The principal aim of the Swiss Household Panel (SHP) is to observe social change, in particular the dynamics of changing living conditions and representations in the population of Switzerland. Covering a broad range of topics and approaches in the social sciences, SHP is a yearly panel with rotating modules following three random samples of private households in Switzerland over time, interviewing all household members, mainly by telephone.
The LIVES FORS Cohort Survey can be essentially seen as an SHP additional sample. The waves of SHP and the LIVES FORS Cohort Survey run in parallel and share most of the questions and modules. That said the LIVES FORS Cohort Survey is distinguished from SHP by a specific reference population and sampling procedure. In addition, only the targeted member of the household has to respond to the individual questionnaire (and not all members as in SHP).
