Understanding Society is the largest longitudinal study of its kind and covers a wide range of topics. This page outlines resources for government, charities, business, public services and for those working within policy and the charity sector. Information is also available for those interested in the type of research questions that can be answered with the survey and the research findings using the survey.
DISCOVER
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Latest Research
The Publications Library shows the research that has already been carried out using the study. Use the search facility to filter by Subject, publication type, author and year of publication.
Insights podcasts
Listen to our latest podcast with researchers and experts on findings and policy issues.
Some of our podcasts are short introductions to a topic, whilst others are more in-depth conversations. If you would like to feature in a podcast please contact us.
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Impact
Our impact stories show how our data makes a difference for organisations from charities to government. Search by specific topic.
Our Insights Report is our annual in-depth look at the evidence on topical policy issues.
Case Studies
Our case studies show how our data makes a difference for organisations from charities to government:
End of life charity, Maire Curie, wants government to give terminally ill people early pensions
Scottish Government vaping research sets out prevalence and trends in e-cigarette use
Chief Medical Officers set out the case on whether children should be vaccinated against Covid-19
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Discover the data
The About the Study page lists the key features of the Study and you can listen to the Understanding Society team talk about the design and implementation of the Study in the Podcast From Surveys to data.
Questionnaires
The questionnaires are a key source of information about the wording of individual questions. Who was asked and what questions precede and follow in the interview. How to read the questionnaire is explained in our Main Survey User Guide.
Our documentation pages contain Questionnaires for each Wave of the Study.
Variable Search
The Variable Search helps you find variables needed for your research. The Variable Search can be used in multiple ways to search by variable name or keyword, by data files, by thematic index terms, or by questions or question modules. Each variable includes a frequency for each wave in which it appears. Some variables also have notes with more information about the variable.
Data Dashboard
The Data Dashboard is a tool you can use to build charts to show trends over time and to compare different population groups.
The Covid-19 dashboard uses variables from the Understanding Society COVID-19 study – a series of short, online surveys carried out between April 2020 and September 2021.
The Material deprivation dashboard uses variables from our main survey showing what participants spend their money on and how they feel about their individual finances.
The Wellbeing dashboard, created in collaboration with the What Works Wellbeing Centre, uses variables from our main survey to show how wellbeing levels vary across time, population groups and regions.
To learn more about working with the data visit our New User Pathway. For users who have already worked with the data our Experienced User Pathway can help.
LEARN
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Conference & policy event videos
Our events and presentations are often available on our YouTube channel. We feature several playlist including presentations at conferences such as our People and Places Conference as well as Policy insights.
SUPPORT
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The Policy and Partnerships Unit
Work with us
We work with government, charities, think tanks, businesses and others to enable the effective use of Understanding Society data and evidence. A regular look at research into life in the UK, and how our Study works. To ask a question, or contribute, please email us.
Blog and Briefing notes
A regular look at our world-leading study of life in the UK: how the Study works, what the research tells us, and innovative ways of using our data.
The Understanding Society Briefing Notes series gives snapshots of data on key issues.
Receive the latest updates
- See the latest data releases and those which are planned
- Sign-up to our Newsletter for news and events
- Follow us on Twitter
- See Chart of the Week on Instagram featuring the latest research using Understanding Society data