Listening Better: Polling, Misinformation, and Democratic Engagement

Democratic engagement depends on a shared evidence base and on public confidence that what we measure reflects what people actually think. Both are under strain. AI-generated content, algorithmic curation, and rising polarisation have fragmented the information environment in which citizens form views and researchers seek to capture them. For the polling and research sector, the questions are harder to avoid.

How do we sustain trust with the public, particularly younger ones, who navigate these fractured information ecosystems? And how does the profession defend the integrity of public opinion research?

Marking the 80th anniversary of the Market Research Society (MRS), this event brings together parliamentarians, researchers, and practitioners to examine how misinformation is reshaping democratic engagement and what it means for the future of polling and research. The format is deliberately informal, an afternoon of short contributions interspersed with time to talk and debate.

This is a member only exclusive event. There is very limited capacity so please book your place as soon as possible by emailing chloe.ellison@mrs.org.uk

Baroness Deborah Mattinson, President of MRS, will open proceedings with remarks on the Society's eight decades of research integrity and the profession's role in the current debate.

Three research briefings will follow, from authors linked to the Society’s International Journal of Market Research (IJMR):

• Dr Chris Pich, University of Nottingham - with votes at 16 on the horizon, what do young people actually think about democratic participation? Where do the knowledge gaps sit, and what it takes to build sustained engagement with a cohort researchers have long found hard to reach.
• Dr Kristina Harrison, Indiana University, USA - what happens when you treat democracy as a brand. Comparative US/UK research on how citizens perceive democratic institutions, and what it implies for polling and public opinion measurement
• Dr Giandomenico Di Domenico, Cardiff University – what is the scale of misinformation's impact on voting behaviour, and what policy and practical interventions will actually work against it?

A short panel discussion chaired by Chris Curtis MP will then turn to what the sector, educators, and policymakers can do to rebuild trust and protect democratic engagement in a contested information environment.