Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Integrated Household Survey (IHS), which ran from 2009-2014, was a composite survey combining questions asked on a number of social surveys conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to produce a dataset of 'core' variables. The ONS stopped producing IHS datasets from 2015 onwards; variables covering health, smoking prevalence, forces veterans, sexual identity and well-being will be incorporated into the Annual Population Survey - see the Which surveys (or modules) are included in the IHS? and What is the IHS? FAQ pages for further details. Background and history of the IHS The aim of the IHS was to produce high-level estimates for particular themes to a higher precision and lower geographic level than current ONS social surveys. The 'core' set contained around 100 questions, but a respondent was only asked a proportion of those depending on routing from answers to questions. The core questions were asked, where possible, at the beginning of the component surveys. In January 2008, a set of core questions was introduced within three ONS surveys in the General Lifestyle Survey, Living Costs and Food Survey, and the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. In April 2008 the IHS core questions were also introduced on the English Housing Survey, bringing the family of modules on the IHS up to four. The IHS dataset for 2008-2009 was used as a pilot for the concept, developing the systems and designing the weighting methodology. The IHS data for that period have not been published as they do not provide better quality information than that within existing surveys. Hence, the earliest IHS data currently available cover 2009-2010. In April 2009 the IHS core questions were introduced on the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS) questionnaires and from June 2009 the Life Opportunities Survey (LOS, which also ran from 2009-2014) was included in the IHS family of modules....