Each year NatCen's British Social Attitudes survey asks around 3,000 people what it's like to live in Britain and what they think about how Britain is run. Since 1983 NatCen has been measuring and tracking changes in people's social, political and moral attitudes. The survey is a critical gauge of public opinion, and is used by the Government, journalists, opinion formers and academics.

Every year, people are asked to take part in British Social Attitudes on the basis of random probability sampling. This technique ensures that everyone has an equal chance of being picked to take part, so the results are representative of the British population. And because we repeat many of the same questions over time, we're able to identify real changes in people's social attitudes.

The 40th report covers the following topics:

• Secular or cyclical? 40 years of tracking public opinion
• A liberalisation in attitudes?
• Gender roles
• Age differences
• The evolution of the gender gap?
• Role and responsibilities of government
• Poverty
• Social class