IAS Data Dictionary - Table of Contents

The Data Dictionary includes summary information on all the available UK surveys that include any data on alcohol. The information is generally self-explanatory, but the following notes on the common shorthand used may also be useful:

  • Time periods: the time period for alcohol questions is usually included in the description of the question. For example, ’12 month frequency measure’ = how often have you had an alcoholic drink in the past 12 months’. ‘Lifetime’ refers to questions that ask whether people have ever done something.
  • Types of beverages: when asking about drinking behaviour, some sets of questions ask about alcoholic drinks in general, while others ask for each type of drink in turn. Where the latter approach has been used, the description of the variables describes it as ‘beverage-specific’, e.g. ’12 month beverage-specific frequency measure’.
  • Detail level: ‘High’, ‘medium’ or ‘low’ following a keyword simply refers to the number of questions on that particular topic in the survey. For example, ‘smoking (high)’ means that there is a high level of detail available on smoking, while ‘smoking (low)’ means that will only be 1-2 questions on smoking on the survey.
  • Quantity-frequency measures: where sets of questions have asked how often someone has drunk alcohol, followed by how much they usually consume when they do drink, this has been called a ‘quantity-frequency’ measure (as this is a standard way of estimating total average consumption).

Tabel of Contents

All the files are downloadable in adobe pdf format, if you do not have an adobe reader on your pc please click on the following link,