Understanding Society User Support

Hello Raffaele,

Each wave of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) is typically associated with a single reference year. However, in Understanding Society, the survey operates on a continuous fieldwork model, where each wave spans two calendar years due to the rolling sample design.

For example:
• Wave 1 of Understanding Society ran from January 2009 to March 2011, with most interviews conducted in 2009–2010, so it is broadly associated with 2009 as the starting year.
• Wave 8 was conducted from January 2016 to May 2018, and is primarily associated with 2016 as its reference start year.
Each wave covers a 24-sample month period, so instead of referring to a specific year (e.g., "Wave 8 refers to 2016"), it is reasonable to align the wave to two years, as shown in the following table

I hope this information is helpful.

Best wishes,
Roberto Cavazos
Understanding Society User Support Team