FAQs
Q. What is the Economist Insighters Panel? A. The Economist Insighters Panel is a group of readers who have agreed to answer questions and provide us with feedback by completing the occasional questionnaire. The surveys are on a variety of subject matters, some of them to do with
Economist articles, some of them to do with finding out what you think about potential new offerings and some of them are conducted together with our advertising clients to help them understand their markets better. These all help us to maintain the standard of what we are delivering to you as a reader.
In return for participating, panellists are offered incentives from time to time.
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The Economist Insighters Panel is made up of several thousand men and women from around the world, enough to represent the full diversity of views and opinions amongst our readership.
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A. We send you, the panellist, an email when there is a new survey, inviting you to complete it. You click on the link, follow the instructions and submit the survey once completed. Alternatively you can log in to the members area to see if there are any new surveys for you to do.
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Q. How long do surveys take? A. We always try to keep the surveys as short as possible. The length will vary from one questionnaire to the next: some will be short, taking only a couple of minutes; others may be longer, but most should take between five to ten minutes to complete.
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Q. How is the information used? A. As a valued Economist reader we appreciate your privacy. Any information you provide will be used anonymously and only for research purposes.
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Q. Will my actual answers be made public? A. No. Your responses will be handled completely anonymously; the results will be analysed only as aggregated information and will not reveal any personal facts about you as an individual.
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Q. How can I contact you about a survey? A. Every once in a while we invite people who have indicated to The Economist that they are willing to help us with further research to our Panel. If you are not yet a member of the Economist Reader Panel and you wish to join, please complete the registration form
here and answer a few questions – it will only take a couple of minutes.
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Q. How often will I be expected to complete surveys? A. By joining the Panel it just means that you are volunteering to help us out with only as many surveys you are willing and able to complete. There are typically five to ten surveys each year and there is no obligation on your part to complete any of them.
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Q. What if I'm away and can't complete a survey? A. There may be times when you are either unable or prefer not to complete surveys. There is never any pressure to respond to any survey. We hope you will be able to participate in the next survey.
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Q. How long will I have to complete each survey? A. Typically, you will have anywhere from two to ten days to complete a survey.
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Q. I can't remember my username or password. How do I find out what it is? A. If you forget your password, go to the Economist Insighters home page and click the link for "Forgotten your password?". Follow the on screen instructions and your username and password will be emailed separately to your registered email address.
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Q. What hardware or software do I need to take part? A. Economist Insighters surveys are designed to run quickly and easily on all commonly used web browsers and devices.
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Q. What if I have a technical problem? A. If you experience a technical problem while taking a survey, please contact us by clicking on Contact Us link on our website pages. Please be as specific as possible when describing the problem.
If you experience a technical problem while taking a survey, please contact us by clicking on the Contact Us link on our website pages. Please be as specific as possible when describing the problem. We will respond promptly to help determine the nature of the problem.
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Q. How can I cancel my membership with the Economist Insighters survey panel? A.You may opt-out at any time by either logging on to the members' area and selecting "Unsubscribe", or alternatively clicking on the "unsubscribe" link in any Economist Insighters email we send you.
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Q. How do I contact The Economist with queries? A. We value your membership with and participation in the Economist Insighters Panel. If you need to communicate directly with us for any reason, please email us:
insighters@economist.com.
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Q. How do I unsubscribe from the panel? A. Unsubscribing is simple. Click on either the "unsubscribe" link in the members' area or in any of the survey invitation emails we send you.
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