Funding is acquired

Enough funding to constitute the foundation for a new GSN data endeavour is secured. This enables the formal launch of the research process and provides the resources necessary to coordinate collaborators across sites.

IFFS applies for ethics permit

The Institute for Futures Studies (IFFS) submits an application for an ethics permit through the Swedish Ethical Review Authority, initiating the formal ethical oversight process for the study.

This application covers only the portion of the research conducted in Sweden. Each collaborator is individually responsible for obtaining any required local ethics permits and for adhering to the rules and regulations applicable in their own country or institution.

Call for collaborators

All GSN Members are contacted and invited to participate in the upcoming data collection. Members may say yes or no to each endeavour depending on their availability and research interests.

First master survey draft distributed

A draft of the survey is sent to all collaborators interested in the upcoming data collection, and comments are gathered. This stage produces revisions that feed into both the master survey and site-specific versions.

Site-specific survey adaptations

The master survey is split into site-specific surveys and localised alterations are applied. This is a critical stage to ensure cultural and political sensitivity at all survey sites.

During GSN Climate, for example, a question regarding trust in government decisions was removed at certain sites where responding to it might have been uncomfortable for participants due to political unrest.

Local ethics permit applications

All collaborators who require a local ethics permit to conduct the survey apply according to their own national or institutional regulations.

Translation and localisation

All collaborators who require it translate the survey into the languages and dialects necessary for their site, ensuring questions are understood as intended across all cultural contexts.

Data collection begins

Coordinated data collection is launched simultaneously across all participating sites, with each collaborator administering the site-specific survey to local participants.

Data collection concluded

The data collection period comes to a close across all sites, marking the end of active field work and the beginning of the analysis and documentation stages.

Lab reports submitted

A site-specific lab report is collected from each participating site to document the data collection process, including any local deviations, challenges, or observations relevant to data quality and interpretation.

First manuscript draft circulated

The first manuscript draft is sent to all data-collecting collaborators for comments and review. This iterative stage may be repeated several times until the manuscript is ready for submission.

First publication & open data release

After the first manuscript is published, the dataset is made available to the wider research community. All members who collected data are co-authors on the primary publication.