Since its origin in 1999, the survey has annually covered a broad range of topics and approaches in the social sciences (comprehensive survey) and includes both subjective assessments and concrete information. The household questionnaire covers the following (main) areas: composition of the household, accommodation, standard of living, the household’s financial situation, and household and family (external help for housework or child-care, sharing of tasks, and decision-making within the household). The individual questionnaire covers the following (main) topics: life events, health and quality of life, education, employment, income, social networks and social participation, social origin, religion, politics and values, culture and leisure, and several psychological scales. The household interviews last 15 minutes on average, whereas the individual interviews last about 35 minutes.
The SHP samples (SHP_I and SHP_II) are stratified random samples of private households whose members represent the non-institutional resident population in Switzerland. Both samples were drawn in 1999 and 2004 by the methodology section of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, from the Swiss telephone directory (SRH – Stichprobenregister für Haushalterhebungen), which covered over 95% of all private households in the concerned period. Selected in this way, the households are a representative sample of the various social groups in all regions of Switzerland. However, as the interviews are carried out in the three official national languages only (German, French, and Italian), there might be a certain underrepresentation of population groups that recently migrated to Switzerland. The methodology section of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office draw a third sample (SHP_III) in July 2013. This additional sample will contribute to a better representation of both the groups recently migrated to Switzerland and young generations.
The panel survey is conducted annually from September to February by the institute M.I.S. Trend in Lausanne and Bern using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). The new data are now available to users around eight months after collection. To date, fourteen SHP_I and nine SHP_II waves have been carried out successfully (see Participation 1999-2012 http://www.swisspanel.ch/spip.php?rubrique129&lang=en), and the first fourteen waves are available to researchers, including data from the households recruited in 1999 (SHP_I, waves 1 to 14) and from the 2004 sample (SHP_II, waves 1 to 9 for the years 2004 to 2012).
