ESRA 2027 sessions by theme

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Session Details

Survey data collection has been moving towards self-completion modes. Online and mobile surveys offer advantages in terms of costs, speed, and flexibility. Technological developments such as AI-supported data collection are expected to transform how surveys are conducted. These changes may transform, rather than eliminate, the human component of survey fieldwork, including its expertise and organisational practices.

Survey methodology has traditionally focused on interviewer effects, measurement error, and mode effects. Much less attention has been paid to interviewers themselves: their working conditions, professional experiences, motivations, and knowledge of fieldwork. These dimensions are relevant not only for understanding how survey fieldwork is changing, but also for understanding coverage, participation, measurement, and ultimately survey quality. We use the term human infrastructure of survey research to refer to the people, knowledge, skills and organisational practices that make survey fieldwork possible. This human infrastructure is an essential component of survey quality and methodological development.

This session invites papers that examine how technological and organisational change is reshaping the roles of interviewers, supervisors, recruiters, trainers, fieldwork managers, and other professionals involved in survey data collection. Possible topics include interviewer experiences, recruitment and retention, working conditions and professionalisation, fieldwork management, training and skill development, interviewer-supported self-completion, AI- and technology-assisted data collection, human-machine collaboration, and surveying hard-to-reach populations. Qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods research are all welcome. We are interested in the implications of these changes for survey quality, including coverage, participation, measurement, and the organisation of fieldwork.

The session aims to encourage discussion on how the experience, knowledge and skills accumulated in survey fieldwork can contribute to the future development of survey methods. Rather than treating technological innovation and human involvement as competing alternatives, it explores how they can complement each other in future survey data collection.