Polling Services - Scottish Opinion Monitor (SCOOP)

Description

The University of Edinburgh intends to conduct an open tender exercise to appoint a suitably competent and qualified provider to carry out fieldwork for a survey as part of the Scottish Opinion Monitor (SCOOP). Lot 1: The University of Edinburgh intends to conduct an open tender exercise to appoint a suitably competent and qualified provider to carry out fieldwork for a survey as part of the Scottish Opinion Monitor (SCOOP). The University of Edinburgh intends to conduct an open tender exercise to appoint a suitably competent and qualified provider to carry out fieldwork for a survey as part of the Scottish Opinion Monitor (SCOOP). This is a continuation of recently expired contract ‘Scottish Election Study 2021-2025 (EC0945)’ which was originally awarded to YouGov following a tender exercise; this iteration will largely follow the same scope and intended outcomes The Scottish Opinion (SCOOP) Monitor represents a multi-year requirement for the provision of survey fieldwork services to support the ESRC-funded Scottish Election Study (SES). The SES, headquartered at the University of Edinburgh, has been awarded 1.5 Million GBP by the ESRC to conduct the 2026-2030 SES. It has been based at UoE since 2016. The project includes two main elements of data collection: - A 15-wave SCOOP survey, which will be procured through a competitive open tender, and - Pre- and post-election surveys conducted around the 2026 Scottish Parliament election and the next UK General Election. Delivered by the University of Edinburgh on behalf of a UK-wide research consortium, this procurement seeks to appoint a supplier capable of conducting high-quality, repeat cross-sectional surveys of Scottish voters. The successful supplier will be required to deliver three surveys per year (in February, June, and October) over a 4-year period: February 2026 to October 2030. Each wave will involve a 15-minute questionnaire administered to 1,500 respondents aged 16 and over, representing individuals eligible to vote in Scottish elections. Respondents will be selected to reflect Scotland’s demographic and geographic profile, with measures in place to avoid repeated participation within a single year to protect against panel conditioning. For any month in which fieldwork takes place, a full dataset and cross tab file is expected to be delivered within that month and should align with the following schedule: Week 1: Survey coding, testing, and approval. Week 2: Fieldwork and data collection. Week 3: Data cleaning, tabulation, and delivery. Week 4: Analysis and dissemination by the SES team. Over the survey cycle (Feb, June and October), there are two key deliverables expected: 1.Tracker data that will enable the monitoring of voter trends in opinion between elections. 2.Rapid Reaction and Themed questions designed to provide useful data on external events, or topics suggested by the SES team of the wider academic community. It is crucial then that the procurement aims to secure a supplier with proven expertise in large-scale social research, capable of maintaining continuity, data comparability, and adherence to agreed timescales across the full duration of the contract.