ukhls consultation launch, 19/06/07, rss the uk household longitudinal study nick buck iser,...

UKHLS Consultation Launch, 19/06/07, RSS

The UK Household Longitudinal Study

Nick Buck

ISER, University of Essex


Who we are – the scientific leadership team

Nick Buck (ISER, Essex) – Principal investigatorRandy Banks (ISER) Stephen Jenkins (ISER) Heather Laurie (ISER)Peter Lynn (ISER)Steve Pudney (ISER)Lucinda Platt (ISER) – ethnicity strandRichard Berthoud (ISER) – ethnicity strandHeidi Mirza (Institute of Education) – ethnicity strandDieter Wolke (Warwick) – biomedical strandScott Weich (Warwick) – biomedical strand


Structure of presentation

• Background and developments so far• UKHLS objectives and key features• Structure of UKHLS and constraints• The UKHLS questionnaire• Relationship to BHPS• The consultation process • Some general issues for consideration• Timetable


Background

• UKLHS is a longitudinal study based on a household panel design, i.e. – sample based on all residents (adults and children) at addresses

selected at wave one, following them at each wave, including movers and collecting data about new household members

• Basic design similar to that of British Household Panel Survey, which it will replace, and to panels in other countries, e.g. SOEP, HILDA, PSID, SoFIE – so opportunities for comparison

• Target sample size of 40,000 households – largest HPS


Background (2)

• Major investment in the UKHLS is motivated by the success of longitudinal research in UK

• Most diverse portfolio of studies in the world:– In addition to BHPS: Birth cohort studies (NCDS,

BCS1970, MCS, ALSPAC), Studies of ageing (ELSA), Youth cohort studies (YCS, LSYPE), Census link studies and others

• Longitudinal research has had major impacts on both scientific research and policy research


UKHLS informed by rationales for longitudinal research

• Net versus gross change: gross change visible only from longitudinal data– e.g. decomposition of change in unemployment rate over time into

contributions from inflows and outflows• Some phenomena are inherently longitudinal (e.g. poverty

persistence; unstable employment)• Provides spell-based perspectives (and can observe how

circumstances change with time spent in state) • Repeated observations on individuals allow for possibility of

controlling for unobserved differences between individuals (fixed and random effect models)

• The ability to make causal inference is enhanced by temporal ordering


Developments so far

• ESRC secured funding from OSI to start UKHLS• Expert Panel (chair Peter Elias) steered development

of UKHLS up to appointment of PI team• 4 expert studies made recommendations on content

and design – presented at meeting in October 2006• November 2006 – March 2007, commissioning of

principal investigator team• From April 2007, PI team starts work with

consultation and commission survey organisation• ESRC continues to seek co-funding


Key features of UKHLS

The following should be exploited and shape the priorities for topic content:– Large sample size proposed

– Household focus of the design

– Full age range sample

– Innovative data collection methods

– Multi-purpose multi-topic design to meet a wide range of disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research needs

– Ethnic minority research

– Biomedical research.


Key features: large sample size

• 40,000 households gives an opportunity to explore issues where other longitudinal surveys are too small.

• Small subgroups, such as teenage parents or disabled people.

• Analysis at regional and sub-regional levels, allowing examination of the effects of geographical variation

• Large sample size allows high-resolution analysis of events in time, for example focussing on single-year age cohorts.


Key features: household focus

• Data collected on all members of sampled households

• Important for research on e.g. – consumption and income, where within-household sharing of resources

is important,

– demographic change, where the household itself is often the object of study.

• Can investigate family factors in decision making

• Observing multiple generations allows examination of long-term transmission processes

• Comparative analysis of sibling outcomes

• Opportunities to explore linkages outside the household


Key features: full age range

• The UKHLS sample includes full age range at any point in time – so complements age-focused studies sampling elderly people (e.g. ELSA) or young people (e.g. birth cohort studies)

• Provide a unique look at behaviours and transitions in mid-life – e.g. for issues of pensions and long-term care, associated with old age, policy setting is influenced by earlier behaviour.

• Large sample size means that all cohorts can be analysed at a common point in time.


Key features: innovative data collection

• Continuous development in data collection methods benefiting from:

– experience from other longitudinal surveys, – the introduction of new technologies.

• This will involve e.g.:– additional modes of interviewing, – collection of qualitative and visual data, – external record linkage

• Innovation Panel to allow experimentation and methodological development.


Key features: broad interdisciplinary topic coverage

• UKHLS will be multi-purpose survey supporting a very wide range of research agenda

• … which means it cannot have the focus in depth that more specialist surveys can achieve

• Strength arises from bringing together information on many life course domains

• Interdisciplinary: aims both to meet needs of traditional panel use disciplines (economics, social policy and sociology) and support more interdisciplinary work within the social sciences (e.g. geography and economics); within the biomedical sciences (e.g. psychology and genetics); and between the two.


Key features: ethnic minority research

• Ethnicity strand includes:– Boost sample for five key groups (Indian, Pakistani,

Bangladeshi, Carribean, Black African)

– Questions focused on ethnicity issues

• Recognises the increasing prominence of research into ethnic difference for understanding the make-up of British society and issues of diversity and commonality.


Key features: biomedical researh

• UKHLS will support collection of a wide range of biomarkers and health indicators

• Opportunity to assess exposure and antecedent factors of health status, understanding disease mechanisms (e.g. gene-environment interaction, gene-to-function links), household and socioeconomic effects and analysis of outcomes using direct assessments or data linkage.

• Opens up prospects for advances at the interface between social science and biomedical research.


UKHLS study design• Start with a sample of addresses, all members of private

households found will be sample members.• At each wave all sample members above a threshold age

eligible for interview. • Other individuals who form households with sample members

after wave 1 eligible for interview.• UKHLS will be a longitudinal sample of individuals

representing the whole UK population, and interviewed within a household context.

• Individuals followed as they move and form new households. • Following rules mean that the UKHLS will remain

representative of the UK population as it changes, subject to weighting and except for new immigrants to the UK.


UKHLS sample consists of:

• A new equal probability main panel achieved sample of 28,000 - 29,000 households. The fieldwork for this sample will commence in January 2009

• A boost ethnic minority sample, to provide 1,000 adult individuals in each of the five main ethnic minority groups

• The BHPS sample of approximately 8,400 households. BHPS sample data collection as part of the UKHLS will start with wave 2 in October 2009

• An Innovation Panel of 1500 households to enable methodological research. The fieldwork for the Innovation Panel will commence in January 2008.


UKHLS design

• Some aspects remain to be finalised and depend partly on co-funding. The following are expected:– 12 month intervals between interviews– Continuous fieldwork (implications for reference periods

for retrospective questions) [Possible 24 month field period, with second wave overlapping with first]

– Face-to-face interview at wave 1; mixed mode at wave 2– Wave 1 individual interview not more than 40 minutes,

wave 2 depends on budget, unlikely to exceed 40 minutes and may be shorter

– Some data collection from children aged less than 16 – not clear when this would start


The UKHLS questionnaire

• Length constraints are likely to be particularly acute, given broad scope of UKHLS and wide range of demands

• So move away from BHPS structure where most people are eligible to be asked all questions and most questions repeated each wave

• More use of questions asked regularly, but not every wave

• More use of questions asked only after key events or at particular ages

• More use of sub-samples, perhaps random sub-samples, where full sample unnecessary, or demographic sub-samples


0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Current BHPS

Ethnic boost

Innovation panel

Main sample

Time in minutes

Annual

Event triggered

Regular periodic

Other modules

Special ethnic annual

Special ethnic periodic

Question development

Structure of the UKHLS questionnaire


BHPS and UKHLS

• At wave 2 of UKHLS (wave 19 of BHPS), the BHPS sample will become part of UKHLS

• Expected that BHPS will use new questionnaire from that point (with very limited modification to preserve some measurement continuity)

• Development process recognised importance of comparability with BHPS – so likely to be significant use of BHPS questions in UKHLS

• But, likely that a high proportion of BHPS questions will not be included, or will be asked less frequently


Consultation on UKHLS content

• Key aims are to establish1) the priorities for inclusion in the UKHLS, 2) the content of the core questionnaire (i.e. that part intended

to be repeated at each wave), and 3) the content and sequencing of modules which might be

included less frequently, or only be addressed to part of the sample.

• Objective is to consult as widely as possible, within the constraints of the timetable (more on this later)

• Particular objective to go beyond current longitudinal study users, and identify new areas


Methods of consultation

• Topic groups (next slide)• Ethnicity strand consultation• Advisory committees and Governing Board• Using UKHLS web site to make documents on design

available• Targeted consultation with e.g. government

departments, ESRC Boards and Directors, other research councils

• Encouraging comments from any interested parties


Topic consultation groups

1. Standard of living measures (income, consumption, material deprivation, expenditure, financial well-being)

2. Family, social networks and interactions, local contexts, social support, technology and social contacts

3. Attitudes and behaviours related to environmental issues (energy, transport, air quality, global warming etc.)

4. Illicit and risky behaviour (crime, drug use, anti-social behaviour etc).5. Lifestyle, social, political, religious and other participation, identity and

related practices, dimensions of life satisfaction/happiness6. Psychological attributes, cognitive abilities and behaviour7. Preferences, beliefs, attitudes and expectations8. Health outcomes and health related behaviour9. Education, human capital and work10. Initial conditions, life history


Topic groups

• We do not expect topic groups to be designing questions or questionnaire sections; we are expecting them to identify measures and to justify their importance in terms of key research agenda

• Topic group first meetings taking place between 25 June and 18 July,

• Over the summer expected to continue business, mainly electronically

• Convenors will be summarising conclusions; questionnaire design team will have access to all comments received

• Topic group cover may not be exhaustive – some research areas may be missing. Let me know about those which concern you particularly.


Some cross-cutting issues for most topic groups

• What is the optimal data collection frequency for measures from a research perspective?

• What level of detail is really required?• For retrospective and flow measures what is the

most appropriate reference period? • To what extent is it necessary to collect information

about each individual within the household?• To what extent can data be reliably collected by one

respondent on behalf of all others in the same household?


More cross-cutting issues

• How important is continuity of measurement relative to the existing BHPS, and comparability with other UK national surveys?

• To what extent is cross-national comparability an important consideration when choosing a measure?

• To what extent can linkage with administrative and other data sources provide data that can substitute or complement collection of that data within the UKHLS?


Mode of data collectionMost likely for UKHLS: face-to-face, telephone, webMain differences between modes:

– Visual vs. aural transmission of information Cognitive stimulus of survey question

– Self- vs. interviewer administered Who controls pace and flow of survey, possibility of respondent

multitasking

– Face-to-face presence of interviewer Potential for non-verbal communication between interviewer and

respondent, privacy of reporting situation, rapport, pace of interview

These lead to differences between modes in:– Task difficulty– Respondent motivation to make required effort– Willingness to disclose (sensitive) information

Potential differences in measurement across modes


Example: Face-to-Face vs. TelephoneFace-to-Face Telephone

Showcards • Long lists

• Check all that apply

• Complex scales with word labels for each scale point

• Short lists / branched Qs

• Series of yes/no Qs

• Scales anchored in numeric endpoints

• Simpler/shorter Qs

Interviewer • Non-verbal communication

• Probes to open-ended Qs

• Rapport

• Non-verbal measurements

• Verbal communication only

• Probes to open-ended Qs

• Different approach to rapport

Potential problems

• Primacy effects (first categories)

• Social desirability bias

• Recency effects (last categories)

• Social desirability bias

• More superficial cognitive processing


Respondent burden issues

• UKHLS will involve repeated contacts with sample members

• The better the experience at any wave the more likely take part next wave – particularly important at first wave and other early waves until some commitment to study is established

• Therefore:

– First wave cannot be too long

– Avoid subject matter which is likely to be very sensitive

– Minimise subject matter likely to be uninteresting to respondents (though different respondents have different interests!)


TimetableMay-July 2007 Recruitment to topic consultation groups and first meetings

September 2007 Feedback from topic groups on core content, to contribute to questionnaire content for the Innovation Panel

September/October 2007

First meetings of Scientific Advisory Committee and Governing Board

December 2007 Consultation on wave one content concluded; consultation on future waves continues.

January 2008 Plenary conference

January – December 2008 and beyond

Consultation on wave two and future wave content; we anticipate that the topic groups would remain active

June 2008 Final survey pre-test for wave one

January 2009 Start of wave one main fieldwork


Web: http://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/ukhls

Email comments to:

[email protected]

http://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/ukhls

ukhls consultation launch, 19/06/07, rss the uk household longitudinal study nick buck iser,...

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ukhls consultation launch

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policy research slide

longitudinal data

longitudinal research