  ePanelBrief Description:ePanels are a way for councils or other organisations to carry out regular online consultations with a known group of citizens.
Description:The most well established ePanel is YouGov, established by a market research company in 2000 to provide research for public policy, market research and stakeholder consultation. Market research companies tend to focus their e-panel activities on online surveys but other interactive technologies such as discussion forums or VIP messaging help to create a sense of online community and enable ePanel members to participate in the consultation process, suggesting topics for discussion that the council might not have considered. Used For:Councils have adapted this idea to have a way of consulting a group of people on a regular basis using a range of technology. It provides a quick and potentially cheap way of staying in touch with a group of citizens and of hearing their views.
Suitable participants:ePanels can be tailored to distinct audiences, depending upon the purpose of the consultation. Therefore anyone with access to the internet is a potential participant.
Cost:Varies If there is the technology and web space already in place, then costs can be very small – in some cases the only cost incurred would be for the time it takes to set the questions and analyse the results of the ePanel consultation. At the other end of the spectrum, if it was decided that a dedicated website needed to be built (which is not a necessity), then the costs could greatly increase. Time Requirements:After the initial setup, there can be an ongoing commitment for successful ePanels. Despite this, ePanels can also be run as one-off or infrequent events as well. The main time requirements involve the setting of the questions, sending them out and seeking responses, as well as the analysis of the responses. When To Use / What It Can Deliver:increased discussion and debate on issues. increased awareness of issues When Not To Use / What It Cannot Deliver:decision-making empowered participants Strengths:can be run alongside traditional offline activities and their strength is seen to be as a way of increasing participation in local democracy, particularly amongst young people or those who are time poor. enables local authorities to reduce their administrative costs - no paper questionnaires or postage is required, there are limited additional costs to run a focus group or live chat (just the cost of online facilitators), data input is not necessary and analysis is generally quicker and can be immediate depending on the type of e-consultation being used. open and transparent, although often anonymous. allows anyone to contribute and in their own time. allows different views to be aired and discussed. engages people that may not normally be involved in face-to-face consultations. Weaknesses:As with all online methods, there is the potential that ePanels don’t encourage the participation of those people without ready access to the internet. If too much is asked of participants – such as too many follow-up emails from ePanels – then this can lead to alienation from the process, and calls for responses may be ignored. Origin:Market research companies
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Restrictions In UseFurther InformationCarol Hayward Tel: 0117 922 2809 carol_hayward@bristol-city.gov.uk |
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