The Health Survey for England is designed to provide information on the health of people in England. To visit every household in England would take too long and cost too much money. Instead we select a sample of addresses and ask the people at those addresses to take part in the Survey.

Addresses are chosen at random from a list obtained from the post office. Interviewers do not know who lives at the address until they visit it. Different addresses are chosen each year.

Once an address has been selected for the survey, we cannot replace it with another address. This means that we rely on the goodwill of those who have been chosen for the success of our study.

How many people will be taking part? At least 8000 adults living in households all over England are interviewed for the Health Survey for England, although these numbers can vary from year to year. By including such a large number of people, we can ensure all groups of people are represented in the results of the study. The Health Survey is designed to be nationally representative of people of different age, sex, geographic area and socio-demographic circumstances. This helps to give us an accurate picture of the nation’s health.

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