Frequently asked questions

Is the survey confidential?

We take very seriously our responsibility to guard the privacy of our ELSA respondents. Protection against the disclosure of personal identities is built into all stages of the survey process. This note summarises the steps we take to ensure the security of your data.

• NatCen is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998, and complies with all its obligations.
• Your answers will be treated in strict confidence in accordance with the Data Protection Act, and used for statistical research purposes only. This means that:
  - Names and addresses are never included with the results of our research studies.
  - Neither households nor individuals are identified in any published report.
• Staff and interviewers are fully aware of the importance of maintaining confidentiality, and undertake to abide by relevant codes of practice, which include explicit clauses on confidentiality.

In addition, all respondents have the right to withdraw from the study at any time. All our interviewers abide by a code of conduct and register with the local police of the area in which they are interviewing.

Procedures for interviewing

• Our laptop computers are protected by two separate password systems.

Procedures for transit

• Data in transit is encrypted.
• Names, addresses, and any other information that could give clues to a person’s identity, do not form part of data files passed to anyone except members of the ELSA research team.
• Paper questionnaires containing personal information are identified only by a serial number and first name, and are returned in the post separately from any document containing a person’s full name and address.

Office-based procedures

• Your name and address will only be known to the NatCen researchers and will not be stored with the information you provide.
• In the office, personal identifiers are only used for necessary administrative functions directly related to the survey (for example if we phone you to check on an interviewer’s work).
• NatCen’s data handling procedures ensure that only those who need to check or process the data have direct access to names and addresses.
• Strict procedures ensure that all confidential documents and data are destroyed when no longer required.
  

What is the study about? | Why have I been selected? | Is the survey confidential? | Who is carrying out the study? |
Why is the study important? | What questions will I be asked? | Who is paying for the study? | Who can I contact about the study?

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