Guide to Understanding Society
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ESDS Longitudinal provides:
- a web-based download service
- specialist user support in conjunction with the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER)
- training and workshops
- a range of value-added data enhancements for a number of key UK longitudinal data collections, including Understanding Society
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Understanding Society, or the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS), is conducted by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), at the University of Essex.
As a multi-topic household survey, the purpose of Understanding Society is to understand social and economic change in Britain at the household and individual levels. It is anticipated that
over time the study will permit examination of short- and long-term effects of social and economic change, including policy interventions, on the general wellbeing of the UK population. The
study has a strong emphasis on domains of family and social ties, work, financial resources, and health.
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The study has four sample components: the General Population component, the Innovation Panel, a boost sample of ethnic minority group members, and participants in the former British Household
Panel Survey (BHPS) (held at the UK Data Archive under SN 5151).
The BHPS sample will be part of Understanding Society from Wave 2 (January 2010-March 2011). BHPS sample members will have an identifier
within the Understanding Society datasets, allowing BHPS users to match BHPS Wave 1-18 data to Understanding Society Wave 2 (and onwards)
data.
Access to Understanding Society
Users registered with the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS) have access to the latest Understanding Society datasets via
the download/order service.
- How to register with ESDS:
- Understanding Society datasets:
Understanding Society data available via the Secure Data Service
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From Spring 2011, very detailed geographical Understanding Society data have been made available via the Secure Data Service. These data are subject to strict conditions of access:
- Understanding Society National Grid Reference data at the Secure Data Service:
- Secure Data Service FAQs:
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Understanding Society resources
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There are a host of Understanding Society resources on the web.
www.understandingsociety.org.uk resources:
Overview:
Study design:
Research:
Publications:
Updates:
ESDS Longitudinal resources:
UK longitudinal data in an international context:
ESDS Longitudinal data mailing list:
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User documentation

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ESDS user documentation for the Understanding Society can be downloaded from the Understanding Society catalogue record page.
Alternatively, documentation is available from the study's website.
- Understanding Society study description:
- Survey documentation at www.understandingsociety.org.uk:
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www.esds.ac.uk/longitudinal longitudinal@esds.ac.uk
L33423 Guide to
Understanding Society