An introduction to the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS) Beate Lichtwardt, ESDS/UK Data Archive Module ec831, University of Essex 3 December 2009

Why ? Maybe you want your final-year project to  … become a publication in the Essex Economics Students' Journal (EESJ)  … win an annual prize awarded by the Department of Economics for the best undergraduate research project  … be an interesting research project enhancing your analytical and research skills using secondary data analysis

Where to look for relevant project data ?  First point of reference: ESDS  If requested data available from other than ESDS data catalogue, user support team will acquire data on your behalf - from the depositor - from other archives

Data catalogue search

ESDS - overview   national data archiving and dissemination service, managed by the UK Data Archive which recently celebrated its 42 nd anniversary  ESDS provides access and specialist support for key economic and social data resources  running from 1 January 2003

ESDS - overview  Jointly supported by: ESRC - Economic and Social Research Council JISC - Joint Information Systems Committee  Partners: UKDA - UK Data Archive, Essex MIMAS - Manchester Information and Associated Services, Manchester CCSR - Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research, Manchester ISER - Institute for Social and Economic Research, Essex

ESDS holdings Data for research and teaching purposes and used in all sectors and for many different disciplines  6,000 datasets in the collection  230 new datasets added each year  Over 46,000 registered users  Approximately 60,000 downloads worldwide p.a.  user support queries

Types of collections  Surveys  Censuses  Registers  Aggregate statistics  Text (digital) and images  Audio and visual data

Types of data  Government Large-scale government surveys  International Multi-nation aggregate databanks and survey data  Longitudinal Major UK surveys following individuals over time  Qualitative Range of multimedia qualitative data sources (in-depth and semi- structured interviews, focus groups, oral histories, mixed methods data, records of meetings, diaries – audio and video)

Sources of data  Official agencies - mainly central government  International statistical time series  Individual academics - research grants  Market research agencies  Public records/historical sources  Access to international data via links with other data archives worldwide

Links with other archives CESSDA Council of European Social Science Data Archives Non- European: ICPSR, ASSDA

Specialist data services ESDS Government ESDS International ESDS Longitudinal ESDS Qualidata provide: dedicated web sites data and documentation enhancements user support training and information on events

Large-scale government data General Household Survey Labour Force Survey Health Survey for England/Wales/Scotland Expenditure and Food Survey British Crime Survey Family Resources 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 manage and analyse

Longitudinal studies National Child Development Study (NCDS) British Cohort Study 1970 (BCS 70) Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) Families and Children Study (FACS) Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) British Household Panel Survey (BHPS)

 Collected and deposited by ISER, here at Essex  Follows the members of 5500 households first sampled in interviews conducted annually  Panel survey, repeated questions allows change to be tracked  Coverage includes: income, labour market behaviour, social and political values, health, education, housing and household organisation

British Birth Cohort Studies  Impact of childhood conditions on later life and understanding children and families in the UK – lifecourse study  National Child Development Study follows a cohort born in a single week in 1958  1970 British Cohort Study follows a cohort born in a single week in 1970  Millennium Cohort Study focuses on children born in 2000/2001

International macro and micro data ESDS International is split into two types of data:  Aggregate or macrodata …are data that has been aggregated to a country or regional level. This type of data is typically produced by inter-governmental organisations like the UN or World Bank. All the aggregate databanks contain time series data.  Survey or microdata …are data about individuals. This type of data is typically produced by an organisation in the academic sector and looks at values and attitudes.

International macro 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 themes Databanks 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

Example from UN COMTRADE, 2008 Graph: Celia Russell

Future developments Source: World Bank

International microdata ESDS International holds, and guides users towards accessing, several key international survey datasets, including:  European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions datasets (Eurofund collection)  Eurobarometers (EB)  European Social Survey (ESS)  International Social Survey Programme (ISSP  European and World Values Surveys (EVS, WVS)  European Election Study (EES)  Latinobarómetro (LB)  Young Lives (YL)  Other regional barometers (Afrobarometer, Arab Barometer, AsiaBarometer and Asian Barometer Survey)

International data via other national 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.

International data via other national archives Datasets include:  Eurobarometers - EB (ZA/Germany)  International Social Survey Programme - ISSP (ZA/Germany)  Other data via other national data archives, such as: - World Tables of Economic and Social Indicators, (ICPSR/ US) - Macro-Economic Time Series for the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and France; Income and Employment, (ICPSR/ US) etc.

Secondary analysis potential  Descriptive/background population information  Comparative research, re-study or follow-up study  Secondary analysis  Verification  Research design and methodology

Data Access  Web access to data and metadata  Data are freely available for use in higher education institutions  Data supplied in a variety of formats - statistical package formats (e.g. SPSS, STATA) - databases and spreadsheets - word processed documents, PDF documents etc.

Accessing data - overview  Register with ESDS via UK Federation using your university username and password  Agree to an End User Licence (EUL)  Select the desired data from the Data Catalogue by clicking on the ‘Download/Order’ button  Specify a project for which the data is to be used  Then: - download the data to local machine selecting your preferred format (SPSS, STATA, TAB etc.) or - place an order for the data (SC, if no online agreement; SL) and complete all relevant forms

Online analysis using Nesstar  Online data browsing and analysis system  Allows users to search for, locate, browse and analyse and download a wide variety of statistical data within a web browser  UK Data Archive, as service provider for ESDS, hosts a Nesstar server populated by its most popular data series  Registering with ESDS required, if exploratory analysis beyond browsing metadata is intended

Nesstar  Browse detailed information (metadata) about these data sources, including links to other sources  Do simple data analysis and visualisation on microdata  Bookmark analysis  Download the appropriate subset of data in one of a number of formats (e.g. SPSS, Excel)

ESDS Nesstar catalogue

Nesstar - links  Introductory guide to using Nesstar:  ESDS Nesstar Catalogue: nesstar.esds.ac.uk/webview/index.jsp  NESSTAR guide nesstar.esds.ac.uk/webview/help/index.html

Help desk Tel: Fax:

DEMO  Finding/accessing data  Online analysis  User support