British Election Panel Study, 1997-2001; Waves 1 to 8

  The British Election Panel Studies are designed to analyse political change - to discover when and why voters change their political allegiances during an electoral cycle, and in response to what events. They examine voting or abstentions in local government and European elections as well as fluctuations in party support during the lead-up to general elections.<br>
The British General Election Panel Study 1997-2001 followed respondents to the 1997 British General Election Study and re-interviewed them at intervals until the 2001 election. Face-to-face rounds took place each spring/summer after the local and/or European elections, with the final wave coming after the 2001 general election. Three telephone/postal rounds were conducted in autumn 1997, autumn 2000 and in May 2001, during the 2001 general election campaign. The dataset includes all eight waves.<br>
The study follows a similar panel conducted over the period 1992-1997 (the British Election Panel Study 1992-1997, held under SN:3888). The main aim of this study is to analyse political change within the electorate over the period between two panels.