Tim Hanson
About
Overview
Tim is a Senior Research Fellow at European Social Survey (ESS) Headquarters, based at City, University of London. He leads the Questionnaire Design and Fieldwork work packages for ESS, having joined the team in November 2019. The ESS is a rigorous comparative biennial survey of changing attitudes and values in over 30 European countries.
Prior to moving to City, Tim was a Research Director at Kantar. Tim spent 15 years at Kantar, where he started his research career as a graduate trainee, after graduating with a BA in Geography and Sociology from the University of Sheffield. During his time at Kantar, he led on design and delivery of numerous social research projects, specialising in attitudinal research, questionnaire development, multi-country projects, and studies for regulatory bodies.
Tim’s research interests include the design/adaptation of surveys based on online/mixed-mode approaches, use of mobile devices for online surveys/mobile-optimised design, item nonresponse, video interviewing, and a range of topics relating to questionnaire design.
He also delivers lectures on questionnaire design and nonresponse as part of City’s Social Research Methods Masters module.
Qualifications
- BA Geography and Sociology, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, 2000 - 2003
Employment
- Senior Research Fellow, City, University of London, United Kingdom, November 2019 - present
- Research Director, Kantar, July 2004 - November 2019
Expertise
Geographic Areas
- Europe
Publications
Publications by category
Conference papers and proceedings (8)
- Hanson, T., McGee, A. and Taylor, L.A. (2019). Do we know what to do with "Don't Know"? 2019 European Survey Research Association Conference 15-19 July, Zagreb, Croatia.
- Hanson, T., McGee, A. and Taylor, L.A. (2019). Do we know what to do with “Don’t Know”? 2019 General Online Research Conference 7-8 March, Cologne, Germany.
- Hanson, T. (2017). How Should We Adapt Questionnaires for Smartphones: Evidence from UK Surveys and an Experiment on Grids. 17-21 July.
- Bell, E., Mathews, P., Wenz, A. and Hanson, T. (2017). Does mobile web survey completion affect response quality amongst young people? Evidence from the second Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE2). 2017 European Survey Research Association Conference 17-21 July, Lisbon.
- McGee, A. and Hanson, T. (2017). Usability testing as a method for evaluating self-completion survey instruments; what have we learned in practice and where do we go next? 2017 European Survey Research Association Conference 17-21 July, Lisbon.
- Hanson, T. (2017). Adapting Questionnaire for Smartphones: An Experiment on Grid Format Questions. 2017 General Online Research Conference 15-17 March, Berlin.
- Hanson, T. (2016). How Should We Adapt Complex Social Research Questionnaires for Mobile Devices? Evidence from UK Surveys and Experiments. 2016 International Conference on Questionnaire Design, Development, Evaluation, and Testing (QDET2) 9-13 November, Miami, USA.
- Hanson, T., Matthews, P. and Wenz, A. (2015). Towards device agnostic survey design: challenges and opportunities for Understanding Society. 2015 Understanding Society Scientific Conference 21-23 July, University of Essex.
Journal articles (6)
- Sommer, E., Dorer, B., Efu Nkong, U., Hanson, T., Zinn, S. and Schwartz, S.H. (2025). Revision and Cross-cultural Adaptation of the Human Values Scale for Self-completion Modes. Survey Practice, 18(1), pp. 1-8. doi:10.29115/sp-2025-0017
- Hanson, T., Aizpurua, E., Fitzgerald, R. and Vukovic, M. (2025). Surely Shorter is Better? A Questionnaire Length Experiment in a Self-Completion Survey. Survey Research Methods, 19(2), pp. 139-152. doi:10.18148/srm/2025.v19i2.8348
- Hanson, T., Briceno-Rosas, R., Ainsaar, M. and Kartau, H.K. (2025). Live Online Video Interviewing as a Complementary Mode to In-Person Interviews: Evidence from the European Social Survey. methods, data, analyses. doi:10.25521/mda.663
- Maslovskaya, O., Durrant, G.B., Smith, P.W.F., Hanson, T. and Villar, A. (2019). What are the Characteristics of Respondents using Different Devices in Mixed‐device Online Surveys? Evidence from Six UK Surveys. International Statistical Review, 87(2), pp. 326-346. doi:10.1111/insr.12311
- Hanson, T. and Matthews, P. (2017). Adapting survey design for smartphones: lessons from usability testing and survey implementation. Social Research Practice, (3 (Win), pp. 37-44
- Hanson, T. (2015). Comparing agreement and item-specific response scales: results from an experiment. Social Research Practice, (1 (Win), pp. 17-25
Working papers (2)
- (2019). Understanding Society Innovation Panel Wave 11: results from methodological experiments (2019).
- (2018). Understanding Society Innovation Panel Wave 10: results from methodological experiments (2018).
Professional activities
Events/conferences (3)
-
Third Annual Likert Workshop: Surveys in the Era of the Pandemic and Beyond. (Workshop) Online (2020).
Paper: The European Social Survey during COVID - using video interviews and other innovations
Author: Hanson, T. -
ESS-City-NatCen Survey Methodology Seminar Series. (Seminar) London, UK (2019).
Paper: How should we present 'Don't know' options in web surveys?
Author: Hanson, T.
Co-authors: Steen, B.; Thom, J. -
ESS-City-NatCen Survey Methodology Seminar Series. (Seminar) London, UK (2018).
Paper: Completing social surveys on smartphones: what should we be worried about?
Author: Hanson, T.
Co-authors: McGee, A.; Matthews, P.