ABSTRACT
Online panel research is a research method that brings together a group of online research participants to answer questions on various topics over a period of time. The participants are pre-recruited and profiled: they volunteer to take part in surveys and provide demographic information when they enrol for the panel. Online research communities also recruit members for research purposes over an extended period of time, but differ in that they concentrate on qualitative methods and view individuals as community members, rather than as research participants. Online panel research is used in market research, social/public attitude research, health research and psychological research. It is used to gain information about attitudes, opinions and behaviour of customers, potential customers, patients or members of the general public. The sample serves as a model for the whole research population: therefore, it must be an accurate representation of this population.
