Life Opportunities Survey Frequently Asked Questions
Questions:
1. What format is the data in?
2. Which datasets are available from ESDS
3. What is the timetable for the LOS?
4. Where can I obtain statistics and tables from the LOS?
5. Does the LOS include information at individual level?
6. What population is covered by the LOS?
7. Are other specialist disability surveys available and are their measures of disability compatible with the LOS?
8. Why do estimates of disability vary across surveys?
9. What other sources of data on disability are available?
10. Why is a new disability survey needed?
11. What are the main models that have been developed to conceptualise disability and which approach is used in the LOS?
12. What other surveys collect information on disability defined according to the social model of disability?
1. What format is the data in?
LOS data are available in SPSS, STATA and ASCII format
2. Which datasets are available from ESDS
Data are currently available from Wave 1 2009-10. For a list of up-to-date datasets please refer to the Datasets Titles page.
3. What is the timetable for the LOS?
The timetable of data releases from the LOS is as below:
| June 2009 |
Survey launch (baseline survey – wave 1) |
| March 2010 |
First half of baseline interviews complete |
| Autumn 2010 |
First report of LOS based on half baseline sample
Second half of baseline interviews begin
Wave 2 interviews begin |
| March 2011 |
Baseline survey interviews completed |
| Autumn 2011 |
Second report of LOS results based on full baseline sample
Second half of wave 2 interviews begin
Wave 3 interviews begin |
| Autumn 2012 |
Report on complete wave 2 available
Report on first half of wave 3 available |
4. Where can I obtain statistics and tables from the LOS?
Reports containing statistics and tables from the LOS will be regularly produced and can be downloaded from the Office for National Statistics web site.
5. Does the LOS include information at individual level?
Yes, the LOS contains information on individuals. Analysis at the household level will also be possible.
6. What population is covered by the LOS?
The LOS covers the household population in Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) who are aged 16 and over. The survey includes both disabled and non disabled people. Parents or guardians will be asked to provide some key data about children aged 11 to 15.
7. Are other specialist disability surveys available and are their measures of disability compatible with the LOS?
Specialist disability surveys were carried out in 1985-8 (DS85/8) and 1996-7 (DS96/7). These surveys used a set of questions on activity limitations and a scoring criteria to give information on the type and severity of disability by age and sex. A previous disability survey was also carried out in 1969, however, the measures of disability are not compatible with those used in the later surveys and the data is not available from the UK data archive.
The questions in the LOS also enable estimates of disability prevalence distinguishing type and severity of disability to be generated. However, these are not directly comparable with the previous disability surveys.
The LOS does include a measure of disability based upon the wording of the Disability Discrimination Act which defines someone as disabled if ‘he or she has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. This is comparable with measures in other surveys such as the DS96/7.
8. Why do estimates of disability vary across surveys?
Defining disability is contentious (see faq 10 below). As a result there is no gold standard measure of disability and no single definitive estimate of disability prevalence. Estimates vary between surveys according to the definitions of disability that are used. Other methodological factors that can influence estimates of disability prevalence include whether not proxies are allowed, mode of data collection, population coverage (institutional population have higher levels of disability), survey context, question ordering and sifting procedure. For more details see p70-72 of:
http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/staff/documents/Thesis_Alan_Marshall_Final_submitted_version.pdf
9. What other sources of data on disability are available?
The Health Survey for England included a disability module in 1995, 2000, 2001 and 2005 including measures of disability types and severity. The data on disability in 2000 and 2001 is often combined to increase sample sizes. The 2000 survey focused on disability amongst the elderly with a boosted sample of elderly people and the elderly living in residential and care homes along with a reduced sample of the general population.
From time to time the GHS has included a module of questions on activities of daily living amongst the elderly included. The Scottish Household Survey includes similar measures of disability and is available at district level in Scotland. Sources such as the Census and the Labour Force Survey include measures of overall disability but do not distinguish disability type/severity.
10. Why is a new disability survey needed?
The LOS is a valuable new source of data on disability as the last specialist disability survey was carried out over 10 years ago (DS96/7). The LOS also addresses two important weaknesses of previous disability surveys. First, it takes into account both environmental and social factors that influence experiences of disability. Information is collected on impairments, but, unlike the previous disability surveys this is not equated with disability status. The survey explores the barriers to life opportunities that people both with and without impairments face and then assesses the extent of additional disadvantage experienced by people with impairments due to the range of social barriers, discrimination or lack of support, assistance and adjustments. Second, the LOS follows a longitudinal design. This will enable researchers to monitor transitions into and out of states of disability.
11. What are the main models that have been developed to conceptualise disability and which approach is used in the LOS?
Unlike other demographic quantities such as counts of population, births and deaths that have relatively uncontroversial meanings, concepts of disability are contested adding complexity to the measurement of disabled populations. There are three main models that have been developed to conceptualise disability; the ‘medical’, ‘social’ and ‘biopsychosocial’ models.
The medical model focuses on the individual and regards disability as being caused by the impairments that prevent an individual from living a normal life. This model gives no consideration to the effects that social, environmental and individual circumstances may have on an individual’s experience of disability. The focus is on curing or caring for disabled people, with the implication that the way to overcome barriers to inclusion is to alter the individual to ‘fit’ better into society. The International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH) (developed by the World Health Organisation) informs the measures of disability used on surveys prior to the LOS (DS85/8 and DS96/7) and explicitly follows the medical model, defining disability as:
‘a restriction or lack of ability to perform normal activities, which has resulted from the impairment of a structure or function of the body or mind’.
During the 1980s, Sociologists began to take an increasing interest in disability largely because of the increasing number of disabled people who viewed disablement as a social process. The alternative social model was first proposed by the Union of Physically Impaired People Against Segregation in 1976 and by many academics working in the field. This model proposes that disability is a result of societal barriers, either physical or attitudinal, that prevent individuals with impairments from undertaking everyday activities.
As a result of the rise of the Social model the World Health Organisation modified the ICIDH to take into account the social and environmental contexts of people’s lives. The new International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) focuses on “components of health” rather than “consequences of impairments” including both environmental and personal factors that impact on disability. The ICF seeks to integrate the medical and social models to provide a coherent view of different perspectives of health from a biological, individual and social perspective. This integration of social and medical models is referred to as the biopsychosocial model. The LOS measures of disability draw on other countries experiences of implementing the ICF.
The Life Opportunities Survey adheres to the social model in its design and reporting. Data is collected on impairments but unlike the previous disability surveys (DS85/8 and DS96/7) this is not equated with disability status. The survey explores the barriers to life opportunities that people both with and without impairments face and then assesses the extent of additional disadvantage experienced by people with impairments due to the range of social barriers, discrimination or lack of support, assistance and adjustments. For more information see the LOS user guide.
12. What other surveys collect information on disability defined according to the social model of disability?
A limited number of other surveys also collect disability statistics using the social model. Examples of this are the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) study on attitudes towards and experiences of disability and the Scottish Executive Survey of Public Attitudes Towards Mental Wellbeing and Mental Health Problems.
