Survey timeline

Understanding Society builds on its predecessor project, the British Household Panel Survey. Starting in 1991, the British Household Panel Survey initially interviewed 5,000 households in the UK. Additional samples of 1,500 households in each of Scotland and Wales were added to the main sample in 1999, and in 2001 2,000 households were added in Northern Ireland, making the panel suitable for UK-wide research. The British Household Panel Survey ended in 2009, when Understanding Society started. Participants from the British Household Panel Survey were asked if they would like to join Understanding Society and over 6,000 of them did so. 

Many design features, instruments, and questions from the British Household Panel Survey live on in Understanding Society and data collection from eligible British Household Panel Survey sample members continues as part of Understanding Society, offering opportunities to exploit data from the two studies jointly to create a long panel of data. 

The dates mentioned below for UKHLS waves refer to the actual fieldwork period. The intended fieldwork period is 24 months but a few interviews cannot be conducted during the intended fieldwork period and are followed up later. So, the actual fieldwork period is longer than the intended fieldwork period by a few months (varies across waves). The intended fieldwork period for BHPS was September to December of the year mentioned below but the actual fieldwork period extended by a few months (varies across waves).