The variable hhorig shows which sample a sample member belongs to. This is a household level variable. The variable memorig also provides the same information. This is an individual level variable. In most cases hhorig is the same as memorig and remains the same across waves. But there is one exception: for a handful of cases where individuals from different samples move in together we change the value of hhorig for everyone in that household from that wave onwards to the value for “earlier” sample, i.e., the sample that was included in the survey earlier. But the value of memorig is not changed as this is an individual level variable.
In the cross-wave files such as xwavedat, the name of the variables are hhorig and memorig. But in wave specific files, in line with the variable naming convention we follow, the variables will have a wave prefix. So, in UKHLS Wave 1 files the name of these variables are a_hhorig a_memorig, in UKHLS Wave 2 files these are b_hhorig b_memorig and so on. Similarly, the variable names in BHPS Wave 1 files are ba_hhorig ba_memorig, and so on.
To reiterate in most cases the value of this variable does not change. If you are interested in knowing more about the handful of cases where these values change take a look at this worked out example.
Example
One person from the BHPS GB sample (person 1) and one from the EMBS (person 2) move in together in Wave 3 of UKHLS. In this example:
- For person 1: w_memorig (for all w = ba,..br, a, b, c,…) is 3, w_hhorig (for all w = ba,..br, a, b, c,…) is 3
- For person 2: w_memorig (for all w = a, b, c,…) is 7, w_hhorig (for all w = a, b) is 7, w_hhorig (for all w = c,…) is 3
