All eligible study members were contacted: 3,561 cohort members responded to the questionnaire administered by health visitors or sent by post.
| Provided information | 3,561 | ||||||
| Cumulative total of deaths | 263 | ||||||
| Cumulative permanent refusals | 4 | ||||||
| Temporarily living abroad | 38 | ||||||
| Cumulative emigrated | 316 | ||||||
| Failure to contact | 1,180 | ||||||
For cohort members who were at school, college or in further or technical education the administrative authorities of those establishments were asked to complete postal questionnaires about courses attended.
A separate postal questionnaire was sent to university and college students about courses attended, leisure time activities, and health, including the short Maudsley Personality Inventory.
Health visitors were asked to make home visits to all cohort members to ask questions about health and employment, and a postal version for self-completion was sent to those who did not wish to be interviewed or who could not be contacted by a health visitor.
In addition cohort members who were at university in 1965 were interviewed by study team members using a semi-structured method without a questionnaire to ask about their school preparation for university, their choice of university subject, specialisation at university, views on the so-called ‘two cultures’ (i.e. arts and sciences) debate, accommodation, and comments on the perceived function of a university. 299 students were invited and 193 took part.
Instructions are given at the head of each form.