Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The ADDResponse study appended geocoded auxiliary data from a range of different sources to UK data from Round 6 of the European Social Survey (ESS, UK Data Archive SN 4732), a methodologically rigorous general population survey of public attitudes and opinion. The ADDResponse dataset was used to explore survey nonresponse – arguably one of the major challenges facing social research today. As non-respondents may be very different from respondents, nonresponse can introduce significant bias into the conclusions drawn from survey data and there is a pressing need, therefore, to understand more about the extent and sources of nonresponse bias. This requires having information about both respondents and non-respondents. In the absence of interview data being available for non-respondents, this information must be obtained from other, external, sources. The ADDResponse project explored the opportunities that exist for matching external data from three different sources of survey data: small-area administrative data; commercial marketing data and geocoded information from the Ordnance Survey. Each data source was evaluated in terms of: what information it can provide which may be matched to the survey records of respondents and non-respondents; the accuracy and completeness of this information; and the challenges that matching data presents in terms of the increased risk of individuals or households being identified from the combination of data held about them. ADDResponse focused on the usefulness of these data for nonresponse modelling and adjustment. However, the same data sources may also be useful for substantive analysis, exploring the effect of local context on attitudes and behaviour. Further information about the ADDResponse project and the ESS is provided in the ADDResponse and the European Social Survey websites.

Main Topics:

This study includes the following data files for ESS respondents only:individual level ESS data on public attitudes and behaviour focusing on the topics of personal and social wellbeing and understanding and evaluations of democracyESS Contact Form data on the number, date, time and outcome of contact attempts made to obtain productive interviewsESS interviewer questionnaire datageographic identifiers and small-area administrative data on a range of topics including: Census 2011 socio-demographics, crime rates, Indices of Deprivation, electricity consumption, school absences, benefit claimants, wellbeing, and voting in local elections

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Volunteer sample

No sampling (total universe)ESS survey data were collected via a multi-stage stratified random sample; ONS wellbeing data were collected via the face to face Annual Population Survey, a multi-stage stratified random sample; data from the BBC Big Personality Test were collected via an opt-in internet survey; appended small-area data include population statistics.

Face-to-face interview

Compilation or synthesis of existing data