Household Surveys for UK Government: 

Building on Survey Integration 

Roeland Beerten 

Household Survey Design Branch, UK Office for National Statistics 

1 Drummond Gate, London SW1V 2QQ, United Kingdom. Email: roeland.beerten@ons.gsi.gov.uk 

Introduction 

In the past decade or so the UK has witnessed an increased need for survey information to support 

policy information needs in government. Sometimes these needs can be met through minor 

modifications to the design of existing surveys, or new surveys can be set up in order to collect the 

necessary information. However, both approaches are generally expensive and sometimes 

inefficient. In trying to minimise these inefficiencies the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) 

has adopted a more pro-active approach to conducting household surveys in which flexibility and 

integration are key principles. 

This paper discusses how the household survey strategy in the UK Office for National Statistics 

has taken on board a number of new survey requirements based on the principle of integration 

rather than designing new surveys in isolation. It starts with some background information about 

ONS and its place in the UK Government Statistical System (GSS). It then goes on to describe a 

strategy for household surveys which is underpinned by principles of survey integration in order to 

realise statistical and efficiency benefits. The key vehicle to implement this strategy is the 

Integrated Household Survey, which realises the integration principle by offering a flexible, 

modular survey system. The final part of the paper describes how the principle of integration can 

be applied to new survey requirements, and discusses the benefits of this approach for survey 

customers. 

The Office for National Statistics and its Role in the UK statistical system 

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) works in partnership with others in the Government 

Statistical Service (GSS) to provide Parliament, government and the wider community with the 

statistical information, analysis and advice needed to improve decision making, stimulate research 

and inform debate; and to register key life events. ONS has about 4000 staff operating in London, 

Newport (Wales), Southport and Titchfield (Hampshire), providing the nation with a wide range 

of statistical information, including our national accounts, measures of inflation, business 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

statistics, labour market indicators, vital statistics on births, marriages and deaths and population 

estimates and projections. ONS provides analyses of social and economic trends, examines 

regional trends and profiles, and helps to monitor the health of the nation. It seeks to get statistics 

used for the benefit of all in our society. Through the registration of births, marriages and deaths 

the work of ONS touches directly on each and every citizen. In fulfilling this and all its functions a 

key objective for ONS is to provide a high quality service to its customers. 

ONS also sits at the core of the Government Statistical Service (GSS). The GSS is a 

decentralised organisation which is spread across most Government Departments. The Head of the 

GSS is the National Statistician who is also the Director of ONS. The GSS comprises about 7,000 

civil servants who work in ONS, in 30 or more other UK Government Departments, or in the two 

devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales. The primary function of these staff is to collect, 

analyse and disseminate statistics. Staff in the GSS operate within an ONS-administered 

personnel framework which sets standards for recruitment, qualifications, competence and 

training. GSS staff come under the managerial authority of a designated Head of Profession for 

Statistics (HoP). The National Statistician is the Head of Profession in the Office for National 

Statistics but, in practice, delegates some of her HoP responsibilities to the Heads of the four ONS 

Statistical Directorates. From April 2008 ONS will come under new governance arrangements 

with the introduction of a new independent Statistics Board which will oversee the production of 

statistics under a revised Code of Practice. 

Household Surveys in ONS: History and Context 

ONS plays a central role in collecting data for its own statistical outputs, and for those of other 

departments in the GSS. A majority of staff in ONS is involved in the design and collection of a 

wide range of data sources either for economic or social statistics. This paper focuses on the 

household survey operations, sometimes also referred to as ‘Social Survey’. 

ONS and its various predecessors have been carrying out household surveys for over 60 years to 

provide the sources for social statistics produced by ONS and the GSS. Throughout its existence 

various survey developments took place in line with the expansion of government-funded survey 

taking internationally. However, during the 1990s the Social Survey area in ONS underwent 

greater change than at any time in its history (ONS, 1992). There was an extraordinary growth in 

the number of surveys launched, and several large surveys were instigated in this period. Other 

important developments were the use of information technology in interviewing (CAPI, CATI) 

and the move to the competitive tendering of surveys. 

The 1990s were a time of change across UK government, with considerable emphasis on the better 

management and targeting of resources. This affected Social Survey in two ways. On one hand, 

the drive for greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness changed the way government surveys were 

commissioned. By 1994 it was usual for government household survey work to be put out to 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

competitive tender. This meant Social Survey competed for surveys along with other survey 

organisations in the private and voluntary sectors. 

On the other hand, new demands for high quality information led to a substantial increase in the 

need for surveys. While information from administrative records could be used in some cases, in 

others surveys were needed to provide baseline data for devising policy targets and monitoring 

progress against them. There was a need for both ad hoc surveys (on a one-off basis, but 

sometimes repeated after a few years) and continuous surveys (where the fieldwork is on-going 

and new samples are drawn each year). If UK survey research in the 1980s was characterised by 

repeat or serial ad hoc surveys, in the 1990s it was marked by the creation or expansion of large 

continuous surveys which focused on departmental policies. Departments wanted their own 

continuous surveys, with the flexibility to adjust the content from year to year depending on the 

policies and targets of most interest. 

These rapid and radical changes prompted the need for a re-think of how ONS managed its survey 

portfolio, and eventually for a comprehensive strategy for how households surveys in ONS were 

carried out. 

The basis for the new vision was laid in the early 1990s with the introduction of survey 

harmonisation principles (Manners, 1996). Although the large continuous ONS surveys collected 

information on different topics, all surveys included questions on basic socio-demographic 

characteristics of respondents and their households. Because these surveys were designed at 

different times to meet different needs they included slightly different questions and response 

categories to collect information on the same basic variables. This made it difficult to establish 

coherence across estimates from different surveys and for data to be pooled to give large sample 

sizes and more robust estimates. This led to a GSS-wide initiative to produce common survey 

variables and the implementation of harmonised survey inputs: questions and associated methods 

such as edit checks. Throughout the 1990s these harmonised survey inputs were developed for a 

range of basic socio-demographic variables and were implemented on the major ONS surveys and, 

where feasible, on other surveys carried out on behalf of other government departments in the 

GSS. 

Apart from the lack of coherence in the various data collection instruments for these surveys there 

were also different sample designs and fieldwork practices, often developed in isolation because 

the survey design had to meet different requirements. For example, the Labour Force Survey 

(LFS) operated on an unclustered sample design, whereas the other continuous surveys were based 

on clustered samples. There were also separate field forces for the LFS and the other surveys, 

each with their own management and working practices. 

At the same time there were a number of other drivers which have contributed to the development 

of a new strategic framework for ONS household surveys (Dunnell, 2005) . As already mentioned 

the drive for cost efficiencies across the public sector means there is an increasing need for 

efficiencies in data collection and processing. There is also increasing recognition of the need for 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ONS to produce better information on key social and economic variables between decennial 

censuses, for a range of policy purposes, and to meet the increasing demand for regional and subregional information. Demand for small area statistics has grown rapidly in the last decade. 

Increasingly it was recognised that these various new developments could not be accommodated 

within the existing survey arrangements. Individually, surveys had reached their limit in terms of 

length and burden and data were not easily pooled across surveys as their designs were different. 

In addition, the existence and maintenance of separate fieldforces, instruments, and processes 

represented a duplication of effort and sub-optimal use of limited resources. 

A Household Survey Framework for the 21st Century 

To meet these new demands a project was set up to develop a single, flexible modular system for 

household surveys. The basic principle was to build one survey system that could accommodate 

the existing ONS continuous household surveys, and that would provide the flexibility to take on 

board new survey requirements. This single survey framework was named the Continuous 

Population Survey (CPS), but it is now known as the Integrated Household Survey (IHS). After a 

number of years of development work and testing it was clear the proposed approach would 

deliver significant benefits and the project is currently on track to deliver the changes needed to 

establish the new framework during 2008. 

The Integrated Household Survey will bring together the ONS continuous household surveys into 

a single module-based survey (see Appendix A for an illustrative diagram) . The surveys initially 

included are the General Household Survey, the Labour Force Survey, the Expenditure and Food 

Survey and the Omnibus Survey. 

• The General Household Survey (GHS), the first multi-purpose household survey, started 

in 1971 and covers a wide range of social and socio-economic topics. The main aim of 

the survey is to collect data on core topics including housing, employment, education, 

health and family information. In 2005 the GHS sample was changed from a crosssectional to a longitudinal design in order to meet Eurostat requirements. 

• The Expenditure and Food Survey (EFS) started in 2001 bringing together two surveys, 

the Family Expenditure Survey (FES) and National Food Survey (NFS), that were both 

well established and important sources of information, charting changes and patterns in 

Britain's spending and food consumption since the 1950s. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• A Labour Force Survey (LFS) has been carried out in the UK since 1973 and in its 

present form since Spring 1992, providing a wide range of data on labour-market 

statistics and related topics such as training, qualifications, income and disability. In 

recent years the quarterly LFS has been supplemented by a series of annual boost samples 

in England, Wales and Scotland. 

• The National Statistics Omnibus Survey (OMN) is a regular, multi-purpose survey that 

started up in 1990 in order to provide quick answers to questions of immediate interest 

and information on topics that do not require a full, in-depth survey. 

The IHS will adopt an unclustered design for all its components, which means the current 

clustered surveys will come in line with the sample and field work design for the current Labour 

Force Survey which already uses an unclustered design. At the same time some LFS fieldwork 

practices will come in line with the other surveys. 

Under the IHS, each interviewer will be responsible for delivering all the required interviews in a 

small geographical area close to where they live, thus reducing travel time and cost and increasing 

productive contact and interviewing time to help maximise response. 

The IHS questionnaire will be designed as a single modular survey instrument comprising: 

• a core module administered to the whole sample providing information on key variables 

for all IHS households and persons; 

• topic modules administered to parts of the sample providing information on variables for 

which sufficient precision to meet policy needs can be obtained from a portion of the IHS 

sample; 

From these two components a small number of viable interview combinations can be formed so 

that the core can be matched with specific topic modules. 

The IHS sample will be asked the same set of ‘core questions’, which build on the development of 

the harmonised survey inputs described earlier. The core sample is based on the size of the four 

existing surveys and is in the region of 250 thousand households and more than 500 thousand 

adults per annum, making it the largest ever continuous survey to be conducted in the UK. 

The very large sample of core data will provide better quality and more reliable estimates on key 

social and economic variables between decennial censuses. It will also help to meet the increasing 

demand for regional and sub-regional information that cannot currently be met by the existing 

surveys. A range of new outputs will become available. For example, banded household income 

will be collected on the core module and together with information on topics such as housing, 

health, employment and education will provide regular information down to local authority district 

level. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On current plans the IHS will be implemented in stages during 2008, starting with the introduction 

of the common core module of questions on all four survey questionnaires. Later in the year the 

new unclustered sample design will be introduced across the four existing surveys. The 

implementation of the new sample design will be supported by the introduction of a new Survey 

Case Management System that can handle the fieldwork management for a large unclustered 

sample across the country. 

Building on Survey Integration: Realising the Benefits 

Although the current project is working towards the implementation of the existing ONS 

continuous household surveys the aim of the project is to build a framework that offers a high 

degree of flexibility so that new surveys can become part of the modular survey system. 

An essential element of the IHS development is to ‘future-proof’ the survey framework. The 

sample structure is designed so that wholesale changes will not be required, even if sample size 

requirements alter substantially. The modular structure of the survey instrument will readily 

accommodate new topics, while a range of survey types and features can be incorporated within 

the IHS survey system. For example: 

• interview combinations with cross-sectional, quarterly or annual panel designs; 

• diary components and other self-completion elements; 

• telephone or personal interviewing; 

• interviews with all household members or with individuals sub-sampled within a 

household, or combinations of both. 

Hence, the data collection method chosen for each topic module or interview combination can be 

based on statistical requirements rather than the constraints of a particular survey vehicle. 

The significant power of the IHS design is increasingly recognised across the GSS. In the last 

year ONS has successfully proposed to integrate two new surveys in the IHS: the English 

Housing Survey (from 2008) and the Longitudinal Disability Survey of Great Britain (from 2009). 

Both surveys have different requirements in terms of their sample and data collection designs. 

The English Housing Survey is a survey on the housing situation and conditions of households in 

England. It will have an annual sample size of approximately 17,000 households, 8000 of which 

will be followed up by a second survey which will assess the physical condition of the 

household’s accommodation. The survey is a merger of two existing surveys, both of which are 

widely used in government to support information needs in relation to housing policy. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Longitudinal Disability Survey of Great Britain will consist of a baseline survey of 

approximately 50,000 individuals which will assess their disability status. This baseline survey 

will then be followed by a number of data collection waves for the group of respondents identified 

as disabled and for a subsample of the non-disabled population. The survey aims to chart the 

respondents’ experiences of disability over time, collecting information to explore relationships 

between disability and a range of areas including work, education, income, transport, independent 

living, social participation and attitudes. Information from the survey will be used to inform work 

across and beyond Government. 

Although these two designs are very different, the flexibility of the IHS framework means we can 

adapt the survey designs so they optimally use the benefits associated with the IHS. Both surveys 

will benefit from using an unclustered sample design, and the associated field work management 

infrastructure. They will also take on board the IHS core questionnaire, followed by their specific 

topic module. 

On the whole, the benefits from using the IHS framework are either statistical, in cost efficiency, 

or in both. 

Statistical benefits In terms of statistical benefits, we have already described the advantages of 

the IHS core questionnaire in terms of delivering increased coherence across the different survey 

sources. Given the high profile of the IHS and its ability to provide inter-censal estimates of the 

UK population it is recognised its outputs will provide key national and regional estimates on UK 

households and individuals. When new surveys come on board in the IHS they will benefit from a 

greater coherence with these IHS population-level estimates because they will have collected the 

information through the same core questionnaire. 

A second, related statistical benefit is the ability to use two-stage weighting techniques, in which 

the estimates from the specific topic modules can be weighted to key estimates based on the full 

IHS core. This will further increase the precision of certain key estimates. 

A third statistical benefit is that the IHS core will be aligned (as far as possible) with the next 2011 

Census. This has a number of advantages, one of which is the ability to provide a powerful data 

source for estimation purposes at small area levels. ONS has carried out work on the development 

of synthetic estimation at small area levels for various survey estimates after the 2001 Census and 

this approach has obvious benefits for the production of small area level statistics. Using the 

Census in this way would provide survey sponsors with detailed data at small area levels which 

could be used for policy planning purposes. 

Efficiency savings A second series of benefits stem from a number of efficiency savings in 

survey costs. The new survey framework will deliver savings from integrating the existing two 

field forces and reorganisation of data collection functions, facilitated by a new Survey Case 

Management System and communications improvements. Furthermore, because of the larger 
 

 

 

 

 

 

sample size the IHS will deliver economies of scale in survey management overheads, data 

processing and quality assurance, all of which means that we should be able to provide high 

quality surveys at a lower cost. 

The cost / precision balance Finally, the IHS unclustered sample design (which is unique in the 

UK) offers clear benefits in terms of the balance between statistical precisions and cost. Because 

of the unclustered sample new surveys can potentially reduce their sample size (which will reduce 

costs) to achieve the same level of precision. Or, if survey sponsors choose to, the IHS design can 

achieve greater precision of some estimates at the same cost. Essentially the IHS framework gives 

us the opportunity to sample respondents at an optimal level, to produce estimates to the required 

level of precision within a given cost. The ability to offer this flexibility on the cost/quality 

dimension of a survey design is a powerful and unique feature of the IHS. 

References 

Dunnell, K. (2005) “Towards a single continuous population survey for the UK”. Keynote paper 

presented at the 2005 Conference of the Association of Survey Computing. London: ASC. 

Manners, T. (1996) ‘Harmonised Questions for Government Social Surveys’. in: Social Survey 

Methodology Bulletin, 38. London: Office for National Statistics. 

ONS (2001) 60 Years of Social Survey 1941 – 2001. London: Office for National Statistics. 
Appendix A: IHS illustrative diagram of modular structure 

Fixed 

core 

Rotating 

core 

Work 

(LFS) 

Lifestyle 

(GHS) 

Housing 

(EHS) 

Crosstopic 

question 

set 

Interview length 

S 

a 

m 

p 

l 

e 

S 

i 

z 

e 

Interview 

combination 

A 

Interview 

combination 

B 

Interview 

combination 

C