The Effects of Biological Data Collection in Longitudinal Surveys on Subsequent Wave Cooperation

In this chapter, the authors present results that quantify the effects of the additional burden of biological data collection on subsequent cooperation in an ongoing large‐scale, nationally representative longitudinal survey. Biological data collection in longitudinal surveys has increased in recent years, and this has enhanced the potential for biosocial research by enabling the investigation of links between biological mechanisms and social phenomena in the general population. For example, recent research using data from Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) includes studies on the links between job quality and biomarkers of chronic stress, informal caregiving and markers of metabolism. The study design took advantage of the random subsampling in year 2 of the data collection period to compare the responses of those who were included in the nurse visit with those who were not.