Data Access

The Understanding Society Innovation Panel data are released through the UK Data Service and are available in SPSS and Stata formats.

The access principles and guidance outlined in this section are derived from the Understanding Society Data Access Strategy.

Along with the data files, the zipped folder will contain this Innovation Panel User Guide at the time of release and the questionnaires. However we recommend using the Understanding Society Innovation Panel web pages as the documentation will develop over time, with the latest versions updated to these pages.

Researchers who would like to use the Innovation Panel need to register with the UK Data Service before being allowed to download the dataset. Researchers should also read the UK Data Service Research Data Handling and Security: Guide for Users before downloading the data. Under the terms and conditions of access this is required reading for users who obtain Special Licence data or Secure Access data, where disclosure risk is increased.

In addition to the main Understanding Society data, we have produced data files with information to link the Innovation Panel survey data with geographic units including Local Authority Districts, Area Classification for Output Areas, Travel to Work Areas, Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies, Local Education Authorities, and Primary Care Trusts.