The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded €3.5 million to the Deepfield project, a collaboration between ODISSEI, Centerdata and the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI). The funding will enable the expansion of the LISS panel, Centerdata’s probability-based online research panel, from 5,000 to 10,000 households over the next five years. This expansion will create greater capacity for scientific research while further strengthening and modernizing the Dutch research infrastructure.
The funding is part of NWO’s Large-Scale Scientific Infrastructure (GWI) program. Through this funding round, NWO is investing a total of €30.5 million in ten consortia to renew, strengthen and better connect existing research infrastructures. The Deepfield project is one of the selected initiatives.
‘Over the past twenty years, the LISS panel has developed into an important and widely valued infrastructure for social science and public policy research. This funding allows us to further enhance the quality and accessibility of the panel, giving the academic community even greater opportunities to conduct groundbreaking research based on high-quality data.’ Marcel Das, Director of Centerdata
Growing demand, increasing pressure
Demand for the LISS panel has grown steadily over the years. As a result, pressure on the panel has increased considerably, leading to longer waiting times for researchers. Expanding the panel from 5,000 to 10,000 households will double its research capacity, enabling more projects to be carried out and allowing researchers to respond more quickly to emerging societal challenges.
The expansion will also benefit panel members. As demand for research has grown, participants have, on average, received more questionnaires than originally intended, sometimes up to three times as many. Increasing the number of participating households will reduce the average number of questionnaires per panel member, lowering the risk of participant attrition and helping to safeguard the representativeness and quality of the longitudinal data. This is particularly important for groups that are traditionally more difficult to recruit and retain, such as young people and single-person households.
Research on specific subgroups
Researchers are increasingly interested in relatively small and specific populations, such as people of a particular age or background, employees in specific sectors, or groups defined by a combination of characteristics. Expanding the panel to 10,000 households will provide greater opportunities to study these subgroups and draw robust conclusions about these populations.
Modernizing the infrastructure with the LISS app
The expansion also creates opportunities to further modernize the research infrastructure. A dedicated LISS app will be developed, making it easier for participants to complete questionnaires on their smartphones. In addition, the app will enable the collection of new types of data, including sensor data. The application will be developed as a sustainable, open-source platform in collaboration with Eyra, Utrecht University, ODISSEI and additional partners that will join the project.
‘The LISS app will be much more than just another way to complete questionnaires. Together with our partners, we are developing an open, future-proof research platform that combines innovative data collection methods with the unique longitudinal data of the LISS panel. This will create exciting new opportunities for innovative social science research.’ Joris Mulder, Lead of LISS Quality and Innovation
About the GWI program
Through its Large-Scale Scientific Infrastructure (GWI) program, NWO supports the renewal and strengthening of major research infrastructures. The aim is to bring these facilities to a state-of-the-art level, or beyond, so they remain at the forefront of scientific and technological developments. More information is available in NWO’s announcement of the GWI funding round.
