Support #2309
openAre samples in indresp datasets nationally representative?
50%
Description
Hi Team,
Thanks for your help in advance! I have two questions about representativeness.
First,
I noticed that indall datasets contains more obs than indresp datasets. I understand the former include all househole members of respondents while the latter only include respondents themselves. I am wondering are all household members nationally representative to UK's population or respondents' representative to UK's population?
There are many variables only avaiable in indresp datasets. In my case, treatment and outcomes, like health, are only avaiable in indresp datasets. I concern that am I still use a representative sample with indresp? If not, what is the approach you suggest to address this limitation?
Second,
User's guide says the data is representative to UK's population. Is UK's population here technically mean people who live in UK now (including people who holds non-UK passports but stay in UK for more than like 6 months? So likely also have address here) or UK's permenant residents? Just would like to understand this definition to polish my study design.
Thank you so much!
Best,
Bing
Updated by Understanding Society User Support Team 4 days ago
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Hello Bing,
As you correctly mentioned, indall contains information for all individuals in the household, including children and non-respondents, whereas indresp contains data only for responding (those who answered questionnaires) adults (16+), including proxy interviews. Both datasets are representative of the UK population, provided that the appropriate survey weights are used: weights containing “psn” in their name for indall, and those containing “ind” for indresp.
Regarding the representativeness of the study, I recommend reviewing the information available at the following link: https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/topic-page/survey-methods/representativeness/
It is also useful to review the weights FAQ working paper (https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/working-papers/2024-01.pdf), particularly the first three points, which address representativeness issues.
I hope this information is helpful
Best wishes,
Roberto Cavazos
Understanding Society User Support Team