The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) Data & Documentation 2008 Jibby Medina NatCen
Content ELSA data sets – in archive Questionnaires Variable listings Field documents User Guides Life History ELSA data sets – not archived Administrative Data
Data available
ELSA data in archive (1) Index file for linking (including mortality data) All eligible ELSA respondents & all HH members (HSE) Serial No, outcomes & basic data Wave 0 HSE waves 1998, 1999 & 2001 Common variables across 1998, 1999 & 2001
ELSA data in archive (2) Waves 1 – 3 Core variables and financial derived variables Training dataset Wave 2 nurse data FileWave 0Wave 1Wave 2Wave 3Wave 4 Core Data TBA Nurse Data N/A N/A TBA Index File Updates TBA Life History DataN/A TBA N/A Ryff Self Completion DataN/A N/A Telephone Interview (with non -responders) Data N/A TBA End of Life Interview DataN/A TBA Financial Derived VariablesN/A TBA Pension Wealth Derived Variables N/A N/A Pension GridN/A TBA Mortgage DataN/A N/A Mortgage GridN/A TBA Technical ReportN/A 5 TBA
ELSA documentation (1) Questionnaire : Complete questionnaires – W1, W2 & W3 Future developments: Flowcharts of questionnaire Interactive documentation – also HRS and SHARE
ELSA documentation (2) - Variable listing
ELSA documentation (3) Field documents: Main & nurse survey documents Coding & editing instructions User guides for datasets
ELSA documentation (4) – User guides for data sets Sample Design and Fieldwork - Original & Refreshment Dataset Information: Serial NumberingMulti-Coded and Dichotomous Variables Interview OutcomeSurvey Module Identifiers Age & GenderDropped Variables (disclosive) Missing ValuesProxy or Institution respondents Weighting - Longitudinal weight & Cross-sectional weight Additional - Additional Variables & Files Deposited at UK Data Archive Notes About Particular Variables Variables With a Different Name or Label (at this wave)
Life History Interview
Life History Interview Follow up interview at Wave 3 We know little about ELSA respondents before their HSE interview (i.e. before 1998) Asks about childhood and important life events Aim to enhance our understanding of how early life and events throughout life impact upon circumstances of older people Calendar technique to enhance recall
Topics covered Children & fertility Partners Where lived Work history Health Relationship with parents as a child Other important life events
Data not archived
Other data available (not archived) Wave 2 genetics data Geography (Waves 0, 1, 2 & 3) Government office region Local authority Population density Urban/rural indicator Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Other non-archived variables (e.g. Cause of death)
Administrative data DWP & HMRC administrative data National insurance contributions Benefit records Tax credit records Added at Wave 3: tax records, savings and pensions Request access from NatCen data manager
Administrative data Additional health data Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) Cancer register To be matched soon Approx 80% of respondents consented to HES and DWP/HMRC data linkage
ELSA Reports
Where to get more info ELSA website Data and associated documentation ELSA data manager (Susan Nunn) ELSA lead researcher (Kate Cox)
The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) Thank you