ONS Omnibus Survey, March 1997

<P>Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.</P><p>The <i>Opinions and Lifestyle Survey</i> (formerly known as the ONS Opinions Survey or Omnibus) is an omnibus survey that began in 1990, collecting data on a range of subjects commissioned by both the ONS internally and external clients (limited to&nbsp;other government departments, charities, non-profit organisations and academia).</p><p><p>Data are collected from one individual aged 16&nbsp;or&nbsp;over,&nbsp;selected from each sampled private household. Personal data include data on the individual, their family, address, household, income and education, plus responses and opinions on a variety of subjects within commissioned modules.</p>
<p>The questionnaire collects timely data for research and policy analysis evaluation on the social impacts of recent topics of national importance, such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the cost of living, on individuals and households in Great Britain.</p>
<p>From April 2018 to November 2019, the design of the OPN changed from face-to-face to a mixed-mode design (online first with telephone interviewing where necessary). Mixed-mode collection allows respondents to complete the survey more flexibly and provides a more cost-effective service for customers.</p>
<p>In March 2020, the OPN was adapted to become a weekly survey used to collect data on the social impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the lives of people of Great Britain. These data are held in the Secure Access study, SN 8635,&nbsp;<em>ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, Covid-19 Module, 2020-2022: Secure Access.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>From August 2021, as coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions were lifting across Great Britain, the OPN moved to fortnightly data collection, sampling around 5,000 households in each survey wave to ensure the survey remains sustainable.</p>
<p>The OPN has since expanded to include questions on other topics of national importance, such as health and the cost of living. For more information about the survey and its methodology, see the ONS&nbsp;<a title="OPN Quality and Methodology Information" href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/methodologies/opinionsandlifestylesurveyqmi">OPN Quality and Methodology Information</a> webpage.</p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Secure Access Opinions and Lifestyle Survey data</span></p></p><p>Other Secure Access OPN data cover modules run at various points from 1997-2019, on Census religion (SN 8078), cervical cancer screening (SN 8080), contact after separation (SN 8089), contraception (SN 8095), disability (SNs 8680 and 8096), general lifestyle (SN 8092), illness and activity (SN 8094), and non-resident parental contact (SN 8093). See <a href="https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/series/series?id=2000043">Opinions and Lifestyle Survey: Secure Access</a> for details.</p><br><B>Main Topics</B>:<BR>Each month's questionnaire consists of two elements: core questions, covering demographic information, are asked each month together with non-core questions that vary from month to month.<br>The non-core questions for this month were:<br>
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Investment Income (Module 7a): this module was asked to discover how much interest, tax exempt or tax deducted, respondents earn on money kept in building society and bank accounts. <br>
GP Accidents (Module 78n): this module asked about accidents the respondent had had where help was sought that could have involved a doctor e.g. doctor's surgery, hospital.<br>
Alcohol from EU countries (Module 164): this module aims to assess the extent of cross-border shopping since the Single Market was introduced. It is only concerned with alcohol bought in other European Community countries in shops other than duty free shops.<br>
Health Education Authority Corporate Identity (Module 166): This module aimed to measure people's awareness and impressions of the Health Education Authority (HEA) organization. This module was asked in England only.<br>
Sexual Health (Module 168): this module aimed to monitor the population's knowledge of sexual health matters and their awareness of HIV and AIDS.<br>
Physical Activity (Module 169): this module used two questionnaires of differing lengths. The HEA used the Omnibus to test whether information about physical activity can be collected as reliably from the questions in the shorter questionnaire as from the questions in the longer questionnaire. Both questionnaires assess different physical activities. The long questionnaire asked about the same physical activities as those included in the short questionnaire but went into greater detail. This module was asked in England only.<br>
(General) Health (Module 171): this module was asked on behalf of the Department of Health and asked about respondents general health, whether they have a long-standing illness, and hospitalisation in the last year. The questions were taken (largely) from the General Household Survey and the Health Survey for England.<br>
Public Confidence in Official Statistics (Module 172): This module aimed to measure: 1) whether people have heard of ONS or its component parts - the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, and the Central Statistical Office and 2) the level of public confidence in official statistics (those produced by ONS).<br>