Understanding Society User Support

Hi Christa,
when you are unsure about which relationships are covered in a variable pointing to a significant other in the current household, the best way to compare these variables is by merging them onto the respective egoalt files. This will show that

hgspno covers legally married partners and cohabitants. 
      _ppno covers married/civil partners and cohabitants. 
      _sppno covers married/civil partners only.

Note that Understanding Society also provides _hgpart "Person number of husband/wife/civil partner" as collected in the household grid.

You should choose the variable that fits your analysis purposes. If the exact same pointer does not exist in both studies you can create your own. We provide examples of how to use the egoalt files in our Understanding Society/BHPS training course materials.

Hope this helps,
Gundi