Societal Data: Introduction¶
Thousands of people across the nations of the United Kingdom are interviewed every day; they are asked about their lives and what they really think about important social issues. The social survey data produced through these interviews creates an extremely valuable resource of societal data.
The UK Data Service (UKDS) is a national data service for the social sciences, holding data that can unlock new discoveries in research, provide evidence for policy decisions and help teach the next generation in core data skills.
Every day researchers from all sectors browse the UKDS data collections and download data to support active projects. Their work asks questions from all areas of society, providing findings that further our understanding of key social issues.
Key UK survey data¶
The data can be browsed through the catalogue. Some of the key datasets held by UKDS include:
British Social Attitudes¶
This National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) survey tracks people’s changing social, political and moral attitudes and informs the development of public policy. It has been conducted since 1983, with over 3,000 respondents annually and questions repeated periodically.
Crime Survey for England and Wales¶
The Crime Survey for England and Wales (formerly British Crime Survey) asks over 50,000 people living in households in England and Wales about their experiences of crime in the last 12 months.
English Housing Survey¶
The English Housing Survey (EHS) began in 2008-09. Commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the EHS collects information from households on housing circumstances.
Health Survey for England¶
The Health Survey for England is a series of annual surveys carried out since 1991 with a number of core questions and a particular topic focus. The survey uses a mixture of questionnaires, physical measurements and blood samples.
Labour Force Survey¶
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a survey of the employment circumstances of the UK population. It is the largest survey with a consistent design and provides the official measures of employment and unemployment.
Opinions and Lifestyle Survey¶
The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey is a regular multi-purpose survey which, since 2005, has run monthly covering core demographic information with non-core questions that vary from month to month.
Found out more about UKDS key data on the website pages.