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Methodology

Every Lumaris survey runs on the Minnesota Community Survey panel, the state's only publicly available probability-based panel.

Here is how we recruit the panel, field surveys, and disclose our methods.

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The panel

How we build the data

Minnesota Community Surveys rely on a probability-based online panel of 2,500+ verified residents, recruited and maintained to represent the state.

  1. Mailed at random

    We mail invitations to a random sample of Minnesota addresses drawn from a U.S. Postal Service file that reaches more than 90% of U.S. households. No one can sign themselves up.

  2. Oversampled by design

    Census block groups where many Black, Latino, and Asian Minnesotans live get extra invitations, and rural Minnesota stays strongly represented.

  3. Verified by address

    Mail delivery proves panelists live at real Minnesota addresses. Bots, duplicate sign-ups, and AI-generated answers have a much harder time getting in.

  4. Recruited in four languages

    Panel invitations go out in English, Spanish, Somali, and Hmong; regular surveys are fielded in English and Spanish. This reaches Minnesotans a single-language survey would miss.

  5. Weighted to the state

    Results are weighted to match Minnesota's population on age, sex, race and ethnicity, education, and region. The numbers reflect the state, not just who answered.

Why go to this much trouble?

In an independent 2023 Pew Research Center benchmark, opt-in panels averaged more than twice the error of probability-based panels. Probability panels also measure smaller groups, such as young adults and Hispanics, more reliably.

Standards and disclosure

For researchers

AAPOR-standard response rates
Reported with every delivery, calculated using AAPOR definitions. Included in the Lumaris Quality Scorecard.
Margins of error with design effects
All reported margins of error account for design effects from weighting and complex sample design.
Address-based sampling
Panel recruitment uses the USPS Computerized Delivery Sequence File, the same frame used by major national probability panels.
Lumaris

The Lumaris Quality Scorecard

Included with every project, the Quality Scorecard is a one-page summary you can share with stakeholders, funders, or the public. It covers who responded, how responses were screened, how well the sample reflects the population, and how precise the results are.

Need survey data you can stake decisions on?

Lumaris Research operates Minnesota's only publicly available probability-based survey panel.

Tell us what you're trying to learn and we'll recommend the right approach.

Get in touch
Or reach us at info@lumaris.com · +1.888.422.6660