Understanding Society – an overview

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Background

• Understanding Society is a longitudinal study based on a household panel design

• Basic design similar to that of British Household Panel Survey, which it will replace.

• Target sample size of 40,000 households – largest HPS

• Includes ethnic minority boost

• Main fieldwork started in January 2009

• Fieldwork undertaken by NatCen

• Wave 2 starts January 2010, including BHPS sample

Key developments

• ESRC secured funding for Understanding Society from Large Science Facilities fund, Spring 2006

• November 2006 – March 2007, commissioning of principal investigator team, with funding for waves 1 and 2

• September 2007, NatCen selected to deliver the survey.

• January 2008, ‘Innovation panel’ survey of 1500 households starts

• January 2009 Main survey wave 1 started

• October 2009 funding for waves 3 to 5 agreed, along with biosocial component

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Household panel study design• Start with a sample of addresses, all members of private

households found will be sample members.• At each wave all sample members above a threshold age eligible for

interview. • Other individuals who form households with sample members after

wave 1 eligible for interview.• A longitudinal sample of individuals representing the whole

population, and interviewed within a household context.• Individuals followed as they move and form new households. • Following rules mean that the study remains representative of the

population as it changes, subject to weighting and except for new immigrants to the UK.

• Births to the sample are a series of representative cohorts

Informed by rationales for longitudinal research

• Net versus gross change: gross change visible only from longitudinal datae.g. decomposition of change in unemployment rate over time into

contributions from inflows and outflows• Some phenomena are inherently longitudinal (e.g.

poverty persistence; unstable employment)• Provides spell-based perspectives (and can observe how

circumstances change with time spent in state) • Repeated observations on individuals allow for possibility

of controlling for unobserved differences between individuals (fixed and random effect models)

• The ability to make causal inference is enhanced by temporal ordering

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Importance of the Household focus

• Strength of the HPS model shown by range of studies internationally (e.g. PSID, SOEP, HILDA)

• Important for research on e.g. consumption and income, where within-household

sharing of resources is important,demographic change, where the household itself is often

the object of study. • Can investigate family factors in decision making• Observing multiple generations allows examination of

long-term transmission processes • Comparative analysis of sibling outcomes• Opportunities to explore linkages outside the household

Extending the scope of HPS measurement

• HPS have tended to focus outcomes and behaviour, but studies are extending this. Understanding Society aims additionally to ensure models can relate these to:

• Preferences, including intentions, perceptions, knowledge, and e.g. attiudes to risk

• Personal endowments and constraints: physical, psychological, social, economic

• The wider social and spatial environment: local neighbourhood and family & friendship networks

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Understanding Society sample consists of:• A new equal probability main panel achieved sample of around

27,000 households. The fieldwork for this sample commenced in January 2009

• A boost ethnic minority sample, of around 4,000 households to provide 1,000 adult individuals in each of the five main ethnic minority groups

• The BHPS sample of approximately 8,000 households. BHPS sample data collection as part of the Understanding Society will start with wave 2 in January 2010

• An Innovation Panel of 1500 households to enable methodological research. The fieldwork for the Innovation Panel commenced in

January 2008.

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Importance of the large sample size

• 40,000 households gives an opportunity to explore issues where other longitudinal surveys are too small.

• Small subgroups, such as teenage parents or people with particular disabilities.

• Analysis at regional and sub-regional levels, allowing examination of the effects of geographical variation

• Large sample size allows high-resolution analysis of events in time, for example focussing on single-year age cohorts (e.g. > 1000 births per year).

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The Ethnicity strand

• Ethnicity issues inform design of questionnaire as a whole

• Population level representation of minority groups across the main sample; plus

• Boost sample intended to include at least 1000 adults in five key groups (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Caribbean, Black African) plus smaller numbers of other selected groups identified as part of the screening process.

• General population comparison sample of 1000 adults with same questions as boost sample

• Extra five minutes of questions specific to ethnicity research asked of boost, comparison sample and minorities living in non-boost areas

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Biomedical and social research

• Understanding Society aims to become a ‘biosocial survey’• It will support collection of a wide range of bio-measures and health

indicators • Opportunity to assess exposure and antecedent factors of health

status, understanding disease mechanisms (e.g. gene-environment interaction), household and socioeconomic effects and analysis of outcomes using direct assessments or data linkage.

• Key opportunity to examine public health issues such as the source of health inequalities and the impacts of health services

• This strand supported by additional specific funding obtianed by ESRC

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Data collection plan

• 12 month intervals between interviews

• Continuous fieldwork over 24 month field period, with second wave overlapping with first

• Face-to-face interview at waves 1 and 2; possible use of mixed mode (e.g. including telephone and web) at later waves

• Individual interview around 30 minutes interview administered, plus self completion and consents to link data

• Some data collection by self completion from children aged 10-15 from wave 1

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2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Sep-Oct

Jan-Apr

May-Aug

Sep-Dec

Jan-Apr

May-Aug

Sep-Dec

Jan-Apr

May-Aug

Sep-Dec

Jan-Apr

May-Aug

Sep-Dec

Wave 1 

Wave 2

Wave 3

Wave 4 > Dec 2013

Data collection timetable for main survey

Questionnaire structure

The questionnaire will contain the following components:

1. Questions repeated every wave for the whole sample, mostly introduced at wave 1

2. Questions relating to events in the year between interviews

3. Questions repeated intermittently

4. Questions asked once only about situation before entry to the study (mainly in wave 1, but asked of new entrants)

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Not just a questionnaire survey

Understanding society will also involve:

1. Biomarkers and other direct health measurements

2. Linkage to individual level administrative data, spatial data and a range of other data types

3. Collection of qualitative, experimental and other data from respondents not based on structured questionnaires

1 and 3 in particular depend on additional funding.

Collection of these other data will influence decisions about questionnaire data

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Components of the wave 1 questionnaire

• Annual repeating measures

• Initial conditions and life history, asked once only

• Rotating and intermittent measures first introduced at wave 1

• Young persons questionnaire for sample members aged 10-15

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Annual repeating content

• Basic demographic characteristics and changes, fertility, partnering,

• Health status (e.g. SF12) disability

• Labour market activity and employment status, Job search,

• Current job characteristics, hours of paid work, Second jobs

• Childcare, other caring• Income and earnings, • Life Satisfaction,

• Political affiliation – basic measures,

• Transport and communication access

• Education aspirations and expectations

• Consumption expenditure

• Housing characteristics - basic

• Housing expenditure

• Household facilities, car ownership

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Other wave 1 content

Initial conditions:

• Education, schooling before panel

• Parental background

• International migration

• Partnership and fertility history

• Employment status history

Other rotating content:

• Ethnic identity

• Religion

• Environmental attitudes and behaviour

• Mental health and well-being

• Height and weight

• Health conditions

• Family networks

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Long term content plans

• Annual content – carried forward from wave 1 (< 50% of content)

• New annual content – event histories over past year, follow-up questions from event or change of status, age specific modules

• Relatively stable characteristics measured occasionally

• Other intermittent modules repeated every 2/3 years

• Scope for including emerging issues

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Rotating modules in wave 2

• Health related behaviour (smoking, drinking, diet, exercise)

• Employment conditions

• Use of time in paid, domestic and voluntary work

• Financial attitudes and behaviour

• Participation in sport, cultural activities

• Social support

• Identity measures and political engagement for ethnic minority boost

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New rotating modules to be introduced at wave 3 or wave 4

• Interaction with local neighbourhood and local services (wave 3)

• Social and friendship networks (wave 3)

• Political and social engagement (wave 3)

• Cognitive function measures (wave 3)

• Wealth, credit and debt (wave 4)

• Anti-social and risky behaviours – possibly at wave 4

Plus repetition of some modules first introduced at wave 1 and 2.

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Data linkage

• Collecting consents for linkage to school pupil data and to health records and vital statistics.

• Consent rates on first few months around 60%+

• Consents also collected on BHPS wave 18 (rather lower consent rate)

• Now need to obtain access to data

• Also undertaking linkage to spatial data – social, economic and environmental characteristics of areas where people live

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Data preparation and release

• Data processing systems specified and design – processing monthly batches of data from NatCen

• Preparing for release of year one data in autumn 2010

• Specifying content of user files, and priorities for added value data

• Will include cross-sectional weights

• Early ‘first 12 months’ release will not necessarily include all added value components – more planned for first release of whole of wave 1 in 2011

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Further information

• Including questionnaires and more detail on the long term content plans:

www.understandingsociety.org.uk

And please let us have your views on the new study :

consult@understandingsociety.org.uk

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