Integrated Household Survey (IHS)
Introduction to the IHS
The Integrated Household Survey (IHS) is a composite survey combining questions asked in a number of Office for National Statistics (ONS) social surveys to produce a dataset of Core variables.
The aim of the IHS is to produce high-level estimates for particular themes to a higher precision and lower geographic level than current ONS Social Surveys provide. The more robust local information will improve intercensal monitoring of important variables for a range of policy purposes.
The IHS is also known as the Continuous Population Survey (CPS).
Design of the IHS
The IHS is comprised of two sections: a suite of Core IHS questions with Individual Survey modules ‘bolted’ onto the core.
Current modules of the IHS are:
General Lifestyle Survey (GLF)
Living Cost and Food Survey (LCF)
Opinions (OPN)
English Housing Survey (EHS)
Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Annual Population Survey (APS)
Life Opportunities Survey (LOS)
Asking the core questions on all the module surveys allows the IHS Core to have the largest sample size of any other single ONS Social Survey. This will enable higher quality estimates to be produced on IHS topics, at a lower geographical level, for example to local health authority level and below. Being the largest survey conducted by ONS it will be able to provide large amounts of data in between census years.
See related links for presentation of the structure of the IHS (PowerPoint file)
Content of IHS Core
The Core on the IHS currently contains around 100 questions. A respondent is asked a proportion of this number dependent on their responses to other questions.
The Core questions have been developed to provide high-level estimates for a number of themes:
Economic Activity
Education
Health & Disability
Identity
Income
The IHS questions provide data for high-level analysis. More detailed analysis of any particular theme should be undertaken using other surveys which probe for more detail.
See related links for the IHS Core questions (Word Doc)
IHS Outputs
It is intended that the main IHS output will be a series of annual rolling quarterly datasets with a short report detailing key points of interest. The planned first release will be for the survey period of April 2009–March 2010, due for publication in September 2010.
The datasets will be available for use by the Government Statistical Service (GSS), researchers and the public six months after fieldwork (when the questionnaire was undertaken). The content of this data release will be determined by wide stakeholder consultation, with extensive quality assurance within ONS. Each dataset will be released with response rates and sampling errors.
See related link for the IHS Output Strategy paper (Pdf)
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IHS Core Questions (Doc)