Summary of the impact

The European Social Survey (ESS), established in 2001 and located at City University London, is a major multinational social survey involving the participation of 36 countries. It is designed to monitor change and explain the interaction between Europe's changing institutions and the attitudes, beliefs and behaviour patterns of its diverse populations. The impact of the ESS is extensive nationally and internationally particularly through improving survey methodology and through the subsequent adoption of these standards and practices by other national and international survey programmes. This has led to higher standards of measurement in policy-oriented surveys and commercial survey practice. The ESS was awarded the Descartes Prize for `Excellence in scientific collaborative research' in 2005 in recognition of its world-leading quality. In 2014 the ESS will become the first UK-hosted European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ESS ERIC) when it is launched on 31^st January at the Royal Society in London by Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn of the European Commission Directorate-General (Research and Innovation) and the UK Minister for Universities and Science, the Rt. Hon. David Willetts MP.

Research undertaken at City University London in collaboration with the University of Sussex led to a new methodological approach being developed through interaction with survey researchers within the framework of the European Social Survey (ESS), supported by European funding. The new methodological tool enhances understanding and analysis of media claims by governments and policy-makers. The work undertaken has addressed the need for interpretation of attitude questions across different countries and variations in responses to cross-national studies.

The impact was achieved through 1) the design of new methodologies for the coding of media claims by governments and policy-makers; 2) providing contextual data on media events; 3) the provision of guidance manuals and training across eight European countries for coding and archiving data for media analysis; and 4) the development of a media events framework for the analysis and understanding by policy-makers of `normal' and `exceptional' findings of public opinion surveys.

Summary of the impact

Digital Television for All (DTV4All), led by Brunel Wireless Network Group, has raised awareness of the need for standardised access services for TV viewers who require or use subtitles or any other audio-visual aids while watching digital TV programmes. They showed the European Parliament how a TV programme (without a sign language translator) could be delivered via internet with an option to use a sign language translator for those who require the service. They also presented at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Joint Workshop on Accessibility, which led ITU, a specialised agency of the United Nations for digital technologies, to set up a Focus Group on Audiovisual Media Accessibility and to commission the report `Making Television Accessible' (2011).

Since January 2011, the regional public broadcaster (radio/television) of Berlin and Brandenburg in Germany, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), has broadcast the digital TV subtitle setting recommended by DTV4All on Channel 1. Through additional investment, RBB has further enhanced the subtitling service and users can now optimise the sizes of the subtitle font or the sign language translator.

Summary of the impact

The switch of the nation's televisions to receive digital signals is widely acknowledged as the biggest government-enforced change in British life since 1971's decimalisation. Jonathan Freeman's research on the human factors of digital switchover is recognised as an essential source of information to government, industry, and consumer groups (including charities such as RNIB) and therefore as a key foundation in the success of the switchover. In particular, his research influenced the design of easy-to-use TV equipment, and communications about switchover to different types of viewer, improving the experiences of millions of TV viewers in the UK and beyond.

Summary of the impact

Professor Richard Wiseman has conducted several mass participation experiments. He has employed this approach to create high-profile projects in order to help communicate key findings from academic psychology to the public. This case study focuses on one such initiative. In 2009, `The Science of Happiness' project involved over 20,000 members of the public carrying out a series of evidence-based exercises designed to boost subjective well-being. Participant feedback revealed that the exercises had a significantly beneficial effect. The reach of this work was greatly increased by reports in the national media and a popular psychology book.

Summary of the impact

Dr Paul Grainge (Associate Professor of Film and Television Studies, Nottingham, 2001-present) and Dr Catherine Johnson (Associate Professor of Film and Television Studies, Nottingham, 2010-present) have been pioneering the study of the promotional screen industries, raising the status of a vibrant sub-sector of the global creative industries. Through engagement with key media practitioners, they have:

• generated new ways of thinking about the role of promotion that have influenced the BBC's use of online content
• helped the UK's leading broadcast design company Red Bee Media (with a global client base including the BBC, UKTV, Virgin Media, CCTV and Discovery International) to develop strategic business planning in TV and digital promotion
• increased public understanding of the art and heritage of screen promotion through public events that have raised the visibility of the creative and professional discipline of promotional design
• informed educational content planning at the British Film Institute.