Understanding Society: Innovation Panel, Waves 1-17, 2008-2024: Special Licence Access, Census 2021 Lower Layer Super Output Areas

<p><span style="font-style: italic;">Understanding Society</span>, (the UK Household Longitudinal Study), which began in 2009, is conducted by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex and the survey research organisations Verian Group (formerly Kantar Public) and NatCen. It builds on and incorporates, the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), which began in 1991.</p><p>The <span style="font-style: italic;">Understanding Society Innovation Panel</span> is designed for experimental and methodological research relevant to longitudinal surveys. As far as practical its design, content, and data collection procedures are similar to the main stage Understanding Society survey. It is a multi-topic household survey representative of the population of Great Britain. Data collection takes place annually using computer assisted personal interviewing (CAPI), web surveys and telephone interviewing (CATI) to a small extent. </p><p>For details of the main Understanding Society study, please see study number 6614.</p>
<p>The Understanding Society: Innovation Panel: Special Licence Access, Census 2021 Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOA) dataset contains Census 2021 LSOA geographic variables for Understanding Society: Innovation Panel and a household identification serial number for file matching to the main Understanding Society: Innovation Panel data. These data have more restrictive access conditions than those available under the standard End User Licence (see ‘Access data’ tab for more information).</p>
<p><b>Census 2001, 2011 and 2021 LSOA data coverage</b></p>
<p>Census 2001 and 2011-defined LSOA geographic variables are also available under Special Licence access conditions to match to Understanding Society: Innovation Panel data - see SN 6911 and SN 7339.</p>
<p><b>Census 2001, 2011 and 2021 LSOA access restrictions</b></p>
<p>When placing an order for these data, users should note that, to minimise the risk of disclosure, users may access one only of SN 6911, SN 7339 or SN 9157.</p>
<p><b>Latest edition information</b></p>
<p>For the third edition (September 2025), data for Wave 17 was deposited and all previous waves updated to include Scottish codes. The documentation has been updated accordingly.</p>