Understanding Society User Support

Dear Dora,
we do indeed have plenty of other information about neighbourhoods! We also collect information about neighbourhood cohesion in the self-completion questionnaires in wave 1 and 2, and about the use of local facilities (in wave 2 and 4) and we have linked a number of neighbourhood classifications: the ACORN typology and Output Area classifications. The paper "Exploring the Value of Understanding Society for Neighbourhood Effects Analyses" (see http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/24523666-01000006) describes and compares these in detail. Moreover, the geographical accessibility data file includes more than 600 longitudinally harmonised LSOA 2001 characteristics from the DfT's Accessibility Statistics(for waves 1-3 only).

Additionally, we provide numerous look-up files which contain the official geographical identifiers used in official statistics alongside each enumerated household's wave-specific _hidp. This gives analysts the greatest possible flexibility over which local context variables they want to merge with the survey data.

The complete list of which linked data/ geographical identifiers are available is on our data linkage page:
https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/documentation/using-linked-data

Regarding Indices of Multiple Deprivation, the ONS provides these for a number of different years and at the LSOA 2001 or LSOA 2010 levels. You need to decide which one you want to use and apply for the appropriate data file (clicking on the respective links on our data linkage site will take you directly to the shopping basket for the data file and the UKDS will assist you with the application). If you want to use both geographies you need to apply for Secure Data Access as using information from different census geographies means the data are too sensitive for special licence use.

Our online training courses also include a worked example about how to link your own local data at the LSOA level.

Best wishes,
Gundi