ANES 2008-2009 Panel Study

The 2008-2009 ANES Panel Study is a telephone-recruited Internet panel with two cohorts recruited using nearly identical methods. The first cohort was recruited in late 2007 using random-digit-dialing (RDD) methods common to telephone surveys. Prospective respondents were offered $10 per month to complete surveys on the Internet each month for 21 months, from January 2008 through September 2009. Those without a computer and Internet service were offered a free web appliance, MSN TV 2, and free Internet service for the duration of the study. The second cohort was recruited the same way in the summer of 2008 and asked to join the panel beginning in September 2008. The recruitment interview was conducted by telephone in nearly all cases. A small number of respondents completed the recruitment survey on the Internet after failing to complete a telephone interview. Before the first monthly survey, most respondents also completed an online profile survey consisting primarily of demographic questions. To minimize panel attrition and conditioning effects, only 7 of the 21 monthly surveys are about politics. Other surveys are about a variety of non-political topics. The panelists answered political questions prepared by ANES in January, February, June, September, October, and November 2008. With certainty, the panel answered more political questions in May 2009. Note that the 2008-2009 ANES Panel Study is entirely separate from the 2008 ANES Time Series study, which was conducted using the traditional ANES method of face-to-face interviews before and after the 2008 election. Although there are a few questions common to both studies, the samples and methods are different. For further details, see the User Guide. Complete documentation is available on the ANES Web site.