An Introduction to the Economic and Social

Data ServiceJanuary 2006

Jack Kneeshaw, ESDS

ESDS Overview

• national data archiving and dissemination service

• provides access and specialist support for key economic and social data

• UK Data Archive is a service provider of ESDS and preserves and supplies most of the data

Sources and type of dataData for research and teaching purposes and used in all sectors and for many different disciplines

• Sources– official agencies - mainly central government

– international statistical agencies

– individual academics - research grants

– market research agencies

– historical sources

– other data archives world wide

• Type– qualitative and quantitative

– micro and macro

– public records

UK Data Archive

• 5,000+ datasets in the collection

• 200+ new datasets are added each year

• 6,500+ orders for data per year

• 18,000+ datasets distributed worldwide per

year

• AHDS History Service in-house

• Census Registration Service in-house

Specialist data services

• ESDS Government• ESDS International• ESDS Longitudinal • ESDS Qualidata

provide: dedicated web sites data and documentation enhancements user support training

Large-scale government data

• General Household Survey• Labour Force Survey• Health Survey for England/Wales/Scotland • Family Expenditure Survey• British Crime Survey• Family Resources Survey • National Food Survey/Expenditure and Food Survey • ONS Omnibus Survey • Survey of English Housing • British Social Attitudes• National Travel Survey• Time Use Survey

Benefits of the large-scale government data

• Good quality data– produced by experienced research organisations– usually nationally representative with large

samples– good response rates– very well documented

• Continuous data– allows comparison over time– data is largely cross-sectional

• Hierarchical data– intra-household differences– household effects on individuals

Longitudinal data

• longitudinal surveys involve repeated surveys of the same individuals at different points in time

• allow researchers to analyse change at the individual level

• more complex to analyse

British Household Panel Survey • collected and deposited by the ULSC at Essex

• follows the members of 5500 households first sampled in 1991 - interviews conducted annually

• major resource for understanding the dynamics of British households

• coverage includes:– income, labour market behaviour, social and

political values, health, education, housing and household organisation

• recently large new samples were introduced in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

British Birth Cohort Studies• impact of childhood conditions on later life and understanding

children and families in the UK

• National Child Development Study follows a cohort born in a single week in 1958 - data collected at birth and ages 7, 11, 16, 23, 33, 42

• 1970 British Cohort Study follows a cohort born in a single week in 1970 - data collected around birth & ages 5, 10, 16, 26 and most recently at age 30

• Millennium Cohort Study focuses on children born in 2000/2001 - first sweep at 9 months, second sweep at 3 years

• wide range of social, economic, health, medical and psychological issues

English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

• First study in the UK to connect the full range of topics necessary to understand the economic, social, psychological and health elements of the ageing process.

• Aims to study a sample of people over the age of 50 every two years to see how people's health, economic and social circumstances change over time.

• One key aim is to help the government plan for an ageing population and longer periods of retirement, and ensure that the UK's healthcare and pension systems will be able to meet everyone's needs.

International data

• regularly updated macro-economic time series datasets from selected major international statistical databanks that collectively chart over 50 years of global economic, industrial and political change:

• International Monetary Fund • OECD • United Nations• World Bank • Eurostat• International Labour Organisation• UK Office for National Statistics

International data themesDatabanks cover:• economic performance and development• trade, industry and markets• employment• demography, migration and health• governance• human development • social expenditure• education• science and technology • land use and the environment

International micro data

• Eurobarometers• International Social Survey Programme• other social data via other national data

archives

ESDS International at the UK Data Archive (UKDA) can help users to locate and acquire data from other archives within Europe and worldwide, using a series of reciprocal agreements with the individual institutions. Datasets include:

Qualitative data• diverse data types: in-depth interviews ; semi-

structured interviews; focus groups; oral histories; mixed methods data; open-ended survey questions; case notes/records of meetings; diaries/research diaries

• Examples of recently-acquired sociology datasets:• SN 5057 Critical Incidents and the Health-related Behaviour of

Schoolchildren, 1997

• SN 5029 Indirect Harm and Positive Consequences Associated with Cannabis Use, 2001-2003

• SN 5028 Quality of Home Experience for Homeworkers, 2002

• SN 4953 Chief Probation Officers : a Criminal Justice Elite, 2000-2002

Other key qualitative data for sociologists

• Peter Townsend – Poverty, old ageand Katherine Buildings

• Paul Thompson – oral history and Edwardians

• Ray Pahl –Hertfordshire Villages studies

• National Social Policy and Social Change Archive

Secondary analysis potential

• descriptive / background population information

• comparative research, re-study or follow-up

study

• secondary analysis

• verification

• research design and methodology

• teaching and learning

Online access to datasets

• web pages– online catalogue with variable level searching– subject browsing and major series– access to online doc - pdf user guides including questionnaires

• registration– one-off registration with Athens authentication– online account management and ‘Shopping Basket’ ordering

• data access– web download in three main software formats - SPSS, STATA

and tab-delimited– Nesstar – online data analysis, visualisation and subsetting

Supporting the user• courses and training

• specialist support, including helpdesk, mailing list, discussion lists and newsletters

• web-based user guides to the datasets

• teaching datasets, online samplers

• online workbooks, exemplars and FAQs

• web-based visualisation interface

ESDS specialist data services: www.esds.ac.uk

UK Data Archive:www.data-archive.ac.uk

help@esds.ac.uk