Annexes: Cognitive testing of loneliness questions with children and young people and young adults

The Well-being, Inequalities, Sustainability and Environment (WISE) Division, alongside the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), have been asked by the Prime Minister to undertake a programme of work to improve our understanding of, and in turn alleviate, loneliness.

To help provide better statistics on the subject and help policymakers make better decisions on how to support people, we’re looking for volunteers in England between the ages of 10 and 24 years to be interviewed during July about their attitudes, ideas and experiences of loneliness. All the information will be kept confidential and respondents will receive an incentive as a thank you for taking part.

Jo Cox Loneliness Commission

The late Jo Cox MP campaigned to raise the profile of loneliness stating, “young or old loneliness does not discriminate”, and the Jo Cox Loneliness Commission presented a number of recommendations to government to help tackle the problem.

In her response, the Prime Minister Theresa May committed government to improving the evidence base and establishing indicators to measure loneliness across all ages. Specifically, in her announcement in January 2018, the Prime Minister indicated that government would be “establishing appropriate indicators of loneliness across all ages with the Office for National Statistics so these figures can be included in major research studies.”

The current evidence base on loneliness is patchy – while it is richer and more comprehensive for adult age groups, we know less about experiences of loneliness for younger age ranges. We know loneliness can be an issue across all age groups but need to better understand how certain factors interact to increase the risk of loneliness, and what could reduce or even protect from future feelings of loneliness.

If you know anyone living in England who may be willing to take part to help us improve our evidence base to inform better decisions on what help and support is provided, please contact either Name or Name for more information.

Interviewing tips

Use open questions – who, how, what, why, when? Closed questions are not as effective so try to turn closed into open wherever possible.

Do not be afraid to use silence – give respondents enough time to think and say what they want to. Some people need more time than others so be aware of that. Encouragement – reassure with “umm”, “yes” or head nodding, for example. This shows you are listening and interested but do not lead respondents by over-using them. Hanging probes – you can leave a question or statement hanging for respondents to finish such as, “So you think…?”.

Summaries – you can recap what respondents have said then ask if you have it right or not to check you’ve understood. You can also ask them to summarise their thoughts; this can often provide great quotes for reports too!

Paraphrasing – paraphrasing a lot of information is a further way to check you have understood their point.

Do not assume – never think you know what respondents mean. Try your hardest to take nothing at face value. Use probes, paraphrases and summaries to check you have understood what respondents say. As a general rule of thumb, it’s good to remember that if the respondent did not say it on the recording, it does not count.

Tone – the interview should be conversational and you should try to sound relaxed so respondents are put at ease. One of the best ways to achieve this is to know the topic guide inside out so you do not sound script-bound. Remember that the probes are not set in stone; a good interviewer finds their own way to ask the probes without changing the meaning of the research objective.

Interview checklist

Topic guide, respondent’s contact and address details, two copies of the consent form, a show card with the Loneliness measure questions, the useful contacts list, a dictaphone, voucher incentive, pens, notepad, and batteries.

Tips for getting them to talk

You can use an activity that often helps children to open up and focus. You give them a pen and a sheet of paper with concentric circles on it (these can be drawn by hand but we’ll try to get a printed one). Ask them to write their name or “Me” in the centre then ask them to think about people in their lives and add them in the circles with the closest people near him or her and the people less close to him or her further out. This can be used to generate conversation, such as “Have any of these people been lonely?”, or “Why do you think they are not lonely?”.

Section 1 Introduction

Loneliness is something we’re hearing a lot about lately in the news. It’s a normal part of life, but we do not understand enough about it and what we can do to help people in our lives who may feel lonely. That’s what we’d like to talk about today. We’re speaking to children and young people as well as to adults to understand more about loneliness and what we can do about it. What you have to say will help us advise the Prime Minister on how we can tackle loneliness in the UK.

Loneliness questions

a. How often do you feel you have no one to talk to?

b. How often do you feel left out?

c. How often do you feel alone?

d. How often do you feel lonely?

Answers:

Hardly ever or never

Some of the time

Often

There are no right or wrong answers. We just want to find out what you think. Your answers will be kept private, and we will not tell anybody what you’ve said. Just so you are aware, if you tell me something that makes me concerned about your safety or the safety of someone else, then we'll need to talk about it, and I might have to share that with the Project Leader. We may also need to talk to your parent, guardian or teacher. You do not have to answer any question if you do not want to, and we can stop at any time. We usually record the interviews so that we can listen back to it later and make notes. Does that sound OK to you? Do you have any questions you want to ask before we start?

You also get a shopping voucher as a thank you for taking part. (Give them the voucher and ask the respondent and the adult to both sign two consent forms, keeping one copy for yourself.)

Section 2: Cognitive question testing

To get this right, we are thinking very hard about the type of questions we should be asking people about loneliness. So, I want to start by asking you four questions and I will ask you to answer these using three response options. Once we have completed this we can discuss your thoughts about the questions.

Interviewer – Read out each question one at a time and give the respondent the three answer options. Wait for a response before delivering the next question. (Try not to engage or answer any questions from the respondent at this time.)

Loneliness measure questions

How often do you feel that you have no one you can talk to?

1. In your own words, can you tell me what this question is asking you?

2. Can you think of another way of asking this question?

3. Can you give me some examples of who you might have that you can talk to? Who do you think other people might have to talk to?

4. How important do you think it is to have someone to talk to? Why?

5. How did you feel after answering this question? Do you think most children would feel that way? Do you think this question could be upsetting for children aged 10 to 15 years to answer?

6. How well do you think children between 10 to 15 years old would understand this question?

7. Children could be asked to answer this question in a survey on a computer at home. How do you think children would feel about answering this question in front of other people, their parents, teachers, or friends? What makes you think that?

8. Would you find this question easier to answer with a response scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is “never” and 10 is “all of the time”?

9. Would you feel better answering these questions in school or at home?

10. How important do you think it is to ask children how often they have someone to talk to?

11. Why do you think we might be interested in this question?

12. What do you think the word “companionship” means?

13. What do you think is the difference between “companionship” and “having someone to talk to”?

14. What do you think is a better question to ask? “How often do you feel that you have no one to talk to?” or “How often do you feel that you lack companionship?” Why? Do you think people would answer these questions differently?

How often do you feel left out?

1. What do you think this question is asking you?

2. Can you think of another way of asking this question?

3. What does it mean to be “left out”?

4. Can you give me an example of a time you have felt left out? What made you feel like this? How long did it take to recover from those feelings? How did you recover; what helped?

5. How did you feel after answering this question? Do you think most children would feel that way? Do you think this question could be upsetting for children aged 10 to 15 years to answer?

6. How important do you think it is to ask children how often they feel left out?

7. Why do you think we might be interested in this question about feeling left out?

How often do you feel alone?

1. In your own words, can you tell me what this question is asking you?

2. Can you think of another way of asking this question?

3. Can you give me some examples of when you may have felt alone? What reasons can you think of why someone might feel alone?

4. How do you think children would feel about answering this question in front of other people, their parents, teachers, or friends?

5. How important do you think it is to ask children how often they feel alone?

6. Why do you think we might be interested in this question?

7. What do you think the world “isolated” means?

8. What is the difference between being “isolated” and being “alone”?

9. What do you think is a better question to ask? “How often do you feel alone?” or “How often do you feel isolated?” Why? Do you think people would answer this question differently?

How often do you feel lonely?

1. What do you think this question is asking you?

2. What reasons can you think of why someone might feel lonely?

3. How did you feel after answering this question? Do you think most children would feel that way? Do you think this question could be upsetting for children aged 10 to 15 years to answer?

4. Children would be asked to answer this question in a survey on a computer at home. How comfortable do you think children would feel doing it that way? Why do you say that?

5. Would you find this question easier to answer with a response scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is “never” and 10 is “all of the time”?

6. Would you feel better answering these questions in school or at home?

7. In the question we looked at before this one, we used the word “alone”. What do you think the differences are or what is the same between being alone or being lonely?

Section 3: In-depth subject investigation on loneliness

Other people’s experiences of loneliness

(Start with other people to lead gently into the topic.)

I want to talk about the subject of loneliness a little more now.

1. So, if you can start by telling me about someone you know who feels lonely or someone who has felt lonely in the past?

2. If yes, do you know why they are lonely or can you think of any reasons for why they are lonely?

3. If yes, did they stop being lonely? How did that happen?

4. Who do you think would be most likely to feel lonely? Why?

5. When do you think people are more or less likely to be lonely? Why do you say that?

6. Do you think it is good to be alone sometimes or not? Why or why not?

7. How important do you think it is it to help young people who are feeling lonely?

8. What could we do to improve things for young people who feel lonely? (for example, at home, at school, in their neighbourhood)

Child’s experiences of loneliness

I’d like us to talk about you now. I want to remind you that you do not have to answer any questions that make you feel uncomfortable. If you can tell us as much as you feel able we’re very grateful. (If the respondent seems reluctant to talk about their experiences, remind them of the confidentiality clause.)

1. So, let’s begin with what loneliness means to you? How would you describe loneliness?

2. Can you tell me about a time you have felt lonely? What were you doing? How long for?

3. How strong was the feeling? (You can use a scale to help respondents, such as 0 to 10 with 0 being “not lonely at all” and 10 being “completely lonely”)

4. What caused you to feel lonely? (for example, were you missing somebody? Was it because of something to do with friends, family or people at school?)

5. How did you move on from being lonely? How lonely are you now?

6. What can you tell me about a time when you did not feel lonely at all?

7. If yes, why do you think that was? What was happening then? What were you doing then? Where were you? Were you alone or with other people? What feelings did you have instead?

8. What do you think the opposite of loneliness is?

9. What could we do to improve things for people feeling lonely? What would you find most helpful if you felt lonely? Are there things that you really would not find helpful?

Social networks

1. How close do you live to your friends? (Close, near-by or far away.)

2. How often do you see family members that you do not live with? (Often, sometimes, hardly ever or never.)

3. Is there anything that stops you from seeing friends and family as often as you would like? If so, what? Do you speak with them often in other ways, for example, by telephone, video calls or social media?

4. How much do you feel that you are listened to by family and friends? Why?

5. How well do you know what's happening with family and friends?

6. Can you give me examples of people who you can talk to about your feelings?

7. Would you say that you and/or your family are involved in the community? What sort of community activities are you involved in?

8. Have you and/or your family lived in the area for a long time?

9. How often do you go to after school clubs, youth clubs and sport clubs? (Often, sometimes, hardly ever, or never.)

10. Do you have good relationships with your neighbours, for example, do you spend time with them more than to just say hello?

11. How happy or unhappy are you with your friendships and relationships with other people? Why?

12. Can you give me examples of people who you can ask for help at any time? Why them? What makes them the people you can ask for help from?

13. Who are the people who you can trust? If nobody, why do you think that? How does that feel?

14. Can you give me examples of people who you feel close to? If nobody, who would you like to feel close to? Why?

Section 4: Finishing the interview

1. If there was money to spend in tackling loneliness in children, how could this be best spent to help young adults out of loneliness? What types of activities, help, groups and so on?

(Use these or any others you can think of to bring the child or young person out of the intensity of the subject.) You’ve told me lots of information. It’s been useful. How did it feel for you? Is there anything you want to ask me since I’ve asked you lots and lots of questions? Thank you very much for answering the questions. We are really grateful. Your answers will help us to understand loneliness and how we can help people who might be feeling lonely. How do you feel? Do you feel OK? It can be an upsetting topic for some people, so I will leave this list of phone numbers with you. (If upset), I understand it can be an upsetting topic. It is totally normal to feel upset sometimes. If you are feeling upset or worried, you might want to talk to your doctor, parent or teacher. Remember, you can always call Childline on 0800 1111.

Section 5: Safeguarding

What to do if the respondent discloses something that makes you concerned for their safety

Listen to what the respondent is saying. Do not offer advice or attempt to provide counselling. Do not try to stop them from speaking about the issue, as it might be the first time they have felt comfortable discussing the issue with somebody. Instead, ask the respondent:

• how does that make you feel?

• what do you think could be done to help?

• what would you like to be done?

• have you spoken to anyone else about this? (for example, a parent or teacher)

(If it is a safeguarding issue that needs to be reported), It is important that you are safe and not in any danger. What you’ve said makes me think that you might need to speak to someone else who will be able to help you. So, what I suggest is that I will speak to my Project Leader and let them know what you’ve said, to figure out if this should be mentioned to your teacher, parent or guardian. Does that sound OK?

Following the interview, you should report the issue with the safeguarding team, who will decide about whether action should be taken, and whether there are sufficient grounds for breaking confidentiality. They will decide whether to:

• take no further action

• recommend that the respondent passes on their concerns to the appropriate authority

• pass the concern on to the appropriate authority

• refer the situation to the National Statistician

For more information, please refer to the ONS Safeguarding Policy.

Interviewing tips

Use open questions – who, how, what, why, when? Closed questions are not as effective so try to turn closed into open wherever possible.

Do not be afraid to use silence – give respondents enough time to think and say what they want to. Some people need more time than others so be aware of that.

Encouragement – reassure with “umm”, “yes” or head nodding, for example. This shows you are listening and interested but do not lead respondents by over-using them. Hanging probes – you can leave a question or statement hanging for respondents to finish such as, “So you think…?”.

Summaries – you can recap what respondents have said then ask if you have it right or not to check you’ve understood. You can also ask them to summarise their thoughts; this can often provide great quotes for reports too!

Paraphrasing – paraphrasing a lot of information is a further way to check you have understood their point.

Do not assume – never think you know what respondents mean. Try your hardest to take nothing at face value. Use probes, paraphrases and summaries to check you have understood what respondents say. As a general rule of thumb, it’s good to remember that if the respondent did not say it on the recording, it does not count.

Tone – the interview should be conversational and you should try to sound relaxed so respondents are put at ease. One of the best ways to achieve this is to know the topic guide inside out so you do not sound script-bound. Remember that the probes are not set in stone; a good interviewer finds their own way to ask the probes without changing the meaning of the research objective.

Interview checklist

Topic guide, respondent’s contact and address details, two copies of the consent form, the useful contacts list, a dictaphone, cash incentive, pens, notepad, and batteries.

Section 1: Introduction

Loneliness is something we’re hearing a lot about lately in the news. It’s a normal part of life, but we do not understand enough about it and what we can do to help people in our lives who may feel lonely. That’s what we’d like to talk about today. We’re speaking to children and young people as well as to adults to understand more about loneliness and what we can do about it. What you have to say will help us advise the Prime Minister on how we can tackle loneliness in the UK.

There are no right or wrong answers. We just want to find out what you think. Your answers will be kept private, and we will not tell anybody what you’ve said. Just so you are aware, if you tell me something that makes me concerned about your safety or the safety of someone else, then we'll need to talk about it, and I might have to share that with the Project Leader. You do not have to answer any question if you do not want to, and we can stop at any time. We usually record the interviews so that we can listen back to it later and make notes. Does that sound OK to you? Do you have any questions you want to ask before we start?

You also get a £30 cash incentive as a thank you for taking part. (Give them the money and ask the respondent to sign two consent forms, keeping one copy for yourself.)

1. Firstly, can I ask whether you are studying at school or college or university, working or doing something else?

2. Do you live with family, friends or someone else?

Section 2: Cognitive question testing

We are developing some questions about loneliness for our surveys, and we would like to ask you for your thoughts on the survey questions. So, I want to start by asking you four questions and I will ask you to answer these using three response options. Once we have completed this we can discuss your thoughts about the questions.

Interviewer – Read out each question one at a time and give the respondent the three answer options. Wait for a response before delivering the next question. (Try not to engage or answer any questions from the respondent at this time.)

Loneliness questions

a. How often do you feel that you lack companionship?

b. How often do you feel left out?

c. How often do you feel isolated from others?

d. How often do you feel lonely?

Answers:

Hardly ever or never

Some of the time

Often

Loneliness measure questions

How often do you feel that you lack companionship?

1. In your own words, can you tell me what this question is asking you?

2. Can you think of another way of asking this question?

3. Can you give me some examples of who you might have that you can talk to? Who do you think other people might have to talk to?

4. What do you think the word “companionship” means?

5. How important do you think it is to have a companion? Why?

6. How did you feel after answering this question? Do you think most young adults would feel that way? Do you think these questions could be upsetting for respondents?

7. How well do you think young people between 16 to 24 years old would understand this question?

8. Young people could be asked to answer this question in a survey on a computer at home. How do you think young people would feel about answering this question in front of other people, their parents, colleagues or friends? What makes you think that? Do you think there is a best location to answer this question (home, college, university or work)?

9. What do you think is the difference between “companionship” and “having someone to talk to”?

10. What do you think is a better question to ask? “How often do you feel that you have no one to talk to?” or “How often do you feel that you lack companionship?” Why? Do you think people would answer these questions differently?

How often do you feel left out?

1. What do you think this question is asking you?

2. Can you think of another way of asking this question?

3. What does it mean to be “left out”?

4. Can you give me an example of a time you have felt left out? What made you feel like this? How long did it take to recover from those feelings? How did you recover; what helped?

5. How did you feel after answering this question? Do you think most young adults would feel that way? Do you think these questions could be upsetting to answer?

6. How important do you think it is to ask young people how often they feel left out?

7. Why do you think we might be interested in this question about feeling left out?

How often do you feel isolated from others?

1. In your own words, can you tell me what this question is asking you?

2. Can you think of another way of asking this question?

3. Can you give me some examples of when you may have felt isolated from others? What reasons can you think of why someone might feel isolated from others?

4. How important do you think it is to ask young people how often they feel isolated?

5. What do you think the world “isolated” means?

6. What is the difference between being “isolated” and being “alone”?

7. What do you think is a better question to ask? “How often do you feel alone?” or “How often do you feel isolated?” Why? Do you think people would answer these questions differently?

How often do you feel lonely?

1. What do you think this question is asking you?

2. What reasons can you think of why someone might feel lonely?

3. How did you feel after answering this question? Do you think most young adults would feel that way? Do you think this question could be upsetting to answer?

4. Young people could be asked to answer these questions in a survey on a computer at home. How comfortable do you think young people would feel doing it that way? Why do you say that?

5. Would you feel better answering these questions in school or at home?

6. Would you find these questions easier to answer with a response scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is “never” and 10 is “all of the time”?

7. In the question we looked at before this one, we used the word “alone”. What do you think the differences are and what is the same between being alone or being lonely?

Section 3: In-depth subject investigation on loneliness

Other people’s experiences of loneliness

(Start with other people to lead gently into the topic.)

I want to talk about the subject of loneliness a little more now.

1. So, if you can start by telling me about someone you know who feels lonely or someone who has felt lonely in the past?

2. If yes, do you know why they are lonely or can you think of any reasons for why they are lonely?

3. If yes, did they stop being lonely? How did that happen?

4. Who do you think would be most likely to feel lonely? Why?

5. When do you think people are more or less likely to be lonely? Why do you say that?

6. Do you think it is good to be alone sometimes or not? Why or why not?

7. How important do you think it is it to help young people who are feeling lonely?

8. What could we do to improve things for young people who feel lonely? (for example, at home, at college or university, at work, or in their neighbourhood)

Young person’s experiences of loneliness

I’d like us to talk about you now. I want to remind you that you do not have to answer any questions that make you feel uncomfortable. If you can tell us as much as you feel able we’re very grateful. (If the respondent seems reluctant to talk about their experiences, remind them of the confidentiality clause.)

1. So, let’s begin with what loneliness means to you? How would you describe loneliness?

2. Can you tell me about a time you have felt lonely? What were you doing? How long for?

3. How strong was the feeling? (You can use a scale to help respondents, such as 0 to 10 with 0 being “not lonely at all” and 10 being “completely lonely”)

4. What caused you to feel lonely? (for example, were you missing somebody? Was it because of something to do with friends, family, people at college or university, or work?)

5. How did you move on from being lonely? How lonely are you now?

6. What can you tell me about a time when you did not feel lonely at all?

7. If yes, why do you think that was? What was happening then? What were you doing then? Where were you? Were you alone or with other people? What feelings did you have instead?

8. What do you think the opposite of loneliness is?

9. What would you find most helpful if you felt lonely? Are there things that you really would not find helpful?

Social networks

1. How close do you live to your friends? (Close, nearby or far away)

2. How often do you see family members that you do not live with? (Often, sometimes, hardly ever or never.)

3. Is there anything that stops you from seeing friends and family as often as you would like? If so, what? Do you speak with them often in other ways, for example, by telephone, video calls or social media?

4. How much do you feel that you are listened to by family and friends? Why?

5. How well do you know what's happening with family and friends?

6. Can you give me examples of people who you can talk to about your feelings?

7. Would you say that you and/or your family are involved in the community? What sort of community activities are you involved in?

8. How often do you go to after school clubs, youth clubs and sport clubs? (Often, sometimes, hardly ever or never)

9. Have you and/or your family lived in the area for a long time?

10. Do you have good relationships with your neighbours, for example, do you spend time with them more than to just say hello?

11. How happy or unhappy are you with your friendships and relationships with other people? Why?

12. Can you give me examples of people who you can ask for help at any time? Why them? What makes them the people you can ask for help from?

13. Who are the people who you can trust? If nobody, why do you think that? How does that feel?

14. Can you give me examples of people who you feel close to? If nobody, who would you like to feel close to? Why?

Section 4: Finishing the interview

1. If there was money to spend in tackling loneliness in young adults, how could this be best spent to help young adults out of loneliness? What types of activities, help, groups and so on?

(Use these or any others you can think of to bring the young adult out of the intensity of the subject.)

You’ve told me lots of information. It’s been useful. How did it feel for you?

Is there anything you want to ask me since I’ve asked you lots and lots of questions?

Thank you very much for answering the questions. We are really grateful. Your answers will help us to understand loneliness and how we can help people who might be feeling lonely.

How do you feel? Do you feel OK? It can be an upsetting topic for some people, so I will leave this list of phone numbers with you. (If upset), I understand it can be an upsetting topic. It is totally normal to feel upset sometimes. If you are feeling upset or worried, you might want to talk to your GP, parent, colleague or friend. Remember, you can always call The Samaritans for advice and support on 0845 790 9090.

Section 5: Safeguarding

What to do if the respondent discloses something that makes you concerned for their safety

Listen to what the respondent is saying. Do not offer advice or attempt to provide counselling. Do not try to stop them from speaking about the issue, as it might be the first time they have felt comfortable discussing the issue with somebody. Instead, ask the respondent:

• how does that make you feel?

• what do you think could be done to help?

• what would you like to be done?

• have you spoken to anyone else about this? (for example, a parent or teacher)

(If it is a safeguarding issue that needs to be reported), It is important that you are safe and not in any danger. What you’ve said makes me think that you might need to speak to someone else who will be able to help you. So, what I suggest is that I will speak to my Project Leader and let them know what you’ve said, to figure out if this should be reported to someone else. Does that sound OK?

Following the interview, you should report the issue with the safeguarding team, who will decide about whether action should be taken, and whether there are sufficient grounds for breaking confidentiality. They will decide whether to:

• take no further action

• recommend that the respondent passes on their concerns to the appropriate authority

• pass the concern on to the appropriate authority

• refer the situation to the National Statistician

For more information please refer to the ONS Safeguarding Policy.

I understand that I have been asked to take part in an interview, which involves having a conversation with a researcher, about what loneliness means, what I think about loneliness, and whether I have ever been lonely, or if I know people who have been lonely.

I understand that the conversation will be recorded, so that the researcher can listen back to it later and makes notes, and the information I tell them will be used to help reduce loneliness.

I understand that I do not have to take part if I don’t want to, and I can stop at any time, without having to give anybody a reason. I understand that I can ask questions at any time.

I understand that everything I say will be kept private. However, if I tell the researcher something that makes them worried about my safety, I understand they might have to report it to somebody else. I understand that the researcher will write a report, or paper, about the interview, but they won’t mention my name or any other information about me, so it will all be anonymous.

I know that I will be given a £15 voucher, as a thank you for taking part.

Child’s Consent

I, _____________________(NAME) am happy to take part in the interview about loneliness.

I, _____________________ (NAME) confirm I have been given a £15 voucher.

Signature of child: _____________________

Date: ______________________

Parent/Guardian’s Consent

I, ___________________(NAME) consent to the researcher conducting the interview with my child.

Signature of Parent or Guardian: ____________________

Date: ________________

Interviewer Contact Details

If you have any queries or comments following the interview, please feel free to contact me on (INSERT CONTACT NUMBER) or email me at (INSERT EMAIL). Office for National Statistics, Government Buildings, Cardiff Road, Newport, Wales, NP10 8XG

I understand that I have been asked to take part in an interview about my understanding, views and experiences of loneliness.

I understand that the interview will be recorded, and following the interview, will be transcribed and analysed. I understand the information I provide will be used to help the Office for National Statistics to produce a national measure for loneliness and help organisations design programmes to reduce loneliness.

I am aware that my participation is voluntary, and that I have the right to withdraw at any time, without giving a reason. I am aware that I have right to ask questions at any time.

I am aware that I will receive £30 as a thank you for taking part.

I understand that my participation and data will be kept confidential and all information will be stored securely and anonymously. However, if I disclose something which makes the researcher concerned for my safety, I understand that the researcher has a duty to report it. I am aware that the final report will not name or identify me in any way, nor will it contain any information which could be used to identify me.

I, __________________ (NAME) consent to taking part in the interview.

I, __________________ (NAME) confirm I have received £30 as a thank you for taking part.

Signature of Interviewee: ____________________

Date: ________________

Interviewer Contact Details

If you have any queries or comments following the interview, please feel free to contact me on (INSERT CONTACT NUMBER) or email me at (INSERT EMAIL).

Office for National Statistics, Government Buildings, Cardiff Road, Newport, Wales, NP10 8XG