Spotlight Exploring the cultural trends and issues impacting society today NAT REP SAMPLE Ref lecting reality The concept of nationally representative samples has been central to the research industry for decades, but is now facing questions over whether it is truly representative, and if it needs to change. Liam Kay reports We all think we know what nationally representative means. It is a sample that broadly reflects the population as a whole, taking into account gender, age, region and occupation, and occasionally social class. It is a tried and tested method that has been in use in research for decades, and is the backbone of much of the industrys work with the public. The question, however, is whether this relatively narrow concept of nationally representative samples is reflective of the modern UK. Since the first census took place in 1801, there have been radical changes across society, and the UK is arguably a vastly different country from what it was only a few decades ago. Some have argued that these societal changes necessitate expanding national representative samples, to include factors such as race, gender preference, disability and sexuality. You are marginalising a subset of people if you are not including their voices in a research piece, says Graham Idehen, director, customer success Europe, Middle East and Africa at Lucid, and a co-founder of the Colour of Research (CoRe). Therefore, it is not nat rep if youre not including them. He adds that the problem is one of definition. Its always going to come back to the same thing what is nat rep? What does this mean to you? How are you defining it? How are you communicating that to your audience? Inclusive data efforts Work to define nat rep is ongoing, both inside and outside of the market research industry. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been one of the most active in exploring how to take factors such as race and disability into better account through national representative studies. In September 2021, the ONS published the findings of its inclusive data taskforce, which included recommendations that data producers adopt an intersectional approach to exploring and presenting equalities data, to avoid potentially misleading single-characteristic analyses. The ONS taskforce also highlighted some of the data gaps that exist within the generally accepted nationally representative methodology: nonresidential populations, such as those in care homes, prisons or who are homeless; harder-to-reach groups, such as the travelling community; religion; income; children; non-internet users; and sexuality. Barriers to participation in research were also noted, including a lack of trust in the authorities and in government statistics, or the burden of repeated requests for participation. The Market Research Society (MRS) also launched a steering group in 2021 (see boxout) to examine how nationally representative samples could become more inclusive. Rebecca Cole, managing director at Cobalt Sky, is leading the steering group, and says that, historically, many social surveys in the UK focused on social class ahead of other characteristics, such as race, which have been the focus of nationally representative surveys in countries including the US. This could mean, Cole argues, that we might not be getting a truly representative sample. One of the main drivers coming out at the moment, in a lot of client demand, is they want to know that the sample they are buying is representative in terms of ethnicity, she says. Unless we shift unless we first and foremost start asking these questions we have no way of proving, of knowing, whether our sample is representative or not. Idehen sees green shoots emerging in the research industrys desire to address issues around inclusion, but is concerned that many companies are scared to change from tried and tested practices. Theres a healthy appetite for wanting to start evolving nat rep, and engaging in the discussion around nat rep and what it means, he explains. I think theres hesitation in terms of actually implementing and executing it because of the fear of the unknown what does this mean I have to do? How does this impact my business? How does this impact my data? Gender Transgender, non-binary and genderdiverse people were spotlighted as a major data blindspot in the ONS report. Independent researcher Jo Shaw says that the concept of nationally representative sampling is a relic from an age when gender nonconformity was not well established in mainstream consciousness. Nat rep comes from an era when society was used to being grouped into very large boxes, she explains. Quite often now, the way the world is means thats not going to work in the same way. Shaw says that a focus purely on the numerical size of a group within society such as the transgender population has had a detrimental effect. It is important their voices are heard, she says. But if you approach it 14 Impact ISSUE 36 2022_pp14-17_Spot.indd 14 08/12/2021 09:48