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What is a ‘profile’ variable?

Profile variables are the demographic variables collected routinely about respondents by YouGov. Having these measures from YouGov’s existing data leaves more space for other important questions on the rest of the survey and avoids asking respondents for information they’ve already provided in the past.

 

These variables have the prefix ‘p_’. Profile variables are collected at intervals determined by YouGov and therefore should not be assumed to be measured at the time of a wave. Profile information with a wave identifier attached indicates that the profile data was the most up to date available at the time of that survey.

 

Profile variables include the demographic variables for:

  • Age
  • National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC)
  • Parent’s NS-SEC
  • Highest educational qualification
  • Home ownership
  • Marital status
  • Age left education
  • Ethnicity
  • Local authority and education authority
  • Household income
  • Personal income
  • Household size
  • Number of children in household
  • Preferred daily newspaper
  • Religiosity
  • Religious denomination
  • Type of organisation worked for
  • Attending a private primary or secondary school
  • Big 5 personality measures