Insights – the Understanding Society podcast

Understanding Society is a longitudinal survey. Every year we ask each member of 1000s of the same households across the UK about different aspects of their life. In each episode of this series, we're exploring how our data has been used in a key area. We'll look at what we found, what it tells us, and what we can learn from it. In this episode, we're looking at cost of living, who has been hit ha...

Understanding Society is a longitudinal survey. Every year we ask each member of thousands of the same households across the UK about different aspects of their lives. In each episode of this series, we're exploring how our data has been used in a key area. We'll look at what we found, what it tells us and what we can learn from it. In this episode, we're looking at how the physical environment in...

Welcome to Insights, a podcast from Understanding Society . The study that captures life in the UK in the 21st century, Understanding Society is a longitudinal survey. Every year we ask each member of thousands of the same households across the UK about different aspects of their lives. In each episode of this series, we're exploring how our data has been used in a key area. We'll look at what we...

Understanding Society is a longitudinal survey. Every year we ask each member of thousands of the same households across the UK about key areas of their life. In each episode of this series we’re exploring how our data has been used in a key area. We’ll look at what we found, what it tells us and what we can learn from it.   In this episode we’re looking at the tension between commuting and w...

  Understanding Society is a longitudinal survey that captures life in the UK in the 21st century. Every year we ask each member of thousands of the same households across the UK about different aspects of their life.   In each episode of our Insights podcast series we’re exploring how our data has been used in a key area. We’ll look at what we found, what it tells us and what we can lea...

In this episode series host, Catherine McDonald, is joined by Jeevun Sandher, an economist from King’s College London; Xiaowei Xu, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Mike Brewer, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Economist at the Resolution Foundation. They discuss the geographical inequalities in the UK, how government spending shapes inequality and poverty, and...

Once the survey data is collected, how does it become a dataset ready for researchers to use? Associate Director for Data, John Payne, talks about the processes needed to turn survey responses into anonymised data. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Weighting is a vital part of population studies, allowing researchers to ensure that the data they use in analysis is representative. In this podcast Survey Statistician, Dr Olena Kaminska, explains why weights are important and how weights are created. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One the sample is chose and the participants are ready, how does Understanding Society develop the survey that's going to be sent out. How are the questions chosen? Who gets to complete their survey online and who gets a face-to-face interview? In this podcast Director of Innovation, Professor Annette Jackle, talks about the development of data collection. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy fo...

Our participants are a vital part of Understanding Society - without them there would be no study. In this episode Dr Violetta Parutis, Assistant Associate Director of Surveys, talks about how Understanding Society engages with participants, both during their annual interview and in sharing the wider research that comes from the Study data. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...

In this podcast Understanding Society's Associate Director for Surveys, Dr Jonathan Burton, explains the interview process. He talks about how face-to-face interviewing and online surveys work, and how Understanding Society is delivered in the field. As a household panel study, Understanding Society interviews everyone in a household - Jonathan about the different sample members and why interviewi...

Who goes into the Understanding Society sample and why? In this short podcast, Professor Peter Lynn, Director of Survey Methods, explains how the original sample for Understanding Society was selected and how the study ensures that the sample is representative of the UK population. He also talks about the sample for the Covid-19 survey and the role of boost samples in a longitudinal study. Hosted...

In this final episode of season 3 of our podcast series we take a closer look at Understanding Society itself. How do we turn survey responses into data for research? How do we select who takes part in the survey? And what makes household panel data so useful for researchers and policymakers? Series host, Catherine McDonald , talks to the people who design and implement Understanding Society - tak...

In the sixth episode of our podcast series, we look at how the COVID19 school closures have affected our children – and their parents. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Professor Birgitta Rabe from the Institute for Social and Economic Research about her work comparing the mental health of those children who were invited to return to school in June 2020 with those who weren’t. Catherine’s s...

In the fifth episode of our podcast series, we look take a look at how relationships are changing. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Professor Brienna Perelli-Harris , Understanding Society’s Topic Champion for Families, about her research on partnerships, marriage and fertility trends using our main dataset and our COVID19 survey. Catherine’s second guest is Dee Holmes , Senior Practice Co...

In the fourth episode of our podcast series, we look take a look at the role of social action in civic participation. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Dr Stuart Fox from Brunel University about his research looking at whether volunteering makes young people more likely to vote in their first election. Catherine then moves on to talk to Victoria Harkness, Head of Research and Evaluation at...

In the third episode of our new podcast series, we take a look at the health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Professor Meena Kumari , Understanding Society’s Topic Champion for Health and Biomarker research and to David Finch , Assistant Director in the Healthy Lives directorate at The Health Foundation. Together they discuss Understanding Society’s...

With the topic area of income and expenditure for the second episode in our new podcast series, we take a look at Universal Credit – how it’s designed, how it compares to the old benefits legacy system and the effects it has on people’s lives. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Tom Waters , Senior Research Economist from the Institute for Fiscal Studies about research that used Understanding...

In the first episode of our new podcast series, we look at employment and the experience of working-class women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Professors Tracey Warren from Nottingham University Business School and Clare Lyonette from Warwick Institute for Employment about their project Carrying the Work Burden of the COVID-19 pandemic: working class women i...

Dr Olena Kaminska talks about why sample size matters when researching hard to reach sub-sections of the population and why Understanding Society offers not just great data but some innovative and original opportunities to research previously ignored groups. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anne Berrington talks about what makes young adults return to live with their parents. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Professor Adeline Delavande talks about research which uses the Understanding Society Innovation Panel to examine the perceptions of parents and children of the financial value of gaining a degree. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Noah Uhrig discusses ground-breaking new research commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation exploring the links between sexual orientation and poverty. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Gundi Knies talks about new research exploring the links between ethnicity, neighbourhoods and life satisfaction. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jenny Chanfreau from NatCen discusses research undertaken for the Department of Health on predictors of well-being. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.