SRM Special Issue: Recent Methodological Advances in Panel Data Collection, Analysis, and Application

Guest Editors

Tobias Wolbring (University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany)

Sabine Zinn (DIW Berlin, Germany)

Submission due

Extended abstracts: November 30 2021 (max. 800 words)
Full papers: April 30 2022

Description

Given the well-known problems of cross-sectional analyses for causal questions and the limitations of randomised experiments in the social sciences, panel data have increasingly become the gold standard for causal analyses in recent decades. However, there are important requirements for the quality of the data collected, which are not always easy to guarantee. For example, it is important to counteract panel attrition, to estimate the effects of repeated measurements (panel conditioning) and to develop procedures that minimise the cognitive load on respondents by using information that is already available (e.g., through preloads). In addition, panel data only develop their full potential for many questions when long time series are available. This special property must also be taken into account in data collection and analysis. At the same time, public funding of large-scale longitudinal studies is also comes with the expectation of policy-makers and the public that panel data will provide reliable and decision-relevant information, for example on the labour market, education and family policy. Against this backdrop, this special issue highlights scientific questions on the topic of panel data in the interplay between methodological quality demands and practical data requirements. In particular, we invite submissions on the following topics:

Data quality of panel data and measures to increase data quality
Panel attrition and methods of addressing it (before the survey as well as in the statistical analysis)
Innovative measurement approaches in the context of panel surveys and their application (e.g., by means of smartphones and other technologies)
Approaches to reduce the cognitive load of respondents of longitudinal studies
Techniques for linking survey data and other data sources (e.g., administrative data) and measures for quality assurance
Data requirements for panel data due to different analysis methods
Innovative practical applications in the field of panel data analysis
Use of panel data to address politically relevant issues
Experiences of using panel data to evaluate policy measures

Policies

The guest editors review the abstracts and invite selected proposal for submission of a full paper. Each full paper will be reviewed by two referees. Based on these external reviews, the guest editors will make a publication recommendation. Final decisions on publication will be made by the editor-in-chief of SRM

Submissions

Both, extended abstracts and full papers should be submitted via SRM's submission portal. To submit, go to the SRM website and upload the abstract/article as a PDF, just like a standard SRM article; be sure to mention the special issue in the field for Author comments

Full papers should be prepared according to the author guidelines. Researchers who want to submit are requested to adhere to SRM's implementation of the Transparency and Openness Promotion guidelines of the Center for Open Science. See the author guidelines for a detailed description of those policies.