Welfare benefits and the customer: a longitudinal perspective

In the UK the Benefits Agency is seeking to process its business more efficiently, and commissioned research to investigate the number and nature of the contacts customers have with the Agency. The paper draws on this research and outlines the case for adopting a longitudinal perspective to elucidate and analyse customers' contacts with a welfare provider. No research design is unproblematic, and the lessons learned in mapping the customers' contacts will be discussed. In particular, the difficulties encountered and the solutions adopted in drawing a sample representative of pieces of business, in designing a contact grid, and in operationalising the notion of a contact will be elaborated. Some key findings from the research are used to illustrate the advantages of a longitudinal study.