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News
 

March 2025: Population Aging and Dementia Survey Completed

Population aging and dementia Survey, which represents the 8th wave of the 1KA panel, has been completed. 1,577 out of 1,942 invited individuals responded, representing an 81% response rate.

 

February 2025: Mental Health of Young Survey Completed

The Mental Health of Young Survey, which represents the 7th wave of the 1KA panel, has been completed. 483 out of 770 invited individuals responded, representing a 63% response rate. Among the existing panelists, 260 or 70% responded, while 56% or 223 of the new sample responded.

 

January 2025: Youth and Digital Technologies Survey Completed

The Youth and Digital Technologies Survey, which represents the 6th wave of the 1KA panel, has been completed. 579 out of 1,183 invited individuals responded, representing a 49% response rate. Among the existing panelists, 261 or 68% responded, while 40% or 318 of the new sample responded.

 

December 2024: Publication of the report Artificial Intelligence in Slovenia 2024: Use and Attitudes

The report Artificial Intelligence in Slovenia 2024: Use and Attitudes was published in December. The research was conducted as part of the 1KA panel (June 2024) on n = 869 units. It is available here. The main findings are as follows:

  • Generative artificial intelligence (GenUI) was used by 25% of Internet users in Slovenia in the last 3 months.
  • In terms of use and attitudes towards GenUI, we detect a trend that coincides with the general pattern of early adoption of new technologies. Among Internet users, the subgroups
  • with higher use of GenUI are men, residents of urban settlements and regions, and people with more than secondary education. Those in school also stand out, as well as those in employment to a certain extent. The use of GenUI decreases with age but generally increases with education. Higher use is also found among advanced Internet users.
  • The main reasons for using GenUI are curiosity (95%) and use for private purposes (82%).
  • Daily GenUI users (9%) currently represent only 2% of all internet users. In terms of daily use, we are still in the early stages of GenUI adoption.
  • Comparisons with US research show that Slovenian users are not lagging behind in terms of GenUI use, but they show lower awareness of GenUI potential, and above all, they are less concerned about the development of GenUI.
  • Users trust GenUI results significantly less than experts (2.3).
  • Almost a tenth of GenUI users already use GenUI daily to complete work faster.
  • Regarding the ban on the use of AI in education (3.0), respondents are divided into two equal parts, with 29% of respondents explicitly supporting such a ban. A general ban on the use of AI also has some support (2.5), while a general ban is explicitly supported by 11%.
     


October 2024: Preparations for the autumn wave - call for proposals

A new wave of the 1KA panel will be conducted in November. Almost 3,000 surveys can be conducted based on existing panelists, and of course more with new recruitment. It is possible to conduct and independent survey. Those interested in including their questionnaire in the 1KA panel can contact us.


September 2024: Survey on Internet Use and Current Social Topics Completed (5th wave of the 1KA panel)

The survey on Internet Use and Current Social Topics, which represents the 5th wave of the 1KA panel, has been completed. 3,766 out of 8,917 invited people responded, which is a 42% response rate. Among the existing panelists, 1,341 - 83% responded, while a third of the new sample responded – 2,425 or 33%.
 


July 2024: Publication of the final report on the evaluation of probability and non-probability samples

The final version of the report on comparisons of estimates based on probability and non-probability online panels has been published - here.
 


November 2023: Presentation of the project conclusions at the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia

Members of the Centre for Social Informatics (CSI) visited the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS) on the occasion of the completion of the project Probability online panels in national statistics for persons and households (ARIS code V5-2157, project leader Vasja Vehovar, PhD). The plenary presentation, which took place on 20 November, was attended by Mag. Apolonija Oblak Flander, Acting Director General of SURS, and about 40 methodologists.

During the visit, CSI members made a plenary presentation of the key results of the project, based on the study of the potential of probability online panels in official statistics, with a focus on cost and data quality. A pilot probability panel in Slovenia has shown some potential but also limitations. The advantages to be highlighted are mainly the cost savings and the increased speed and simplicity of data collection. The limitations relate to the bias of certain estimates, non-coverage and low levels of participation. Strategies such as combining the online mode with field or telephone surveys have been proposed as possible alternatives to the probability online panel.

The V5-2157 project dealt with probability online-based survey panels, which involve probability sampling, one-off recruitment (persons give their prior consent to participate in various surveys) and online-based surveys. Standards in official statistics require probability surveys, but probability online panels are not yet used in Slovenia. Project activities to explore the potential of such panels included a literature review, an inventory of survey questions, the implementation of a pilot probability online panel and the preparation of a full feasibility study.
 


October 2023: SurveyWeightingGUI: An open-source application for weighting survey data

Luka Štrlekar (Master's student of Applied Statistics) and Vasja Vehovar, PhD (UL FDV) developed SurveyWeightingGUI: an open-source application (programming language R) for weighting survey data.

In survey research, it is often necessary to weight the data before analysis. This reduces bias in the estimates and ensures that the socio-demographic structure is matched. While procedures for this type of weighting are already developed (e.g. in R, STATA, SPSS, etc.), they assume that the data are fully prepared beforehand.

It is the preparation of the data that is the main and most time-consuming problem in weighting. It is the naming of the control variables, the entry and archiving of the control data, the treatment of missing values, the problem of too few categories or too few units, as well as the issues of cutting and normalising the weights and analysing their effect.

The application solves these dilemmas through a user-friendly online GUI (Graphical User Interface), while also performing and evaluating the weighting itself. The user is not directly involved with the R code of the weighting (Survey, Anesrake). This makes weighting accessible to anyone without technical knowledge of R programming, and for users who do have this knowledge, the application drastically speeds up the process.

The application has proved its worth in practice and has saved a great deal of time in the survey projects of the Centre for Social Informatics, FDV (cdi.si) and the Public Opinion and Mass Communication Research Centre (cjm.si), FDV.

The SurveyWeightingGUI application is available online, as well as locally.

 


September 2023: Online Panels and Mixed Survey Modes 2023

On September 28th 2023, the Centre for Social Informatics (CSI) hosted the traditional annual conference Online Panels and Mixed Survey Modes in collaboration with the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS) and the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ). The programme consisted of presentations from SURS, NIJZ and CSI, as well as a joint discussion.

The aim of the event was to exchange experiences and insights on the latest trends in the collection, analysis and comparison of survey data in Slovenia and internationally.

Survey implementers highlighted the importance of motivated and engaged interviewers, quality questionnaires and the use of QR codes on respondent letters as good practices to encourage participation in surveys.

On the topic of data provider profiles and (non-)participation in surveys, SURS highlighted traditional written communication (short texts, use of pictograms and clear basic information about the surveys), slow responses to information from the field, usability of the website, organisation of the work and low awareness of SURS among young people as possible areas of improvement for participation in surveys. They also produced an analysis of the persons involved in statistical surveys (the 'personas') and presented for each of them the factors that are important for their participation in the surveys. They highlighted the upgrading of internal processes, adapting communication to the younger generations and monitoring and analysis of non-response as important guidelines for the future.

NIJZ also shared their experience of conducting research over the last three years. The importance of cooperation and exchange of views and experiences of all those involved, including the sponsor, the contractor, the interviewers and the selected persons, was highlighted. They note that online panels are excellent for quick assessments, that postal surveys are "in" again due to the pandemic; even the youngest groups are keen to participate, but postal surveys are quite expensive. An interesting finding is that participants in health surveys value results and outputs more than practical rewards.

SURS also presented Smart Survey Implementation (SSI), an international project with the strategic goal of innovative and powerful statistical production. The project will test respondents' willingness to use smart functionalities through the People-Centred Data Collection Methods (Načini zbiranja podatkov po meri ljudi - NZP) survey, with results to be available in 2024.

An open-source tool for weighting and analysing survey data has been developed at CSI. The estimates of the variables of the online probability panels were also compared with the official SURS and NIJZ estimates as well as the estimates of the non-probability (commercial) online panels. The main factors that may lead to differences between the estimates are the mode of interviewing, the duration of the interview and the rewards. The cost per unit accuracy of probability panels compared to commercial panels, which are approximately one times cheaper, was also analysed. In general, for larger surveys, non-probability online panels with larger samples (at the expense of lower costs) cannot compensate for bias. It is therefore essential for a good quality non-probability online panel to prevent bias in the estimates. The potential of probability online panels compared to official surveys will be further explored in the project Probability online panels in national statistics for persons and households.

Materials and presentations are available here.