Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The variables in the General Household Survey, 2000-2001: Social Capital Teaching Dataset are a subset taken from the full General Household Survey, 2000-2001 (GHS). For that year of the GHS, a social capital 'trailer' was conducted alongside the main survey, which included questions on respondents' local area, fear of crime, participation and trust. The trailer was funded by the Health Development Agency as part of a larger body of work to further understanding of social capital in terms of its meaning, measurement and links to health within the British population. The variables included here are those from the social capital file and others from the main survey, chosen to reflect different dimensions of social capital in relation to a variety of demographic variables, and some outcome variables such as, health, income and employment.

Further information can be found in the Social capital: introductory user guide.

The second edition of the study (released February 2008) replaced the previous edition (released February 2006). The second edition contains a rescaled weight with a mean of 1 (correcting the previous version) and corrects a systematic error in the data which affected the internal consistency of the social capital module variables in relation to those from the main file. Current users of the data are strongly advised to switch to the second edition of the study.

The full General Household Survey series is held at the UK Data Archive under GN 33090.

Main Topics:

Topics covered in this teaching dataset include views about respondents' local area; civic participation, social networks (including contact with friends and relatives) and social participation (involvement with groups and voluntary activities). A range of demographic variables are also included.