DOI: 10.5255/ukda-sn-6653-4
title: Life Opportunities Survey: Waves 1-3, 2009-2014
title: Life Opportunities Survey, 2009-2014
title: LOS

description: The &lt;i&gt;Life Opportunities Survey&lt;/i&gt; (LOS) was a large scale longitudinal survey of disability in Great Britain, which ran from 2009-2014. It was the first major ONS social survey to explore disability in terms of the social barriers to participation that people experience. The survey compared the experiences of disabled people with those of non-disabled people. Prior to the LOS, various surveys of disability had been carried out. The LOS aimed to meet the following long term information needs on experiences of disabled people living in Great Britain:&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;dynamics of disability over time, including the factors associated with transitions and onsets of impairment&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;social participation by disabled people &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;up-to-date prevalence rates of impairments&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;The LOS was set up to track the experiences of disabled people over time to assess transitions through key life stages, such as moving from childhood to adulthood or in and out of work. The longitudinal design enabled three distinct groups to be followed over time:&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;a disabled group&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;a comparison group of non-disabled people&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;a larger non-disabled group, monitored for the onset of impairment over time&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;Respondents were interviewed every 12 months, whether they were resident in the original household or had since moved. Following the baseline survey only the first two groups were interviewed face-to-face. The third group were monitored over time via a shorter telephone interview to check for the onset of an impairment. If any member of the household had experienced the onset of impairment, they were invited to take part in a face to face interview. Further information about the LOS series is available from the ONS &lt;a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/disability/qmis/lifeopportunitiessurveyqmi" title ="Life Opportunities Survey"&gt;Life Opportunities Survey&lt;/a&gt; webpage.&lt;br&gt;
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&lt;b&gt;End User Licence and Special Licence LOS data:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Users should note that there are two versions of each LOS study. One is available under the standard End User Licence (EUL) agreement, and the other is a Special Licence (SL) version. The SL version contains geographic variables (Country, Government Office Region and Local Authority), deciles, age bands, a rural/urban indicator, and more information on household relationships, country of previous residence, medical conditions and occupations.&lt;br&gt;
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The EUL version contains less detailed variables. For example, there is no spatial unit and age is top-coded at 80. Users are advised to first obtain the standard EUL version of the data to see if they are sufficient for their research requirements.&lt;br&gt;
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The SL data have more restrictive access conditions than those made available under the standard EUL. Prospective users of the SL version will need to complete an extra application form and demonstrate to the data owners exactly why they need access to the additional variables in order to get permission to use that version. Therefore, users are strongly advised to order the standard version of the data. In order to help users choose the correct dataset, 'Special Licence Access' has been added to the dataset titles for the SL versions of the data.&lt;br&gt;
 The Special Licence version of the &lt;i&gt;Life Opportunities Survey&lt;/i&gt; is held under SN 6654.&lt;br&gt;
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For the fifth edition (March 2016), data and documentation from Wave 3 (the final wave) of the survey were added to the study.&lt;br&gt;
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