1. About HASSET

The Humanities and Social Science Electronic Thesaurus (HASSET) is the leading British English thesaurus for the social sciences. It was originally developed from the UNESCO thesaurus, becoming a separate product in 1997.  HASSET is a working tool for the keyword annotation and retrieval of UK Data Service data. It consists of over 4,000 concepts and covers the core social science disciplines: politics, sociology, economics, education, law, crime, demography, health, employment, information and communication technology, history and, increasingly, environmental science.

The thesaurus can be used to find studies in the UK Data Service Data Catalogue. These studies include large-scale government surveys, international macrodata, business microdata, qualitative studies, historical studies and census data.

Revisions to HASSET concepts and structures aim to keep abreast with developments in social science and humanities. The UK Data Service is pleased to accept suggestions for new HASSET terms from data users and licensees. Please use the feedback page to contact us.