Daphne Ahrendt and Eszter Sandor presented a survey methods webinar on Tuesday 2 July 2024 about how the COVID-19 pandemic led to a new survey tool for Eurofound.
Eurofound, the Dublin-based EU-Agency for the improvement of living and working conditions in Europe has a long tradition of fielding random-probability comparative surveys across Europe.
Starting in 1990 with the European Working Conditions Survey, and expanding in 2003 and 2004 respectively with the European Quality of Life Survey and the European Company Survey, Eurofound has become a centre of expertise in the area of data collection and survey methodology.
The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 forced Eurofound, like all other survey institutes, to temporarily cease the face-to-face surveys it had in the field and consider alternative methods. In need of immediate data to try and understand the implications of the lockdown for Europeans, the survey team at Eurofound launched what was meant to be a one-off online and non-probabilistic survey.
This webinar tells the story of how this quick idea has developed into a standard instrument for Eurofound. Daphne Ahrendt and Eszter Sandor discussed how the survey quickly became a huge success while also raising questions about the data.
They presented the work Eurofound has done and is still doing to improve the Living and Working in Europe e-survey, currently in its 7th edition, and how Eurofound deals with the limitations imposed by this different, yet innovative way of collecting data.
About the speakers
Daphne Ahrendt is a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound.
Since joining Eurofound in 2013, her work has covered a broad range of social policy areas.
At present, she coordinates Eurofound's survey management and development activity and leads the preparation and analysis of the COVID-19 e-surveys.
Daphne has more than 20 years of experience as a researcher working on international surveys, having previously worked in the Eurobarometer Unit at the European Commission and at the National Centre for Social Research in London where she worked on the International Social Survey Programme.
Daphne holds a Master's degree in Criminal Justice Policies from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from San Francisco State University.
Eszter Sandor is a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound.
She has expertise in survey methodology and statistical analysis, has worked on the preparation and management of the European Quality of Life Survey and most recently the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey, and is responsible for dataset quality.
Her research areas are youth well-being and quality of life in households and families, including subjective well-being, work-life balance and living conditions. She has previously worked as an economic consultant in Scotland focusing on economic impact assessments, evaluations and input-output analysis.
She has a Master's degree in Economics and International Relations from the Corvinus University of Budapest.
4 окт 2024
