Severin Carrell of the Guardian referred to the British Election Study’s analysis of the Scottish independence as an “exciting aspect” of the ESRC’s Future of UK and Scotland initiative, of which the British Election Study #indyref study is part. Carrell wrote, “In addition the British Election Study, a long-running research programme that tracks 30,000 voters across the UK, is being expanded to include several thousand more voters in Scotland (taking the Scottish cohort to 5,000) to closely track their voting behaviour and look at how their thinking evolves during the referendum. Though this is not explicit, it will help slice through the banalities and sophistry that party and campaign spin doctors on both sides seem unable to shake off with the referendum campaign….The exciting aspect of this ESRC programme is that this seemingly isolated political event is being examined holistically, with much wider social and political implications. The research is making connections between the Scottish referendum and David Cameron’s putative poll on EU membership in 2017, as well as the important elections taking place each year and every May between now and that vote.”
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