Politics & Social Attitudes

The longitudinal nature of Understanding Society makes it an invaluable resource for researchers and policy makers who want to consider these changing attitudes – we can see how political and social attitudes evolve over time.

What data do Understanding Society collect?

Understanding Society is a longitudinal study and follows the same people over time. We collect information on a wide range of political and social attitudes and behaviours that allow researchers to explore any change in attitudes. This includes voter turnout and vote choice in elections and referendums (including the Brexit Referendum and Scottish Independence Referendum), party support, interest in politics, feelings of political efficacy, political trust, perceptions of voting as a civic duty, democratic satisfaction, social trust, social capital, volunteering, charitable giving, associational membership, neighbourhood attachment/interaction.

The Study also includes information on background characteristics such as ethnicity, which means that social and political attitudes can be explored in different ethnic groups.

What can you do with these data

study the link between family background, educational experiences and political attitudes, and voter behaviour
study the relationships between social class, social capital, community activity and social institutions, such as religion or the family
study the effects of various educational experiences, settings and qualifications on adult social and political activity, such as participation in politics, employment, health, income and community activity

You can find out how Understanding Society politics and social attitudes data has already been used by looking in our publications library. This search shows all the results for politics and social attitudes publications.

Data from specific elections

2019 General and European elections data

In 2019 modules on turnout and voter choice were added following the European and the general elections. Items in the normal questionnaire rotation, and specifically included in the wake of the European Parliament elections, cover other aspects of political attitudes and behaviour. The questionnaires can be found here. You can find data relating to the 2019 elections in the 2020 Calendar Year Dataset, which has data from the second half of Wave 11 and the first half of Wave 12.

EU referendum data

Questions relating to the Brexit referendum can be found in Wave 8 of Understanding Society.

In April 2017 Understanding Society provided early access to data from Wave 8 of the Study as part of a special project: Understanding Brexit – digging deeper: what divides Leavers and Remainers? Researchers in this project used these data to analyse pro- and anti- Brexit attitudes, look at the impact of Brexit on individual wellbeing and financial expectations.

Tips for analysts

To find out about the variables in the Study use the index terms to search for political and social attitudes variables including Politics: elections and political support and behaviour. 

The Variable search helps you find the variables you need for your research and shows which data file and questionnaire module it is in.

The questionnaire modules show the areas covered in each wave of the Study and allow you to see the actual questions asked in the survey.

Need help?

Visit our new user pathway to explore the data and online resources or contact the User Support forum if you have a question for the Study team.

Voting behaviour

Dr Nicole Martin talks about her research on ethnic minority voting in general elections.

Podcast: Does volunteering make young people more likely to vote?

Dr Stuart Fox from Brunel University talks about his research looking at whether volunteering makes young people more likely to vote in their first election. We then hear from Victoria Harkness, Head of Research and Evaluation at the National Citizen Service Trust, about the Trust’s experience of young people and their levels of civic participation.

The current political situation – challenges and prospects

Professor Paul Whiteley on voting behaviour and political changes.

Blog: Longing for belonging?

Will Tanner, Director of Onward, looks at whether ‘community’ now trumps ‘freedom’ in UK politics.

Our Impact

The Government Equalities Office used Understanding Society data for a report on the gender pay gap, which showed that women opt out of employment after childbirth, or move to part-time work or jobs with a lower status.

Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Homeless Monitor – an independent, longitudinal study of homelessness in the UK – uses our data, and has contributed to a change in homelessness legislation.

Find out more about the impact Understanding Society has on policy, and about how you can work with us to provide evidence for decision-makers.

Find out more Work with us