Do People's Panels Represent The People?

Public Management and Policy Association Lecture

Dr. Jack Cunningham & Prof. Sir Robert Worcester

Objectives of the People's Panels

Assessing public attitudes to the Government's provision of services

• understanding of what services are available
• the role of Government in providing services
• trust in Government to deliver on their promises
• lessons for the future in relating to the citizen

What is the People's Panel? - Objectives

• World first in national consultation on public services
• A robust, representative citizens' panel (young persons' booster)
• Future consultation - quantitative and qualitative
• Cost effective means to research representative samples of service users
• Scope for addressing cross-sectoral issues
• Ability to track opinion over time
• For further information, contact:

What is the People's Panel? - Methodology

• 5,064 Panel Members recruited aged 16+, representative of United Kingdom
• Recruited face-to-face, in-home, using Computer Aided Personal Interviewing (CAPI)
• 10,906 pre-selected addresses, across 714 sampling points
• Initial 52 minute interview
• Interviewing 20 June - 30 September 1998
• First followup by telephone

What is the People's Panel? - Content

• Demographics: gender, age, education, housing, work status, income, etc.
• Other classifications: Regional, Socio-Political Activism, National Daily and Sunday readership, Drivers, Community involvement
• Awareness and Use of public services
• Importance to them and Satisfaction with services used
• Information and Complaints
• Expectations of Public Services
• Other: Health, Electronic Government, Benefit Support

Download the Public Management and Policy Association Lecture [pdf format - 216K]