The Couch is an online 'panel' that people can join to have their say about issues affecting New Zealand families, by answering polls and questionnaires. Eventually we hope that thousands of New Zealanders will take part.
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The Families Commission set up The Couch to seek the views of, and obtain feedback from, New Zealanders on family issues. Your responses, along with views and feedback gathered at community meetings and other activities, inform our advocacy work on behalf of families, and on occasion contribute to policy and research initiatives.
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The Couch covers topics that are important to families and helps inform our work programme. They include issues such as work-life balance, parenting skills and education, and family living standards. They can be short yes/no polls or more in-depth questionnaires where we ask for your written responses. If there is a topic you think we should cover please email us at enquiries@thecouch.org.nz.
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Any New Zealand resident or New Zealand citizen with a New Zealand email address can register and participate in The Couch. If you are under 16, you must have your parent's or guardian's consent before joining. To register, you must agree to The Couch Terms of Use.
You need internet access to participate. Families who don’t have internet access can still have their say through community meetings, consultation events and other activities. The Couch is just one of the ways the Families Commission talks with families.
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The Couch allows your voice to be heard about issues that affect your family and family life in New Zealand today. Finding out what you think through Couch polls and other community engagement activities helps us make sure that your views are available when new government policies and services are developed.
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Go to the sign up page and join us on The Couch.
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Yes, as long as they have their own email address.
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About every six weeks, The Couch runs quick polls which generally take just a few minutes to answer. Questionnaires that require written responses are asked much less frequently and take a little longer to complete. If you run out of time, you can save your partly completed poll or questionnaire and return to it later.
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No, taking part in any of The Couch polls and questionnaires is completely voluntary.
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When you register for The Couch, you fill out an online form with details including your age, gender, location, ethnic background and the type of household you live in. We also ask for your email address, so we can let you know about upcoming polls and questionnaires. Your details are not displayed on the website and will not be passed on to any third party. We use these details solely for statistical analysis and to make sure we're reaching a broad cross-section of New Zealanders. Read more about our Privacy Policy. If you have questions or concerns please email us at enquiries@thecouch.org.nz.
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We will email you to let you know about upcoming polls and questionnaires, remind you if you haven't filled in a poll, tell you when published results are available, and provide news and updates. Your email address will not be added to any other Families Commission mailing lists or passed on to any third party.
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Your answers are not individually identifiable within poll or questionnaire findings. Panel members' responses to The Couch polls and questionnaires are collated and a summary published on the website. Your personal details are not displayed on the website and will not be passed on to any third party. Read more about our Privacy Policy. If you have questions or concerns please email us at enquiries@thecouch.org.nz.
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We will email you and give you the opportunity to submit a new version of your response which meets the Terms of Use policy. Your responses are considered within the overall results of the poll or questionnaire, whether you resubmit or not.
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Results from previous polls and questionnaires are published on our website as they become available.
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Families Commission staff experienced in research, question design and analysis write the questions and reports. Each poll and report goes through a design and approval process as part of our quality assurance procedures. We take vigorous steps to ensure there is no intentional bias in questions and standard methods are used to ensure the dependability of question design. This includes subjecting draft questions to peer review and piloting.
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Views and feedback shared by Couch members is immensely valuable because these contributions are from motivated people who have a lot of knowledge about families. In particular, the qualitative feedback received (Couch members comments) is a very rich resource for analysis. However, we acknowledge the membership of The Couch is not representative of the New Zealand population as it is a website where people voluntarily opt-in to participate. Efforts are being made to sign-up people so the membership is more representative.
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We would like to be informed as it will affect our demographic analysis. Please update your details.
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Contact us at enquiries@thecouch.org.nz and we will remove you from The Couch membership list.
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We know that families these days come in all shapes and sizes, from couples, blended and sole parent families to whānau and extended family groups. Our aim is to hear a diverse range of family voices.
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We would like to be informed as it will affect our demographic analysis. Please update your details. Or email us at enquiries@thecouch.org.nz.
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Click on the text size icons at the bottom right-hand corner of the page. These icons are on each page of this site and let you change the size of the text. The Access Keys page also has information on other ways to view and navigate our site.
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If you have any problems email us describing the problem (please tell us as much about the problem as you can) and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Email us at help@thecouch.org.nz. Our help email is monitored 8.00am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday.
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Click on the 'I forgot my password' link under the log in. Enter your email address in the box and click 'reset password'. Instructions on how to reset your password are emailed to you (this usually takes a few minutes). If you have any problems email us at help@thecouch.org.nz.
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