Can I use the SoSci panel for my Master Thesis?

Question

Hi,

I am starting to work on my MSc thesis which is due in September this year and am considering to do the survey through SoSci Survey.

I heard that there is a large panel of survey participants available. Is this panel also accessible to Master students?

I tread somewhere that the survey needs to be peer reviewed before being accepted for the panel and that this process might take 6 weeks.

Is this correct?

I look forward to hearing from you

Answer 1

The SoSci Panel used to be a spin-off of SoSci Survey, but has been a separate project operated by a distinct team since 2018. Therefore, my answers must only be understood as vague orientation.

Is this panel also accessible to Master students?

Yes - given that the thesis will be published (e.g. in cooperation with the supervisor).

Please note (as your question is in English), that only Questionnaires in German can be sent to the respondents in the SoSci Panel, as it is not known, which people speak another language than German.

I tread somewhere that the survey needs to be peer reviewed before being accepted for the panel and that this process might take 6 weeks.

That is correct. The peer review process has proven to substantially improve the questionnaires' quality, and finally the studys' quality and publication acceptance rate.

Comments

Thank you for your quick response.

With regards to the peer review process, what information, materials are needed to get the review process started? Ideally I would need to have the survey process including receiving results completed by mid July this year. Is it even realistic to consider the panel given such short time frame?

With regards to the survey language, I am a native German speaker and could produce a German survey version.

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> With regards to the peer review process, what information, materials are needed to get the review process started?

You need the final version of your questionnaire (incl. a test URL for the reviewers and a PDF), a description  of your research design (incl. calculations for the sample size) and some details information about you, your pretests, and the questionnaire.

> I am a native German speaker and could produce a German survey version.

So, why are you writing in English then? SoSci Survey residiert mitten in Bayern ;)

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Thank you for the information.

P.S. my thesis is written in English, hence I asked in English.