The Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS)

Louise Corti

Economic and Social Data ServiceUK Data Archive

Maidstone NHS18 October 2007

What is the ESDS?

• national data archiving and dissemination service running from 1 Jan. 2003 – 2008

• jointly supported by: – Economic and Social Research

Council (ESRC)– Joint Information Systems

Committee (JISC)

• UK Data Archive, Essex

• MIMAS, Manchester

• Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research (CCSR), Manchester

• Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), Essex

Partners

ESDS Overview

• provides access and support for key economic and social data

• distributed service, bringing together centres of expertise in data creation, dissemination, preservation and use

• provides seamless and easier access to a range of disparate resources for UK Higher and Further Education sectors and beyond

ESDS overview

• core archiving service (UKDA) plus four specialist data services

• ESDS Government (CCSR/UKDA)• ESDS International (MIMAS/UKDA)• ESDS Longitudinal (ISER/UKDA)• ESDS Qualidata (UKDA)

• provide: value-added data and documentation service-specific web pages and help support and training teaching datasets/online samplers discussion lists/newsletters publicity and promotion

UKDA’s role

• overall integration and management of ESDS

• acquiring, processing, preserving and disseminating data

• central registration service operating across the ESDS

• central 'first stop' help desk service • cataloguing and describing data• maintaining and developing web sites• publicity and training• user support

Sources / type of data

Data for research and teaching purposes and used in all sectors and for many different disciplines

• official agencies - mainly central government

• international statistical time series

• individual academics - research grants

• market research agencies

• public records/historical sources

• qualitative and quantitative

• links to UK census data

• access to international data via links with other data archives worldwide

Collection held at UKDA

• 5,000+ datasets in the collection

• 250+ new datasets are added each year

• 60,000+ datasets distributed worldwide per

year

• History data service in-house

• Census Services (Census Portal)

• specialist units for supporting qualitative and

longitudinal data in-house

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

Access to data

• registration using Athens including agreement to an End User Licence, fine-grained access control

• download service (SPSS, STATA, ASCII, RTF etc)

• request data on CD

• 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

Access to data

• End User Licence

– data can only be used by registered users (some exceptions relating to teaching)

– to preserve the confidentiality of, and not attempt to identify, individuals, households or organisations in the data

– to use the correct methods of citation and acknowledgement in publications

– to supply the bibliographic details of any published work based on the data collections

– to offer for deposit any new data collections which have been derived from the materials supplied

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 • National Food Survey/Expenditure and Food Survey • ONS Omnibus 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

Benefits of the large-scale government datasets

• good quality data– produced by experienced research organisations– UK/GB - usually nationally representative with large

samples. Interviewers all over country– good response rates– well documented, NISRA, ONS, UKDA, QB etc.

• continuous data– e.g. Continuous Household Survey 1983, allows

comparison over time– data is largely cross-sectional

• hierarchical data– individual and household– 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

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 Household Panel Survey

• collected and deposited by the ULSC at Essex

• follows the members of 5500 households first sampled in 1991

• interviews conducted annually

• become a 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

• 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 & 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, 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

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:

ESDS Qualidata

• access and support for a range of qualitative datasets, hosted by the UK Data Archive

• data from National Research Council (ESRC) individual and programme research grant awards

• data from ‘classic’ social science studies

• other funders/sources

• focus on DIGITAL Collections, but also facilitate paper-based archiving

Types of 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

• multimedia: audio, video, photos and text (most common is interview transcriptions)

• formats: digital, paper, analogue audio-visual

• data structures - differ across different ‘document types’

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

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 Registration Service

• the Census Registration Service 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

• History Data Service collects, preserves, and promotes the use of digital resources, which result from or support historical research, learning and teaching

The AHDS History collection

• 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

Using ESDS data for teaching

• tutor registers with ESDS and downloads data

• registers a usage (for micro data)

• tutor makes data available to students (if online only via secure network)

• tutor asks students to register or sign access agreement for teaching (not always necessary, but to be encouraged)

ContactContact

www.esds.ac.uk

help@esds.ac.uk

ESDS FAQ: www.esds.ac.uk/about/faq.asp