Data collected in each survey

a) The doctors' choices of long-term career as they are at the survey time point: for surveys of recently qualified doctors, these include choices of eventual specialty, intentions to work in the NHS, expectations about full- or part-time work; for surveys of doctors in older cohorts, these include continuing in their current careers, changes of career direction, full- and part-time work, and retirement intentions.

b) Their certainty or otherwise with which they view their long-term career choice at the survey time.

c) Their level of intention to continue practising medicine, and to continue doing so within the UK, at the survey time.

d) Factors which the doctors state have influenced their career choice at the survey time.

e) Details of the doctors' actual career progression since their last completed questionnaire, including all posts held and their specialty, grade, location, duration and working pattern (that is, full-time or part-time).

f) Postgraduate qualifications obtained since the last survey.

g) The doctors' views and attitudes about issues relating to their careers, their training, their experiences of working in medicine, (a) identified from free text comments sent to us by the doctors, and (b) measured using pre-defined statements for which respondents are asked to indicate their level of agreement on five-point scales.

h) Personal information is also sought, including sex, medical school of qualification, normal place of residence prior to entering medical school, ethnic group, and details of marital status and dependants.