We’ve just launched the largest nationwide interactive study of its kind with the BBC
Posted by lauren, January 26 2011 at 14:56What does Class mean in Britain today? Do the labels ‘working’ ‘middle’ and ‘upper’ even exist or have any relevance in modern-day’s society?
Featured last night on The One Show, the latest in a series of experiments we’re rolling out with BBC’s LabUK aims to find out.
The Great British Class Survey is set to become the largest study of its kind ever conducted in the UK, and is the first interactive commission by BBC Current Affairs.
It’s been a thrill to be a part of such a unique project the outcome of which will challenge the way we think about and define the society we live in, including food for thought for Policy makers who tend to focus primarily on the economic dimension of class as shown through concepts like progressive taxation (taxing richer people more heavily than poorer people).
Up until now wealth has been considered the major influencing factor in determining class alongside some social factors such as networks and personal contacts. But there is increasing evidence to suggest that our interests and hobbies – or ‘culture’ – can also influence our life chances. For the first time, this study will investigate all three factors together putting in place a missing piece in a fascinating puzzle.
To encourage such mass participation on a nationwide scale is the challenge. Our solution was to reward users’ participation with a meaningful take-away for the time they invested in completing the survey. Each person receives a detailed report how they scored three factors – economic, social and cultural. To add real-value for the user we created ‘Crest of Arms’ concept. Each Crest of Arms generated is based on the responses the user gives and is dependent on hundreds of thousand of variables so the end result is something highly personalised and relevant. It’s a lovely example of data visualisation making it easy for the user to wrap their head around a large volume of data in a way that is meaningful, memorable and descriptive.
That’s not all, when the full results of the survey are revealed in 2011 it will be as an interactive visualisation that allows the public to explore the findings from every angle.
In the meantime, these short YouTube clips interview famous face including Chris Evans, Reggie Yates and Kate Silverton to get their take on Class.
If you didn’t catch the first Lab UK experiment we worked together with the BBC on, ‘How Musical are You?’ let’s you take a look into your complex relationship with music, more info here. And keep your eyes pealed, there’s plenty more to come over the next few months.
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