Understanding Society: how people decide whether to give consent to link their administrative and survey data

Abstract

ISER commissioned Kantar Public to conduct in-depth face-to-face qualitative interviews to explore the mechanisms underpinning the decision of respondents to consent, to help inform activities related to the data linkage consent process on Understanding Society. This research provides valuable insight into the range of influences on panel members’ interpretation of consent questions and decisions to consent to requests to link data. Understanding the different factors influencing decisions to consent to data linkage helps to identify good practice to follow to support informed consent and pitfalls to avoid in order to overcome the barriers to informed consent.