esds: using and archiving research data laurence horton economic and social data service uk data...
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ESDS: Using and archiving research data
Laurence Horton
Economic and Social Data ServiceUK Data Archive
03 November 2008
ESDS
• national data archiving and dissemination service, running from 1 Jan. 2003 www.esds.ac.uk
ESDS holdings
Data for research and teaching purposes and used in all sectors and for many different disciplines
• official agencies - mainly central government
• individual academics - research grants
• market research agencies
• public records/historical sources
• links to UK census data
• qualitative and quantitative
• international statistical time series
• access to international data via
• links with other data archives worldwide
• history data service in-house (HDS)
• 5,000+ datasets in the
collection
• 250+ new datasets are
added each year
• 6,500+ orders for data
per year
• 60,000+ datasets
distributed worldwide
p.a.
ESDS structure• ESDS Management
– central help desk service; coherent and flexible collections development policy; central registration service; links to other ESRC resources
• ESDS Access and Preservation
– collections development strategy; ingest activities - including data and documentation processing; metadata creation; data dissemination services; long-term preservation
• Specialist data services
– ESDS Government– ESDS International– ESDS Longitudinal – ESDS Qualidata
• dedicated web sites• data and
documentation enhancements
• tailored user support• outreach and training
Kinds of data ESDS deal with• quantitative
– micro data are the coded numerical responses to surveys with a separate record for each individual respondent
– macro data are aggregate figures, for example country-level economic indicators
– data formats include SPSS, Stata and tab delimited formats
• qualitative – data include in-depth interviews, diaries, anthropological field
notes and the complete answers to survey questions – data formats include Excel, Word and RTF
• multimedia – a small number of datasets may include image files, such as
photographs, and audio files
• non-digital material – paper media could include photographs, reports, questionnaires
and transcriptions – analogue audio or audio-visual recordings
ESDS Government data• General Household Survey• Continuous Household Survey (NI)• Labour Force Survey/NI LFS• Health Survey for
England/Wales/Scotland • Family Expenditure Survey/NI FES• British/Scottish Crime Survey• Family Resources Survey • Expenditure and Food Survey • ONS Omnibus Survey
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1979 1985 1989 1991 1993 1995 1998 2000
Percentage of women aged 18-49 cohabiting
General Household Survey
• Survey of English Housing • British Social Attitudes/Scottish Social Attitudes/Young
People’s Social Attitudes/NI Life & Times• National Travel Survey• Time Use Survey• Vital Statistics for England and Wales
ESDS Longitudinal Data • main studies that are primarily UK Research Council:
– British Household Panel Survey (BHPS)
– British Birth Cohort studies:• National Child Development Survey (NCDS)• British Cohort Study 1970 (BCS70)• Millennium Cohort Study (MCS)
– English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)
– Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE)
– possible forthcoming Medical Research Council population study datasets – 1946 Birth Cohort
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 & ages 7, 11, 16, 23, 33, 42 (7 Up TV series)
• 1970 British Cohort Study follows a cohort born in a single week in 1970 - data collected around birth & ages 5, 10, 16, 26, 29 and most recently at age 34
• 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
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
ESDS International data portfolio
• 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:
– the International Monetary Fund – the OECD – the United Nations– the World Bank – Eurostat– the International Labour Organisation– the UK Office for National Statistics
• access to micro data surveys– Eurobarometers, Latinobarometers– International Social Survey Programme– other social data via other national data archives
access for UK HE/FE only
International data themes
• 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
Databanks cover:
International survey data
•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:
– Eurobarometer– International Social Survey Programme – World Values Survey
ESDS Qualidata
• 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
• data from National Research Council (ESRC) individual and programme research grant awards
• data from ‘classic’ social science studies
• other funders/sources
Classic sociology datasets
• Peter Townsend – Poverty, old ageand Katherine Buildings
• Paul Thompson – oral history and Edwardians
• Mildred Blaxter’s ‘Mothers and Daughters’
• Ray Pahl –Hertfordshire Villages studies
• National Social Policy and Social Change Archive
Finding data
• Catalogue of holdings
– Describes study, methods and data collection
– Records all study related publications
– Lists variables for SPSS datasets
– Can download user guide free
– Link to web download of dataset
Accessing data
DOWNLOAD TO LOCAL MACHINE
• You first need to register using Athens or UK Federation.
• You agree to an End User Licence
• You specify a project for which you'd like to use data
• You download data selecting your desired format (SPSS, STATA, ASCII, RTF etc)
• You get an idea of file size
Accessing data online
• online data analysis, including
– Simple data analysis, visualisation, downloading and subsetting via Nesstar
– ESDS Qualidata Online – interview transcripts
– ESDS Government Vital Statistics online
– International macro data via Beyond 20/20 and visualisation interface
– Census data
Cross-tab
Instantly chart it
ESDS Qualidata Online
Creation of digital multimedia resources that integrate existing primary and secondary materials:
• catalogues of interview summaries • full electronic interview transcripts • thematic browsing of interview transcripts • collections of digital sound clips • contextual photos• background information and press reviews on the
original studies • details of publications based upon secondary
studies of the collections
Help for users
• help desk and web site• dedicated survey pages• JISCmail list• regularly updated web-based FAQs • programme of training courses and publicity events• news bulletins and articles • resources (links to other sites)• teaching datasets and/or exemplars• enhanced documentation e.g.
dataset and software guides statistical guides (SPSS, Stata, weighting) Variables consistent over time on specific surveys
(ESDS Government) Thematic guides
Each specialist service provides:
The Census Portal
• the Census Portal provides one-stop registration and support for access to:
– Census Dissemination Unit from MIMAS – aggregate tables/Casweb
– Census Geography Data Unit (UKBORDERS) from EDINA – boundaries data
– Census Interaction Data Service (Universities of Leeds and St Andrews) - flow data
– Samples of Anonymised Records from CCSR – micro data
– CHCC - Historical Census Collection from AHDS History
History Data Service
• particularly strong in 19th and 20th century economic and social history
• census data (1881 100% sample; 1851 2% sample; lots of local census returns)
• Great Britain Historical Database online• taxation materials• large-scale datasets of Welsh and Irish historical
statistics • electoral data (poll books for local areas) • criminal court records (e.g. a collection of datasets on
violent crimes 1600-1900) • agricultural statistics (prices, output) • surveys of Scottish witchcraft• state finance data• economic indicators/industrial production data
Secondary analysis potential
• descriptive material
• comparative research, restudy or follow-up study
• re-analysis/secondary analysis
• research design and methodological advancement
• replication of published statistics
• teaching and learning
Secondary analysis potential
• description
• comparative research, restudy or follow-up study• augment data you collect e.g. expand sample size
• re-analysis or secondary analysis
• verification
• research design and methodological advancement
• teaching and learning
Re-using qualitative data
• Archived qualitative data are a rich and unique, yet too often unexploited, source of research material.
• They offer information that can be re-analysed, reworked, and compared with contemporary data.
• In time, too, archived research materials can prove to be a significant part of our cultural heritage and become resources for historical as well as contemporary research.
• What then are the methodological, ethical and theoretical considerations relating to the secondary analysis of qualitative data?
Culture of re-use
• well-established tradition in social science of reanalysing quantitative data
• no logical intellectual reason why this should not be so for qualitative data
• however, among qualitative researchers no similar research culture
• lack of discussion of the issues involved in literature on the benefits and limitations of such approaches
• more now published, but more needed …!
Data and Methods
• often a diversity of methods and tools rather than a single one are encompassed
• types of data collected vary with the aims of the study and the nature of the sample
• samples are most often small, but may rise to 500 or more informants
• as we have seen data include interviews, group discussions, fieldwork diaries and observation notes, personal documents, photographs etc.
• created in a variety of formats: digital, paper (typed and hand-written), audio, video and photographic
Description
• describing the contemporary and historical attributes, attitudes and behaviour of individuals, societies, groups or organisations
• data created now, will in time become a unique historical resource
• providing alternative sources (the people’s voice etc.) to the public record that will be deposited in archives
Comparative research, replication or restudy
• of original research
• to compare with other data sources
• to provide comparison over time or between social groups or regions etc.
• to follow up original sample
• verification - substantiating results, although we have yet to see any evidence of re-use for this purpose (might be useful in a teaching context though)
Re-analysis
• secondary analysis
• asking new questions of the data and making different interpretations to the original researcher
• approaching the data in ways that weren't originally addressed, such as using data for investigating different themes or topics of study
• the more in-depth the material, the more possible this becomes
Research design and methodological advancement
• designing a new study or developing a methodology or research tool by studying sampling methods, data collection and fieldwork strategies and topic guides
• although researchers often publish a section on methods used, researchers' own fieldwork diaries can offer much insight into the history and development of the research
• encourage researchers to reflect on the researcher’s own experiences
‘Difficulties’ in re-using data
• practice of secondary analysis of qualitative data is not a commonplace research activity
• Major barriers cited:
– problem of the implicit nature of qualitative data collection and analysis – context and reflexivity
– lack of time to get fully acquainted with research materials created by someone else
– Constraints of informed consent
– insecurity about the exposure of one’s own research practice; IPR or threat of misinterpretation
– Lack of publicly available research data
Prerequisites for undertaking secondary analysis
• Having a rich an diverse stock of quality data sources, without excessive restriction
• Having access to original sources where possible, e.g tape recordings or full transcriptions
• Having access to data contextualising material e.g. online catalogues, lists, methodology etc.
• Have a solid foundation in “primary” data analysis – range of qualitative research methods
• Possess rudimentary skills in computer assisted qualitative data analysis software (not essential, but useful)
• Have adequate time to engage in the project
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