studies can be accomplished with panels, must it however not. Frequently the terms "“profile study"” and "“panel"” are used erroneously as synonyms.

Profile studies with by definition with each questioning wave of new sample, one calls Trackingstudien. Profile studies with with each questioning wave the same sample one calls A suggestion: "“Kohortenstudie"”.

Methodical criteria

Goals

A panel should be as representatively as possible developed, i.e. the distribution of the panel participants after certain demographic characteristics such as age, sex, income etc. should be as similar as possible the distribution in the total population. Smaller deviations can become balanced by weighting.

Depending upon objective of the investigation the panel can be an individual panel, with which it concerns individual persons, a household panel, with which all persons of the household are from interest, or a specialized panel like e.g. Driver panel, child panel etc.

Disadvantages

In the panel existence a certain fluctuation exists, since participants separate (e.g. by removal into another city or by death) and new participants to be enlisted. Besides participants cannot participate e.g. due to illness longer time actively in the investigation. Those participants who were active during the entire investigation period in the panel therefore, are from special interest in the investigation. This grading group of the panel is called continuous mass. The continuous mass becomes the smaller, the investigation period is the longer.

In extreme cases the above fluctuation can lead to the abolition of the panel investigation, because the examined group is no longer representative for the population. This problem is called panel number of deaths or panel mortality.

Further problems of the panel research are apart from the fluctuation the panel solidification (the questioning unit remains directly, but due to the changing environment that does not place panel any longer the whole of the group which can be examined) and the panel effect (the constant questioning leads to a change of the behavior).

Advantages

Panel investigations offer opposite the advantage to Ad-hoc-investigations so mentioned, with which for each investigation new participants are enlisted, that the long-term behavior can be observed. So can be asked e.g. purposefully after reasons for a change. Naturally the panel participants can participate beside it also in additional Ad-hoc-investigations.

A further disadvantage, although for methodical kind, is not appropriate for the panel research in the higher personnel and financial expenditure of the participant administration and - support.

See also: List of the terms and methods of the market study, panel (term clarifying), profile study

Articles in category "Panel research"

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