The United Kingdom has a wide range of Government surveys that provide sources of social and economic information.
These surveys were designed at different times, to meet different needs, and have been commissioned by a range of departments.
Consequently, the surveys were developed mostly in isolation from each other.
A cross-governmental programme of work is looking into standardising inputs and outputs for use in National Statistics. This is known as harmonisation.
For several years, ONS has led this programme of work.
The aim is to make it easier for users to draw clearer and more robust comparisons between data sources.
Background information that can be downloaded from this page includes:
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Introduction to Harmonised Standards (63.4 Kb Pdf)
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Harmonisation Explained (210 Kb Powerpoint presentation)
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Index to Standards and Documents (39 Kb Pdf)
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A-Z of Harmonised Standards (642.8 Kb Pdf)
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Guide to Harmonisation
Harmonisation - How we're making comparisons easier
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Primary set of harmonised concepts and questions
Primary standards include demography, households, relationships and ethnic group
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Secondary set of harmonised concepts and questions
Secondary standards include benefits and income
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Economic and business harmonisation
Developing harmonised concepts and questions for economic and business use
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UK Data Service variable and question bank
Information about and link to the UK Data Service Variable and question bank
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Harmonisation Newsletters
A quarterly newsletter covering harmonisation matters
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Harmonisation Bulletins
Updates to harmonisation reports, questions and concepts
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Harmonisation contact details
