Jonathan Burton
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jonburton.bsky.social
Jonathan Burton
@jonburton.bsky.social
520 followers 580 following 230 posts
Associate Director for Surveys for Understanding Society: The UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS). Working at ISER, University of Essex pretending to be a grown-up.
https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/people/jburton
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jonburton.bsky.social
Quality of Expenditure Data Collected With a Mobile Receipt Scanning App in a Probability Household Panel - by Alexander Wenz, @annettejackle.bsky.social @jonburton.bsky.social Mick P. Couper & Brendan Read.

doi.org/10.18148/srm...
This paper reports on a novel approach using smartphone technology to collect expenditure data in a probability household panel of the general population in Great Britain. Respondents were asked to download an app on their smartphone and report their purchases of goods and services over the period of one month. The app directed respondents to use the built-in camera to photograph all paper receipts that they received at a point of sale. In a separate diary section of the app, they were able to manually enter other expenditures, such as non-receipted payments. In this paper, we compare the quality of the reported expenditure with benchmark data from the Living Costs and Food Survey, the national budget survey in the United Kingdom. The results suggest that total expenditure reported with scanned receipts plus direct entry aligns closely with the national budget survey whereas app data from scanned receipts only clearly underestimate expenditure. Examining category-level expenditure similarly shows that for most categories, the reported expenditure from scanned receipts plus direct entry aligns more closely with the benchmark than scanned receipts only. In addition, the app data align more closely with the national budget survey for respondents who are older, male, have an above-median income, and live in rural areas. The implications of measurement differences vary: comparisons of estimated budget shares are closer to the benchmark for some categories than others.
August 15, 2025 at 9:32 AM
jonburton.bsky.social
History of the World in 47 Borders by @jonnelledge.bsky.social whilst crossing the Canadian/Alaskan border
Kindle version of Jonn Elledge’s book “A History of the World in 47 Borders” with the border of Canada and Alaska in the Yukon in the background
August 14, 2025 at 12:56 PM
jonburton.bsky.social
Getting consent to survey in new ways: evidence from experiments about questions by text message in the @usociety.bsky.social Innovation Panel

Jim Vine, @annettejackle.bsky.social, @jonburton.bsky.social, Mick P. Couper

www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/research/pub...
Some information cannot (reliably) be collected in annual surveys of panel members. Text messages (SMS) are well-suited to gathering time-sensitive responses, if a large and representative subset of a panel consents to being surveyed in this way. We investigate: (1) What proportion of respondents consent to text message questions? How does that vary by sample cohort, mode, and whether previously asked for consent? (2) What is the effect of consent question placement within the questionnaire? (3) Is bias of the covered sample reduced by re-asking non-consenters at a later wave? (4) What coverage of non-internet users is gained by seeking consent for text message questioning? We use data from experiments within two waves (IP13 and IP15) of the Innovation Panel of Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study. For comparisons of subsets, the proportions consenting are reported along with test statistics for group differences. For the mixed-mode experiment, we report both as-treated and intention-to-treat values, as well as instrumental variable analysis to estimate the effect of mode distinct from selection effects. Bias is analysed via differences between proportions in categories in the overall sample and the covered sub-sample. Most respondents consented to questions by text message when first asked (69% in IP13, 74% in IP15). Of those who declined consent at IP13, 55% consented when re-asked two years later. Face-to-face respondents were more likely to consent than web respondents. Slightly more (2.4 percentage points, s.e.1.5 percentage points) respondents consented when experimentally asked late in the questionnaire than early. Re-asking consent not only reduced the proportion of people who had not provided consent, it also reduced non-consent bias, measured across a range of socio-demographic characteristics. Some panel members who never use the internet use mobile phones and consent to receive questions via text message, so this may complement web …
July 10, 2025 at 8:06 AM
jonburton.bsky.social
How Do Survey Respondents Decide Whether to Consent to Data Linkage?

@jonburton.bsky.social, Mick P. Couper, Thomas F. Crossley, @annettejackle.bsky.social & @sawalzenbach.bsky.social

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Linkages between surveys and administrative data provide an important opportunity for social and health research, but such linkages often require the informed consent of respondents. We use experimental data collection across five different samples to study how consent decisions are made. More reflective decision processes are associated with higher rates of consent, greater comprehension of the proposed data linkage, and greater confidence in the decision, but only about a third of respondents report using a reflective decision process. This suggests that the provision of additional information is unlikely to lead to significant improvements in informed consent.
July 9, 2025 at 10:24 AM
jonburton.bsky.social
How Different Mixed-Mode Data Collection Approaches Impact Response Rates and Provision of Biomeasure Samples - paper using @usociety.bsky.social, by Tarek Al Baghal, @jonburton.bsky.social, Thomas F Crossley, Michaela Benzeval, & Meena Kumari.

doi.org/10.1093/poq/...
Social surveys can be enriched with the collection of objective health measures, allowing new types of research in both health and social sciences. We experimentally tested three alternative designs for collecting survey responses and biomeasures within a longitudinal survey. In the nurse-administered design, a nurse conducts the survey and collects biomeasures in person. In the interviewer-first design, an interviewer initially attempts to carry out the survey in person, collects a subset of biomeasures, and then leaves a further biomeasure sample collection kit with the respondent. The web-first design invites respondents to complete the survey in web mode, and a biomeasure sample collection kit is sent after they do so. Nonrespondents to their initial mode are followed up with in an alternate mode. The outcomes of interest are both (i) response to the survey, and (ii) take-up and completion of the biomeasure sample collection. The impact of the experimental design is tested on both outcomes, utilizing intention-to-treat analysis (that is, by allocated design). To account for the importance of channel of communication in the consent decision for biomeasures, we also analyze observed consent outcomes by realized mode of response, other survey factors, and respondent characteristics. Findings show that the web-first design is superior in obtaining survey response, with nonsignificant differences between in-person interviewer-administered and nurse-administered designs. Conversely, the web was the least effective design for obtaining biomeasures. These findings imply that there is a design trade-off between obtaining survey responses and biomeasures, and this should be considered in future studies.
June 23, 2025 at 4:34 PM
jonburton.bsky.social
Survey Consent to Administrative Data Linkage: Five Experiments on Wording and Format. By Annette Jäckle @jonburton.bsky.social Mick P Couper, Thomas F Crossley, Sandra Walzenbach. Uses data from @usociety.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1093/jssa...
To maximize the value of the data while minimizing respondent burden, survey data are increasingly linked to administrative records. Record linkage often requires the informed consent of survey respondents and failure to obtain consent reduces sample size and may lead to selection bias. Relatively little is known about how best to word and format consent requests in surveys. We conducted a series of experiments in a probability household panel and an online access panel to understand how various features of the design of the consent request can affect informed consent. We experimentally varied: (i) the readability of the consent request, (ii) placement of the consent request in the survey, (iii) consent as default versus the standard opt-in consent question, (iv) offering additional information, and (v) a priming treatment focusing on trust in the data holder. For each experiment, we examine the effects of the treatments on consent rates, objective understanding of the consent request (measured with knowledge test questions), subjective understanding (how well the respondent felt they understood the request), confidence in their decision, response times, and whether they read any of the additional information materials. We find that the default wording and offering additional information do not increase consent rates. Improving the readability of the consent question increases objective understanding but does not increase the consent rate. However, asking for consent early in the survey and priming respondents to consider their trust in the administrative data holder both increase consent rates without negatively affecting understanding of the request.
November 13, 2024 at 10:29 AM
jonburton.bsky.social
The Effects of Placement and Order on Consent to Data Linkage in a Web survey, by @jonburton.bsky.social Mick P. Couper & Annette Jäckle
doi.org/10.1093/jssa...
We report on an experiment in a supplemental web survey as part of a longitudinal study in the United Kingdom where we ask survey respondents to consent to two forms of data linkage to health records and to consent to be mailed a serology kit. We varied the placement (early, early in context, or late in the survey) and order (linkage first or serology first) of the consent requests. We also examine reasons for consent or non-consent. We find that order of the requests does not make much difference, but making the requests early in the survey significantly increases consent rates over asking them after a series of content-related questions (by 3.4 percentage points) or later in the survey (by 7.2 percentage points). This is consistent with previous research showing that early requests for consent in a survey have a positive effect. The main reason chosen for not consenting related to the personal nature of the information requested.
November 13, 2024 at 8:35 AM
jonburton.bsky.social
Some humans
August 13, 2024 at 1:35 PM
jonburton.bsky.social
2023 was another year of growth for Understanding Society - @usociety.bsky.social. Our latest Annual Report highlights some of the achievements, research and policy impact from 2023.
www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/news/2024/06...
Highlights of 2023 Our Scientific Conference, the first to return to face-to-face after the Covid pandemic, and one of our largest yet – 121 papers were delivered in 32 different topic sessions. We recorded 1,868 new users for our main survey data, the largest number of new users in a year since the start of the Study. Training was delivered to a record number of data users – 327 people attended an in-person course, with 339 using our online training courses. From 2009 to 2023, Understanding Society provided the data for 12,529 research papers. And papers using Understanding Society were highly cited: from 2018 to 2023 we recorded 21,622 citations. Our survey methods research continues to grow, with 37 research papers and 15 working papers published during 2023.
June 14, 2024 at 10:49 AM
jonburton.bsky.social
February 8, 2024 at 1:49 PM