Economic and Social Data Service Internet for Social Research Social Sciences Online, Oxford 14 June 2005 Dr Celia Russell © Copyright 2004 Universities of Essex and Manchester. All rights reserved

What is ESDS? principal UK service for social and economic data dissemination and archiving, started 1 Jan provides access and specialist support for key economic and social data jointly supported by: –Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) –Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) partners: –UK Data Archive (UKDA), Essex –Manchester Information and Associated Services (MIMAS), Manchester –Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research (CCSR), Manchester –Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), Essex

ESDS has 4 specialist data services ESDS Government ESDS International ESDS Longitudinal ESDS Qualidata provide: dedicated web sites data and documentation enhancements user support training

ESDS Government Labour Force Surveys/Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey General Household Survey/Continuous Household Survey (Northern Ireland) Family Expenditure Survey/Northern Ireland Family Expenditure Survey National Food Survey/Expenditure and Food Survey (new combined National Food Survey and Family Expenditure Survey) Family Resources Survey ONS Omnibus Survey Survey of English Housing Health Survey for England/Welsh Health Survey/Scottish Health Survey British Crime Survey/Scottish Crime Survey British Social Attitudes/Scottish Social Attitudes/Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey (and the former Northern Ireland Social Attitudes)/Young People's Social Attitudes (periodic offshoot of the BSA) National Travel Survey Time Use Survey

Benefits of the large-scale government datasets 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 –individual and household –intra-household differences –household effects on individuals

Using hierarchy to look within households Household ID Household type Person 1 40 years Female Working Person 2 42 Male Unemployed Person 3 14 Male Student

ESDS Qualidata qualitative data is non-numeric 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

ESDS Qualidata examples of sociology datasets: SN Mothers Alone : Poverty and the Fatherless Family, SN Innovative Health Technologies at Women's Midlife : Theory and Diversity Among Women and 'Experts', SN Outsiders : Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and the New Europe, SN US-UK Working Families : Work, Life and the City, SN Mental Health of Chinese Women in Britain,

ESDS Longitudinal longitudinal surveys involve repeated surveys of the same individuals at different points in time allow researchers to analyse change at the individual level can be complex to analyse

Longitudinal Data five main studies: –British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) –English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) –British Birth Cohort studies: National Child Development Survey (NCDS) British Cohort Study 1970 (BCS70) Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) also possible forthcoming Medical Research Council population study datasets – 1946 Birth Cohort

Longitudinal data example: the British Cohort Study following the lives of the 17,000 babies born in the UK between 5th and 11th April 1970 in year zero used clinical records and talked to mother and midwife about the birth at ages 5, 10 and 16 talked to class teachers and parents and carried out medical tests at 26, 29 and 32 interviewed subjects about their work, relationships, health, family, politics and values anonymised data can be used to follow individual life courses

ESDS International provides the UK academic community with free web-based access to a range of key international macro databanks produced by organisations such as the United Nations, OECD and World Bank helps users to locate and acquire international micro level datasets such as the European Social Survey, Eurobarometer, International Social Survey Programme promotes the use of international datasets in research and teaching across a range of disciplines

Social capital in EES-15, 2002 Note: The mean level of membership in 12 types of voluntary association and the mean score on the Social Trust scale by nation. Source: European Social Survey 2002 Weighted by dweight.

ESDS International data portfolio IMF Direction of Trade Statistics Balance of Payments Statistics Government Finance Statistics International Financial Statistics OECD Main Economic Indicators International Development International Direct Investment International Migration Statistics Main Science and Technology Indicators Measuring Globalisation Statistics Statistics in International Trade in Services Statistics on Value Added and Employment Social Expenditure Statistics Quarterly Labour Force Statistics UN Common Database ILO Key Indicators of the Labour Market World Bank World Development Indicators World Bank Global Development Finance Eurostat New Cronos UNIDO Industrial Statistics Databases Demand Supply Databases

Example: Human fertility in Europe

Contact conferences to highlight research, discuss methodologies, and bring together the user base and the data providers including MIMAS Open Forum on the 29 June and Social Inequality 20 June! If you want us to deliver a course at your institution, please ask!