Design issues in the British Household Panel Study

The British Household Panel Study is the largest single project ever funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council. Housed in the ESRC's Centre on Micro-social Change in Britain at the University of Essex, the BHPS will comprise an initial 5000 households and 10000 individuals. This paper introduces the Study through an overview of its coverage and some key aspects of its design. A short discussion of some of the analytic advantages of panel data is complemented by three examples of substantive research issues where panel data can assist in our understanding of micro-social change. The BHPS is discussed as an instance of a dynamic approach to social change and its overall rationale is briefly examined. The Study's six substantive research areas - household organisation and dynamics; labour market behaviour and activity; income and wealth dynamics; housing; health; and socio-economic values - are described. The remainder of the paper is concerned with three key design issues for panel studies and explains how these have been tackled on the BHPS. The issues are (1) changing populations; (2) non-sampling errors (and especially non-response and panel conditioning); and (3) sample design. The paper is accompanied by a substantial bibliography on panel design and methodology.