The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, formerly known as ONS Opinions Survey or Omnibus, is a regular, multi-purpose survey which was carried out in eight months of the year until April 2005. From this point it has run monthly. It started operating commercially in 1990 and was set up originally to meet the needs of government departments for a survey that used short and simple sets of questions, had greater statistical reliability than private sector omnibus surveys and a properly designed random sample. Now, however, an increasing number of academics are finding it a valuable research tool.
The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey is used for a number of purposes, for example:
- to provide quick answers to questions of immediate interest
- to provide information on topics that do not require a full survey
- to develop and pilot questions for other surveys
- to sift for subgroups that can be followed up in another survey
History
From January 2008 the ONS Omnibus Survey changed its name to the ONS Opinions Survey (OPN) and became part of the Integrated Household Survey (IHS). As a result, certain classificatory variables were altered to harmonise with the rest of the surveys that form the IHS. For further information, see detailed breakdown of the changes contained within the documentation for 2008 studies onwards.
Subsequently, in January 2010, the OPN component was dropped from the IHS due to only one individual per household being interviewed, while the IHS requires questions to be asked of all household members. This process significantly increased the length of the OPN interview and, therefore, OPN reverted back to interviewing one household member, but still contains questions harmonised to the IHS.
From April 2012 the ONS Opinions Survey changed its name to the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey following the merger of the non-EU-SILC questions from the General Lifestyle Survey.
Special Licence Access Opinions and Lifestyle Survey data
With effect from 2008, the decision was made by ONS to make all new and existing Disability Monitoring data (Module 363) and Contraception data (Module 170) issuable only to Approved Researchers under Special Licence access conditions due to the disclosive nature of the modules. See the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey Special Licence Access datasets page.
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The non-core questions for this month were:
Tobacco consumption (Module 210): this module was asked on behalf of HM Revenue and Customs to help estimate the amount of tobacco consumed as cigarettes. Due to the potentially sensitive nature of the data within this module, cases for respondents aged under 18 have been removed.
Disability (Module MCAb): this module was asked by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on behalf of the Centre for Health Analysis and Life Events, which is interested in the impact of disabilities on participation in day-to-day activities. These questions test responses to questions presented differently and are a shorter version of the original Module MCA.
Disability (Module MCAc): this module was asked by ONS on behalf of the Centre for Health Analysis and Life Events, which is interested in the impact of disabilities on participation in day-to-day activities. As with MCAb, these questions test responses to questions presented differently.
Later life (Module MCE): this module was asked by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on behalf of a number of other government departments which are interested in what people think of the support available to help older people to continue to live independently in later life.
Later life (Module MCEd): this module was asked by DWP on behalf of a number of other government departments which want to know about older people's access to transport and access to information on local services.
Health and safety (Module MCQ): this module was asked on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive and questions cover aspects of health and safety in the main workplace, health and safety information received and provision of occupational health support.
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