Wave 3 of the Understanding Society data has been released to the research community this week. The data collected by NatCen as part of our study of the attitudes,lifestyles and economic circumstances of the inhabitants of 40,000 households in the UK since 2009, willl now be available for analysis by government, business and industry, third sector, public services and academics.
Wave 3 of Understanding Society, downloadable now from the UK Data Service, contains interviews with nearly 50,000 adults and 4,500 children (age 10-15). Integrated with 18 years of data from the long-standing British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), Wave 3 provides up to 21 years of evidence about the changing nature of our society.
For the first time the data also includes the results of new cognitive tests on participants.
Nick Buck, Director of Understanding Society, said:
“Cognitive ability is related to the life chances of individuals – educational and occupational achievement. It is also related to a number of health outcomes. For the first time, researchers can now review cognitive function across the life course – from ages 16 to 103 – making Wave 3 a highly useful resource.”
Questions relating to cognitive ability include:
- Word recall: respondents were asked to remember a list of 10 words and repeat them back to the interviewer immediately and 10 minutes later
- Subtraction: deduct 7 from 100 and then 7 from that answer, and repeat (e.g., 93 – 7, 86 – 7 etc). This tests working memory, processing, disposal and retrieval of information.
- Number sequences: which number fills the gap in a particular sequence? The use of abstract thought to solve novel problems, a measure of ‘fluid intelligence’.
- Verbal fluency: how many animals can the respondent name in a minute?
- Numeric ability: a series of short number puzzles to measure the use of numbers in everyday life.
In addition to cognitive ability, the Understanding Society Wave 3 release contains new questions about:
- Local neighbourhood: how satisfied are we with local services? How strong is our neighbourhood cohesion?
- Social networks: who are our friends? Do we mix with people who are similar to us?
- Family networks: how often do parents see their children living outside the household? What sort of help do we give – or receive – from family members?
- Political engagement: how strong is our sense of civic duty? How do we feel about the major political parties? Do we need more information to make an informed choice in the election?
- Child development & parenting styles: do we encourage our children to tell us how they’re feeling? What kinds of parents are we shaping up to be?
- The ‘Big 5’ personality traits: where do we fit in when it comes to agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion and neuroticism – and how does this affect our opinions and behaviour?
Find out more about Understanding Society and accessing the data and past research on the Understanding Society website