Page 61 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 4

STS563 Pete Jones
Figure 1: Concepts underpinning the ONS Integrated Survey Framework (ISF)

The use of administrative data is an important feature of the proposed
framework in two ways. Firstly, the increasing availability of alternative data
sources collected by government has the potential to replace survey questions
and reduce additional burden on respondents. Secondly, information from
administrative records can be used to enhance the address frame used for
social survey sampling. ONS are still in the process of assessing the quality of
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the Ordnance Survey AddressBase product , however the integration of
household and person characteristics from administrative data will enable
more flexibility in the future design of social surveys.
Central to the ISF is the concept of redesigning and upscaling the wave 1
questionnaire that is used in the current LFS model. To maximise response, the
wide set of topics currently included in wave 1 of the LFS has been reduced to
cover only core labour market content. This redesigned survey, which is mid-
way through a five-year testing plan is known as the ONS Labour Market
Survey (LMS). Using a mixed-mode approach, selected households will be
invited to take part in an online survey for the first two weeks of collection,
before using face to face and telephone interview follow up. The overall
sample size for the LMS wave 1 – referred to as the ‘master wave’, will be
increased on the basis that ONS will be collecting this data to support wider
collection requirements under the ISF.
The responding households in wave 1 that indicate willingness to take part
in further surveys will be used as a sampling frame for other social surveys.
These sub-modules will include longitudinal collection of labour market data
following wave 1 and also capture any residual social survey requirements.
Survey modules will be streamlined accordingly to reduce respondent burden
and make use of administrative data where possible.
Another major aim of the ISF is to incorporate requirements for new survey
collections to support Population, Migration and Social Statistics

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