There are different levels of access, depending on what information you want to use.
Users are required to sign licence agreements, details of which are listed on the Access Understanding Society data page.
Once access has been approved, data can be downloaded from the UK Data Service.
End User Licence data (Safeguarded)
In preparing the data for the general release we have taken steps to maintain the confidentiality of responses. These include not releasing the full date of birth and not releasing the most detailed job-related SOC and SIC codes. Information on income and investment has been top coded. Open or narrative text, e.g., names of schools or employers, has not been released since it may indirectly identify individuals. Geographical identifiers below the level of GORs are also not included in the EUL release. This type of dataset should be suitable for the majority of researchers. The full set of Understanding Society EUL datasets available at the UK Data Service are identified in GN 33423.
Special Licence data (Safeguarded)
A number of sensitive data are released under Special Licence. Researchers can apply for access to Special Licence data through the UK Data Service if they can justify their research objectives and clearly explain why Special Licence data are needed for their project. It should be noted that some Special Licence datasets have restrictions on which countries researchers may apply for them. These restrictions can be identified in the ‘Access data’ tab on the UK Data Service catalogue webpage of any dataset. Further details are available on the Access Understanding Society data page. The full set of Understanding Society Special Licence datasets available at the UK Data Service are identified under GN 33428.
Secure Access data (Controlled)
Some data which is more disclosive than the Special Licence versions can be only accessed by approved researchers in secure settings. To apply for Secure Access data through the UK Data Service researchers must be based at a UK academic institution or an ESRC-funded research centre. Applications may also be made through the Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service (ONS SRS). However, data from the ONS SRS do not contain all of the variables in the equivalent study available from the UK Data Service; the variables containing organisational names have been removed at the ONS SRS. Please check the data dictionaries to confirm whether the variables you require are available. In all cases Secure Access data applicants must be ESRC accredited researchers. Please contact the UK Data Service or ONS SRS for details of how to become an accredited researcher. Further details are available on the Access Understanding Society data page.
A few Understanding Society datasets fall into this category: SN 6676 which includes postcode grid references (but not postcodes themselves) and full date of birth and other linked administrative linked datasets. These datasets at the UK Data Service are identified under GN 33429. For access at the ONS SRS please contact them directly.
