Content overview
Understanding Society collects a wide range of information on a great number of topics over time.
Topics include:
- Standard of living measures (income, consumption, material deprivation, expenditure, financial well-being)
- Family, social networks and interactions, local contexts, social support, technology and social contacts
- Attitudes and behaviours related to environmental issues (energy, transport, air quality, global warming etc)
- Illicit and risky behaviour (crime, drug use, anti-social behaviour etc)
- Lifestyle, social, political, religious and other participation, identity and related practices, dimensions of life satisfaction/happiness
- Psychological attributes, cognitive abilities and behaviour
- Preferences, beliefs, attitudes and expectations
- Health outcomes and health related behaviour
- Education, human capital and work
- Initial conditions, life history
Not all information can (or indeed needs to) be collected at every round of interviews. The content of the questionnaires in each round of Understanding Society is the result of a complicated balancing of questions that are asked every year, questions that are event triggered (i.e., only asked after specific events such as leaving school or a divorce), and regular periodic questions (such as on social networks, environmental attitudes). To allow Understanding Society to be responsive and incorporate new areas, there is also room for question modules which are asked less regularly ('other modules').
Content information for each round of interviews can be found here.
Information on the survey materials can be found here.