Data Documentation
All the documentation you need to assist you with your analysis of the Understanding Society data is available here, including a study-level user guide, the questionnaires and variable-level information.
Understanding Society consists of two studies, Mainstage and the Innovation Panel :
- Researchers working on the general population sample, the ethnic minority boost sample or, from Wave 2 onwards, with the British Household Panel Survey sample*, should use the Mainstage documentation. (British Household Panel Survey documentation before incorporation into Understanding Society, should be accessed via the BHPS documentation web pages).
- Users of Innovation Panel should use the Innovation Panel section of the documentation.
The Data Documentation currently covers Understanding Society Mainstage Wave 1 data, which were deposited in the UK Data Archive in October 2011 and are available to download from the Archive’s Economic and Social Data Service.
Using the Understanding Society Online Data Documentation
You can access:
- The study-level User Guide providing you with a brief and essential overview of the study elements and pointers to some key variables.
- The Dataset Documentation providing a search function to search for variables, datafiles, questions or question modules.
- From the variable level you can see response choices and distributions of responses, the datafile, question module and question wording.
- From the question level you can identify the module and any associated variables and can navigate to its location in the questionnaire.
- Information about datasets includes name and general description for each file, variable names, labels and distribution of responses.
- The Questionnaires used to collect the data, which include routing information and instructions to interviewers used in the interviewing.
- The PDF versions of the questionnaires are indexed by questionnaire module, and searchable using Ctrl+F.
- Other Fieldwork Documents used in the administration of the survey including showcards, advance materials and consent forms.
N.B. If you have any queries or suggestions about the content or format of the Understanding Society Documentation or, if you encounter any problems/anomalies, please email User Support
Understanding Society is a world leading study of the socio-economic circumstances and attitudes of 100,000 individuals in 40,000 British households.
It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and run by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER). The study allows for deeper analysis of a wide range of sections of the population as they respond to regional, national and international change. Understanding Society will greatly enhance our insight into the pathways that influence peoples longer term occupational trajectories; their health and well-being, their financial circumstances and personal relationships.
Understanding Society also breaks new ground with its interdisciplinary focus. The study will capture biomedical data on 20,000 participants and place this alongside rich social histories, helping us weigh the extent to which people's environment influences their health.