Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (formerly the ONS Opinions Survey and ONS Omnibus Survey)
The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, previously known as ONS Opinions or Omnibus Survey, is a regular, multi-purpose survey which was carried out in eight months of the year until April 2005. From this point it has run monthly. It started operating commercially in 1990 and was set up originally to meet the needs of government departments for a survey that used short and simple sets of questions, had greater statistical reliability than private sector omnibus surveys and a properly designed random sample. Now, however, an increasing number of academics are finding it a valuable research tool.
The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey is used for a number of purposes, for example:
• to provide quick answers to questions of immediate interest
• to provide information on topics that do not require a full survey
• to develop and pilot questions for other surveys
• to sift for subgroups that can be followed up in another survey
Each month's questionnaire consists of two elements: core questions, covering
demographic information, are asked each month together with non-core questions
that vary from month to month. A list of modules is available from our Omnibus
Modules page.
The National Statistics web site contains
some detailed
information about the survey.
History
From January 2008 the ONS Omnibus Survey changed its name to the ONS Opinions Survey and became part of the Integrated Household Survey (IHS). As a result, certain classificatory variables were altered to harmonise with the rest of the surveys that form the IHS. For further information, see the detailed breakdown of the changes contained within the documentation for the 2008 studies onwards.
Subsequently, in January 2010, the Opinions Survey (OPN) component was dropped from the IHS due to only one individual per household being interviewed, while the IHS requires questions to be asked of all household members. This process significantly increased the length of the OPN interview and, therefore, OPN reverted back to interviewing one household member, but still contains questions harmonised to the IHS.
The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey adopted its current name when it merged with the non-EU-SILC questions from the General Lifestyle Survey (GLF).
Special Licence Access Opinions and Lifestyle Survey data
With effect from 2008, the decision was made by ONS to make all new and currently available Disability Monitoring data (Module 363) and Contraception data (Module 170) issuable only to Approved Researchers under Special Licence access conditions due to the disclosive nature of the modules.
