We are releasing an early version of wave 4 of the BES Internet Panel. This comprises around 16,000 respondents who completed the wave 4 survey in the first week of its launch (6-13 March 2015). The survey remains in the field until the first day of the general election campaign (30th March). By providing a preliminary sample we are able to release the latest BES data before the beginning of the official campaign (when we will be unable to release new data under ‘purdah’ rules).
We are releasing the wave 4 cross-section and also a wave 1-2-3-4 panel dataset.
Please note: these files do not contain the full wave 4 BES sample. They are weighted to be representative of the GB population but are naturally comprised of ‘early responders’ to wave 4. The full BES wave 4 (pre-election) sample will be released after May 7th (cross-section and panel). This will subsequently be linked to the wave 5 campaign data (the daily rolling cross-section with in-built panel), and latterly the post-election data.
The data have been cleaned for preliminary release but are in beta format. The questionnaire and codebooks are not yet available to accompany wave 4. Most content remains consistent with the waves 1-3 questionnaires (available for download). Wordings for several new questions are pasted below.
New Items in Wave 4
[mpLooksAfterConstituencyInterests] Please tell me how far you agree or disagree with the following statement: My member of parliament tries hard to look after the interests of people who live in my constituency.
<5> Strongly agree
<4> Agree
<3> Neither agree nor disagree
<2> Disagree
<1> Strongly disagree
<99> Don’t know
[winConstituencyPlacement] How likely is it that each of these parties will win the General Election in *your local constituency*?
-[winConstituencyCon] Conservatives
-[winConstituencyLab] Labour
-[winConstituencyLD] Liberal Democrats
-[winConstituencyUKIP] UKIP
-[winConstituencyGreen] Greens
-[winConstituencySNP if country==2] SNP
-[winConstituencyPC if country==3] Plaid Cymru
[electionOutcomePrefsrank] Please rank these election outcomes from your most preferred outcome to least preferred outcome:
<1> A Conservative led coalition
<2> A Conservative majority
<3> A Labour led coalition
<4> A Labour majority
<5> Some other government
[chanceAtCoalition] Which of these parties do you think has **no real chance** of being part of the next UK government (either forming a government by itself or as part of a coalition)? *Tick all that apply*
<1> Labour
<2> Conservatives
<3> Liberal Democrats
<4> Scottish National Party (SNP)
<5> Plaid Cymru
<6> Green Party
<7> United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP)
<111 xor> All of these parties have a chance
<99 xor> Don’t know
[labCoalitionPartners] Which of the following parties do you think would be willing to join a coalition with the Labour party?
-[labPartnerLD] Liberal Democrats
-[labPartnerSNP if country==2] Scottish National Party (SNP)
-[labPartnerPC if country==3] Plaid Cymru
-[labPartnerGreen] Green Party
-[labPartnerUKIP] United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP)
<1> Would join Labour
<2> Would not join Labour
<99> Don’t know
[conCoalitionPartners] Which of the following parties do you think it would be willing to join a coalition with the Conservative party?
-[conPartnerLD] Liberal Democrats
-[conPartnerSNP if country==2] Scottish National Party (SNP)
-[conPartnerPC if country==3] Plaid Cymru
-[conPartnerGreen] Green Party
-[conPartnerUKIP] United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP)
<1> Would join Conservatives
<2> Would not join Conservatives
<99> Don’t know
[majorityParty] How likely do you think it is that eitherof these parties will win more than half of the seats in the General Election so it will be able to form a government on its own?
-[majorityPartyCon] Conservatives
-[majorityPartyLab] Labour
<222 if 0>
<111> Very unlikely <<br/>> 0
<1> 1
<2> 2
<3> 3
<4> 4
<5> 5
<6> 6
<7> 7
<8> 8
<9> 9
<10> Very likely <<br/>> 10
<98 if 0>
<99 /”Don’t know”> Don’t know