Scottish Election Study (SES)

Description

Pre/Post Election Services Lot 1: The Scottish Election Study (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 the University of Edinburgh since 2016. The SES includes two main forms of data collection: a 15 wave SCOOP survey and a pre/post-election study before and after the 2026 Scottish Elections and before and after the next UK General Election. The fieldwork will include a rolling cross section wave conducted four weeks before the election, and a static post, with fieldwork beginning within one week of the election. This will occur in April/May 2026. In addition, YouGov will provide fieldwork for a two-wave pre/post data collection the month before and immediately after the next UK General Election (the timing of which is set by the UK government but which will fall within the lifetime of the SES 2026 grant). YouGov has been identified as the sole supplier for this requirement on the basis of completing prior work for UoE ensuring data continuity which is a crucial component of this research: 1. The use of YouGov in previous SES fieldwork since 2007 means that respondents can be linked across multiple elections, providing trend data within individuals. This cannot be replicated by alternative suppliers without compromising the integrity of the data set. 2. Unlike any other provider in the UK, YouGov is able to offer us web tracker data enabling us to capture politically relevant news consumption during the campaign as well as the relationship between news habits and attitudes, and the impact of external political events (eg debates) on media habits. 3. The use of YouGov as the supplier for the British Election Study Internet Panel also facilitates data linkage between the SES and the larger BES, effectively ensuring there is greater value for ESRC spend.