Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Insights – the Understanding Society podcast
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gene research with Understanding Society | 28 Sep 2026 | 00:15:05 | |
In the first of our new season of podcasts, we’re looking at research using Understanding Society’s biological data which examined how some genes work differently in different people. Our guests are Leo Schalkwyk, an emeritus professor in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Essex, and Radu Zabet, a Reader in AI and Cancer Epigenetics at Queen Mary University of London. They’re discussing a paper they wrote with Olivia Grant and Meena Kumari: Systematic investigation of interindividual variation of DNA methylation in human whole blood. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Food banks and mental health | 13 Jul 2026 | 00:27:57 | |
In our last episode before the summer break, we’re looking at the effect food banks have on the mental health of the people who use them. Our guests are Muhammad Waqas, an Assistant Professor in Economics at the University of Bradford, and Helen Barnard, Director of Policy, Research and Impact at Trussell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Health warnings and lifestyles | 22 Jun 2026 | 00:21:32 | |
In this episode, we’re looking at how we change our lifestyles – or not – when we face a health issue such as diabetes or a heart problem. Our guests are Zoey Verdun, a researcher at Imperial College London, and Claire Levy from the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Our digital lives and our wellbeing | 26 Nov 2025 | 00:32:36 | |
This episode looks at our increasingly digital lives and how they affect our wellbeing. Our guests this time are Dr. Daniel Wheatley, Reader in the Department of Management at the University of Birmingham, and Abigail Coxon, principal Economist at the Youth Futures Foundation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Breathing unequal air in the UK | 15 Oct 2025 | 00:24:04 | |
In this episode, host Chris Coates looks at air pollution and in particular how common is it for immigrant populations to live in more polluted areas. His guests are Tobias Rüttenauer, Assistant Professor in Quantitative Social Sciences UCL and L’myah Sherae, Director of Enact Equality, a non-profit organisation which campaigns for racial justice and equality in the UK. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Pets and life satisfaction | 08 Sep 2025 | 00:25:27 | |
In this first episode of our new season, host Chris Coates looks at the link between pets and life satisfaction, and how it’s possible to put a monetary value on the benefit of having a cat or dog. His guests are Adelina Gschwandtner, a senior lecturer in Economics at the University of Kent, and Ashleigh Brown, Scientific and Policy Manager at RSPCA. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Studying for a PhD at ISER | 23 Jul 2025 | 00:09:27 | |
In this episode we’re looking at the some of the people who use the data we gather. Chris talks to Cara Booker, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Social and Economic Research where Understanding Society is based, about studying for a PhD and what to do with the doctorate once you’ve got it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Families and benefit cuts | 20 May 2025 | 00:31:44 | |
In this episode, we discuss how families are affected by benefit cuts and fluctuating incomes, with Gabriele Mari, assistant professor in the School of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Erasmus University Rotterdam, and Sara Ogilvie, Director of Policy, Rights and Advocacy at the Child Poverty Action Group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| The housing crisis | 19 Mar 2025 | 00:29:01 | |
The housing crisis – a simple question of too much demand and not enough supply, or is there more to it? With Rory Coulter, Associate Professor in Human Geography at University College London, and Kevin Garvey, Head of Member Relations at the National Housing Federation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Arts and wellbeing | 17 Feb 2025 | 00:34:10 | |
What is the relationship between the arts and our mental health? Are they good for our mental health, or are happier people more likely to engage in the arts? The guests for this episode are Hei Wan (Karen) Mak, a senior research fellow in epidemiology and statistics at UCL and Nicky Goulder, CEO of Create, which puts on creative workshops in schools, day centres, prisons, and hospitals. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Education and gender roles | 27 Jan 2025 | 00:34:23 | |
Do education levels affect gender roles in UK households? Do men with degrees do more childcare and housework? With guests: Barbara Okun, Professor of Demography in the Sociology Department and Demography Division at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Dr Sara Reis, Deputy Director and Head of Research and Policy at feminist economics think tank the Women’s Budget Group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Our future care needs | 15 Jan 2025 | 00:22:50 | |
In our first episode of 2025, we look at the future care needs of an aging population in the UK, with Taha Bokhari and Abby Jitendra from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, who have written a report about what our ageing population means for care, work, our benefits system and our communities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Job mobility and the gender pay gap | 03 Dec 2024 | 00:29:26 | |
In this episode, we discuss the effects of parenthood on job mobility and what this means for the gender pay gap with Dr. Silvia Avram, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, and Alesha De Freitas, Head of Policy, Research and Advocacy (at time of recording) at the Fawcett Society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Being part of Understanding Society | 11 Nov 2024 | 00:13:35 | |
In this episode, one of our participants, Neil, talks about what it’s been like to be part of Understanding Society right from the beginning. What does it mean for him, and what changes has he seen in life and society since joining our predecessor, the British Household Panel Survey, in 1991? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Muslims, Covid, and mental health | 10 Oct 2024 | 00:29:33 | |
In the first episode of a new series of Insights, Chris Coates discusses changes in the mental health of Muslims in the UK during the pandemic with Miqdad Asaria, Assistant Professor of Health Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, who has researched this, and Maaria Mahmood, Director of the Muslim Youth Helpline. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Survey response rates during Covid | 31 May 2024 | 00:13:33 | |
In this episode, we’re looking at methodology. Pablo Cabrera Alvarez, a Senior Research Officer at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, talks about survey response rates and what happened to Understanding Society during the Covid pandemic, when interviewers couldn’t get to see participants face to face. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Housing and ageing | 19 Apr 2024 | 00:09:49 | |
In a new episode of our quick-listen one-to-one podcasts, Dr Amy Clair from the Australian Centre for Housing Research talks to Chris Coates from Understanding Society about research which suggests that private renting can age you faster than being unemployed or smoking. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Pregnancy and early childhood data | 18 Mar 2024 | 00:11:15 | |
In a new episode of our one-to-one podcasts, Edith Aguirre, a senior research officer at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, talks to host Chris Coates about Understanding Society’s ‘PEACH’ file. This brings our data on children under 10 together with data on pregnancy and child development, to help researchers study family dynamics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Coastal communities | 20 Feb 2024 | 00:15:24 | |
Emily Murray, Director of the new Centre for Coastal Communities at the University of Essex, joins host Chris Coates to talk about the work of the new centre, and her research into the challenges and opportunities of living by the sea Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Boomerang movers | 06 Feb 2024 | 00:33:34 | |
Emily Grundy, a Professor in the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, and Toby Murray, from the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, discuss the trend of ‘boomerang’ movers – adult children who move back in with their parents, and what it means for wellbeing Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Loneliness and mental health | 23 Jan 2024 | 00:23:09 | |
What can data tell us about loneliness and its links with poorer mental health? And what, if anything, can we do about it? Discussing this with host Chris Coates are Ann-Marie Creaven from the University of Limerick, and Isabel Taylor from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Religion and mental health | 05 Dec 2023 | 00:34:18 | |
Ozan Aksoy, Associate Professor in social science at the Social Research Institute at University College London, and Malcolm Brown, Director of Faith and Public Life at the Church of England, discuss research which shows that attending religious services more frequently was associated with higher wellbeing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Climate change: attitudes and policy | 21 Nov 2023 | 00:18:41 | |
Ting Liu, a social statistics PhD student at the University of Manchester, who is investigating attitudes toward climate change risk and carbon emissions, and Helena Bennett, Head of Climate Policy at the Green Alliance think tank, discuss what data can tell us about how we think about climate change, and what’s next for government policy? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Housing, wealth and inheritance | 07 Nov 2023 | 00:35:12 | |
Rory Coulter from University College London and David Sturrock from the Institute for Fiscal Studies join Catherne to talk about housing, wealth and inheritance – what does research tell us, and what does it mean for government policy? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Who answers panel surveys every time, and who doesn’t? | 17 Jul 2023 | 00:08:50 | |
Nicole James, Survey Data Officer at Understanding Society, and a PhD Student in Survey Methodology at the Institute for Social and Economic Research says understanding survey attrition helps make sure our sample is representative. Her paper on the subject was published in the Survey Research Methods journal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Flexible working | 15 Jun 2023 | 00:12:46 | |
Cara Booker, a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Essex, discusses flexible working, and what it might mean for how men and women share childcare and housework Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| How do we respond to government ‘stimulus payments’? | 14 Mar 2023 | 00:09:08 | |
Insights is a podcast from Understanding Society, a study that captures life in the UK in the 21st century. Understanding Society is a longitudinal survey. Every year we ask each member of thousands of the same households across the UK about different aspects of their life. The Insights podcast explores how our data has been used, looking at what we found, what it tells us and what we can learn from it. This episode features Dr Paul Fisher, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Essex, and Associate Director of Understanding Society, talking about how governments can potentially boost the economy with stimulus payments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| The cost of living crisis | 07 Dec 2022 | 00:31:41 | |
Understanding Society is a longitudinal survey. Every year we ask each member of 1000s of the same households across the UK about different aspects of their life. In each episode of this series, we're exploring how our data has been used in a key area. We'll look at what we found, what it tells us, and what we can learn from it. In this episode, we're looking at cost of living, who has been hit hardest? And what can government do about it? Here to discuss this are Hamish Low, the James Meade Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford, and Rebecca McDonald, the chief economist of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which works to solve poverty in the UK. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Our physical environment | 29 Nov 2022 | 00:32:36 | |
Understanding Society is a longitudinal survey. Every year we ask each member of thousands of the same households across the UK about different aspects of their lives. In each episode of this series, we're exploring how our data has been used in a key area. We'll look at what we found, what it tells us and what we can learn from it. In this episode, we're looking at how the physical environment in which you live can significantly affect your well being and in turn your life. Our guests are Dr. Sarah Knight from the University of York, Professor Brendan Burchell from Magdalene College, Cambridge, and Graham Duxbury, Chief Executive of Groundwork, a charity that seeks to empower communities through environmental action. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Our ageing population | 22 Nov 2022 | 00:35:29 | |
Welcome to Insights, a podcast from Understanding Society. The study that captures life in the UK in the 21st century, Understanding Society is a longitudinal survey. Every year we ask each member of thousands of the same households across the UK about different aspects of their lives. In each episode of this series, we're exploring how our data has been used in a key area. We'll look at what we found, what it tells us and what we can learn from it. In this episode, we're discussing how the experience of ageing in England and other parts of the UK is changing, and for many worsening. Our guests this week are Dr. Matt Barnes, senior lecturer in sociology at City University London, Jemma Mouland, Deputy Director for Research Impact and Voice at the Centre for Ageing better, and Stephen Pudney, professor of econometrics at the University of Sheffield, and Understanding Society's topic champion for ageing and social policy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Working from home, commuting and transport policy | 15 Nov 2022 | 00:30:15 | |
Understanding Society is a longitudinal survey. Every year we ask each member of thousands of the same households across the UK about key areas of their life. In each episode of this series we’re exploring how our data has been used in a key area. We’ll look at what we found, what it tells us and what we can learn from it. In this episode we’re looking at the tension between commuting and working from home – and how the two combined have affected and should continue to affect transport policy moving forward. Here to discuss this are Dr Daniel Wheatley from the Department of Management at the University of Birmingham, Dr Kiron Chatterjee, Professor of Travel Behaviour at the University of the West of England and Pete Dyson, Principal Behavioural Scientist at the Department for Transport. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Romance fraud | 08 Nov 2022 | 00:31:39 | |
Understanding Society is a longitudinal survey that captures life in the UK in the 21st century. Every year we ask each member of thousands of the same households across the UK about different aspects of their life.
In each episode of our Insights podcast series we’re exploring how our data has been used in a key area. We’ll look at what we found, what it tells us and what we can learn from it.
In this episode we’re looking at romance fraud – where people are deceived for financial gain by someone they thought they were in a relationship with. Our guests this week are Dr David Buil-Gil (a Lecturer in Quantitative Criminology at the University of Manchester), Róisín Ryan-Flood (Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for Intimate and Sexual Citizenship at the University of Essex) and David Gillies (Prevent and Protect Fraud Officer for Essex Police).
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Inequality in the UK | 01 Nov 2022 | 00:33:28 | |
In this episode series host, Catherine McDonald, is joined by Jeevun Sandher, an economist from King’s College London; Xiaowei Xu, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Mike Brewer, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Economist at the Resolution Foundation. They discuss the geographical inequalities in the UK, how government spending shapes inequality and poverty, and how the UK became such an unequal society.https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/general/us_ep_1_transcript.pdf Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Understanding data processing | 12 Oct 2022 | 00:07:47 | |
Once the survey data is collected, how does it become a dataset ready for researchers to use? Associate Director for Data, John Payne, talks about the processes needed to turn survey responses into anonymised data. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Understanding weighting | 12 Oct 2022 | 00:05:44 | |
Weighting is a vital part of population studies, allowing researchers to ensure that the data they use in analysis is representative. In this podcast Survey Statistician, Dr Olena Kaminska, explains why weights are important and how weights are created. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Understanding data collection | 12 Oct 2022 | 00:08:57 | |
One the sample is chose and the participants are ready, how does Understanding Society develop the survey that's going to be sent out. How are the questions chosen? Who gets to complete their survey online and who gets a face-to-face interview? In this podcast Director of Innovation, Professor Annette Jackle, talks about the development of data collection. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Understanding survey participants | 12 Oct 2022 | 00:03:36 | |
Our participants are a vital part of Understanding Society - without them there would be no study. In this episode Dr Violetta Parutis, Assistant Associate Director of Surveys, talks about how Understanding Society engages with participants, both during their annual interview and in sharing the wider research that comes from the Study data. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Understanding interviewing | 12 Oct 2022 | 00:08:23 | |
In this podcast Understanding Society's Associate Director for Surveys, Dr Jonathan Burton, explains the interview process. He talks about how face-to-face interviewing and online surveys work, and how Understanding Society is delivered in the field. As a household panel study, Understanding Society interviews everyone in a household - Jonathan about the different sample members and why interviewing everyone is so important. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Understanding survey sampling | 12 Oct 2022 | 00:05:56 | |
Who goes into the Understanding Society sample and why? In this short podcast, Professor Peter Lynn, Director of Survey Methods, explains how the original sample for Understanding Society was selected and how the study ensures that the sample is representative of the UK population. He also talks about the sample for the Covid-19 survey and the role of boost samples in a longitudinal study. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Building Understanding Society - from surveys to data | 21 Feb 2022 | 00:40:20 | |
In this final episode of season 3 of our podcast series we take a closer look at Understanding Society itself. How do we turn survey responses into data for research? How do we select who takes part in the survey? And what makes household panel data so useful for researchers and policymakers? Series host, Catherine McDonald, talks to the people who design and implement Understanding Society - taking the survey from methodological testing, through fieldwork and data processing, to ending with the anonymised dataset. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| How have the pandemic related school closures affected our children? | 25 Jan 2022 | 00:29:44 | |
In the sixth episode of our podcast series, we look at how the COVID19 school closures have affected our children – and their parents. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Professor Birgitta Rabe from the Institute for Social and Economic Research about her work comparing the mental health of those children who were invited to return to school in June 2020 with those who weren’t. Catherine’s second guest is Tom McBride, Director of Evidence at the Early Intervention Foundation, who explains why research such as this is so important for policy and practice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| How are relationships - between couples and within families - changing? | 18 Jan 2022 | 00:31:07 | |
In the fifth episode of our podcast series, we look take a look at how relationships are changing. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Professor Brienna Perelli-Harris, Understanding Society’s Topic Champion for Families, about her research on partnerships, marriage and fertility trends using our main dataset and our COVID19 survey. Catherine’s second guest is Dee Holmes, Senior Practice Consultant from the relationship support charity, Relate, who assesses the extent to which Brienna’s research is reflected in what she sees ‘on the ground’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Does volunteering make young people more likely to vote? | 11 Jan 2022 | 00:29:32 | |
In the fourth episode of our podcast series, we look take a look at the role of social action in civic participation. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Dr Stuart Fox from Brunel University about his research looking at whether volunteering makes young people more likely to vote in their first election. Catherine then moves on to talk to Victoria Harkness, Head of Research and Evaluation at the National Citizen Service Trust about the Trust’s experience of young people and their levels of civic participation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Public health and the COVID-19 pandemic | 30 Nov 2021 | 00:28:09 | |
In the third episode of our new podcast series, we take a look at the health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Professor Meena Kumari, Understanding Society’s Topic Champion for Health and Biomarker research and to David Finch, Assistant Director in the Healthy Lives directorate at The Health Foundation. Together they discuss Understanding Society’s COVID-19 survey and The Health Foundation’s COVID-19 Impact inquiry. They look at what the pandemic has highlighted with regard to the social determinants of health and they share their biggest fears as we move out of the initial clutches of COVID-19. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Universal Credit: How is it faring as a benefit system? | 23 Nov 2021 | 00:32:32 | |
With the topic area of income and expenditure for the second episode in our new podcast series, we take a look at Universal Credit – how it’s designed, how it compares to the old benefits legacy system and the effects it has on people’s lives. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Tom Waters, Senior Research Economist from the Institute for Fiscal Studies about research that used Understanding Society data to take a longitudinal look at Universal Credit. With first-hand experience of supporting people on Universal Credit, Kayley Hignell, Head of Policy for Families, Welfare and Work at Citizens Advice, responds to the research and shares her view on how one of the biggest benefit reforms in UK history is playing out. You can read Tom’s research here via the Understanding Society publications library. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Who carried the work burden during COVID-19? | 16 Nov 2021 | 00:27:10 | |
In the first episode of our new podcast series, we look at employment and the experience of working-class women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Professors Tracey Warren from Nottingham University Business School and Clare Lyonette from Warwick Institute for Employment about their project Carrying the Work Burden of the COVID-19 pandemic: working class women in the UK. Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, Director of the Women’s Budget Group and co-collaborator on the project also joins to explain the motivation for the research and the ways in which their findings are serving as vital evidence in the case of building back better with increased gender equality. The research project’s website can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Why sample size matters | 14 Oct 2019 | 00:07:36 | |
Dr Olena Kaminska talks about why sample size matters when researching hard to reach sub-sections of the population and why Understanding Society offers not just great data but some innovative and original opportunities to research previously ignored groups. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| What makes a boomeranger? Moving back in with mum and dad | 14 Oct 2019 | 00:08:28 | |
Anne Berrington talks about what makes young adults return to live with their parents. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Just how much is a university degree worth? | 14 Oct 2019 | 00:08:40 | |
Professor Adeline Delavande talks about research which uses the Understanding Society Innovation Panel to examine the perceptions of parents and children of the financial value of gaining a degree. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| Sexual orientation and poverty | 14 Oct 2019 | 00:15:11 | |
Dr Noah Uhrig discusses ground-breaking new research commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation exploring the links between sexual orientation and poverty. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||