Survey design and question repository

The SWAA is fielded by commercial internet survey providers each month who share a link to the survey instrument with respondents. (See “About our respondents” for more information.) Our survey questionnaire varies modestly across survey waves, and typically includes 40 and 60 and questions. In a typical month, respondents take around 8 to 10 minutes to complete the survey.

Our core questions ask respondents about their current working status (whether working for pay, and if so whether from home or on business premises), about their own desires and their employer’s plans for working from home after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and about their experiences and attitudes regarding working arrangements.

For example, here are two of our core questions, which have appeared in all but the very first survey wave.

The first question

asks how often the respondent’s employer is planning for them to work from home after the end of the COVID pandemic, including the option to respond that no such discussions about future working arrangements have taken place. This question is representative of our interest in the evolution of working arrangements during and after COVID.

The second question

asks how respondent experiences while working from home during COVID have compared with their expectations before the pandemic hit and lockdowns were first introduced. This question is representative of our interest in worker attitudes and perceptions about working arrangements.