NatCen to Conduct UK's 'Largest' Household Survey

In the UK, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to conduct a major new household survey to uncover the long-term effects of social and economic change on the general well-being of the UK population.

ESRC claims that its Understanding Society study, with a target sample size of 40,000 households across the UK, will be the largest of its type in the world. In addition, the council says its initial budget of £15.5m represents the largest single investment in academic social research resources ever launched in the country.

The study will replace the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), which ISER has been running since 1991 among a panel of around 9,000 UK households.

Data will be collected annually about each sample member and their household, illuminating such topics as the persistence of child poverty or disability; the factors that influence key life transitions, such as marriage and divorce; and the effects of earlier life circumstances on later outcomes.

'The large sample size will give a unique opportunity to explore issues for which other longitudinal surveys are too small to support effective research,' commented ESRC Principal Policy Manager Alison Weir. 'It will permit analysis of small subgroups, and a large sample size also allows high-resolution analysis of events in time.'

The study will complement existing age-focused studies, and will address new and emerging research issues, such as the environmental impacts of household behaviour, and factors from class, ethnicity and religion to consumption and lifestyle.

It will also include qualitative elements to gain understanding of respondents' perceptions and motivation, as well as an 'innovation panel' of around 1,500 households which will be integrated to allow testing of mixed mode data collection strategies.

Understanding Society is based at, and will be led by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex, together with colleagues from the University of Warwick and the Institute of Education. Results are due in 2010 and more information can be found at www.iser.essex.ac.uk/ukhls .

Web sites: www.esrc.ac.uk and www.natcen.ac.uk .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.