Researchers have access to a fantastic array of information about people and their lives. Large scale household and biological surveys have collected data not just about people's environment and circumstances, but also physical samples of blood and saliva from which detailed information about their genes and what’s going on inside their bodies can be extracted. But how can these two types of information be brought together for the benefit of society? In this episode of the Methods podcast, Professor Melinda Mills from the University of Oxford and Nuffield College discusses research from the NCRM funded SOCGEN project, which hopes to encourage more and better use of the data, whilst looking to see what our genes can tell us about having children and other human behaviours.