Documentation
We always recommend to start out with our User Guide that covers most of the questions both beginners and more experienced users might have. We also have a complementary user guide for the users of the pilot study of the SHP IV, the LIVES FORS Cohort, the SHP LIVES Vaud as well as the Covid-19 Study.
All the documentation as well as our questionnaires are available on SWISSUbase.
For further information or if you just want to browse through our list of variables, click on the subject you are interested in below:
The SHP constitutes a unique longitudinal database for Switzerland and is mainly financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation. The survey covers a broad range of topics and approaches in the social sciences. Data collection started in 1999 with a sample of 5’074 households containing 12’931 household members. In 2004, a second sample of 2’538 households with a total of 6’569 household members was added. Since 2013, the SHP contains a third sample of 4’093 households with 9’945 individuals and in 2020 a fourth sample has been added with 4’380 households and 7’557 individuals. Response rates have remained high in all the samples.
The data from the Swiss Household Panel is freely accessible to the scientific community on SWISSUbase (see data).
The SHP has two main purposes:
- Ensure a solid database for social reporting on stability and changes in living arrangements and well-being in Switzerland, which complements data collected by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office;
- Promote opportunities for quantitative social science research, by making high quality data available to Swiss social scientists and to the international social science research community.
Between 2013 and 2019, the SHP team was also involved in the realization of the related LIVES FORS Cohort Survey and between 2013 and 2018, the SHP conducted the SHP LIVES Vaud in collaboration with the NCCR LIVES and the canton of Vaud.
If you are interested in the history of origins of the SHP, we invite you to read our overview publication here.
Research tools
Constructed variables
Weighting system of the COHORT sample
Pondération de l’échantillon additionnel pour le canton Vaud
Naming conventions and overview of the weights in the Swiss Household Panel
Some remarks on the use of weights when using a subsample or when combining different samples
Use the SPSS-syntax for the year 2018 (wave 20) or adapt it to your needs. For questions please contact Sandrine Morel.
Data management
Data analysis
Contact
For further information, please send us an e-mail:
swisspanel@fors.unil.ch
Click here to learn more about the staff of the Swiss Household Panel and to contact us individually.
