In addition to the main surveys which have aimed to collect information from all study members there have been a number of ‘sub-studies’ which have sought to collect information from a smaller number of study members.
Around 500 of you took part in the Handicapped School Leavers study in 1976 when you were 18. The study was carried out for the Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Handicapped Children and Young People (the Warnock Committee) and aimed to provide information about how handicapped young people negotiated the crucial transition from school to work, the employment opportunities available and early experiences in the labour market.
The Age 37 basic skills survey took place in 1995 and just over 1700 of you took part. A series of 18 literacy and numeracy assessments were conducted which assessed reading, writing, comprehension and mathematical skills.
Twin studies are often used to study the relative importance of nature versus nurture. NCDS did not have particularly reliable information about zygosity (whether twins are genetically identical) which made it difficult to conduct this type of research with the information collected from NCDS twins. As such, in 2008, a questionnaire was sent to all pairs of twins which asked a series of questions to allow zygosity to be accurately identified.
In 2010, 45 study members visited a research centre at the University of Cambridge to participate in a series of computerised assessments which measured various aspects of cognitive ability including memory, information processing, impulsivity and attention.
