The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) began in September 1997 and ran until Q2 2017 when it was replaced by the Labour Force Survey (LFS). While the main purpose of the QNHS was the production of quarterly labour force estimates, the QHNS also conducted special modules on different social topics each quarter. This module on Voter Participation was included in the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) in the three months from April to June 2011 (quarter 2). The questionnaire referred to voter participation in the January 2011 general election. The questions focused on the main reasons for not voting in the election. A voter participation module was also included on the QNHS in the third quarter of 2002. The questions used in the 2011 module relating to the reasons for not voting were not the same as those used in the 2002 module. Therefore, the results of the two modules are not directly comparable.

Probability: Simple random. Probability: Stratified. A two-stage sample design is used. The sample frame of households is clustered into blocks (small areas) with each block containing a minimum of 60 occupied households on the night of the Census of Population. The sample frame is stratified using administrative county and population density. In the first stage, 1,300 blocks are selected using Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) sampling and in the second stage, 20 households are selected using Simple Random Sampling (SRS). This ensures that each household in the sample frame has an equal probability of selection and results in a total quarterly sample of 26,000 households. The actual achieved sample varies over time depending on the level of response.Each household selected for the QNHS is surveyed for five consecutive quarters. The first quarter that a household is surveyed is referred to as wave one, the second wave two etc. When households have been surveyed for five consecutive quarters, they are then replaced by other households in the same block. Thus, one fifth of the households in the survey are replaced each quarter and the QNHS sample involves an overlap of 80% between consecutive quarters and 20% between the same quarter in consecutive years.

Face-to-face interview: CAPI/CAMI