1. Graduate Search Clinics
Using social science data services
Mark Janes,
Social Sciences Subject Consultant

2. Social Science Data Services
The data landscape/ESDS sign up
Finding data
Data services (plus hands on)
Other data services

3. Social science data services
What is data? We asked 6 people …
Respondent A: statistical series
Respondent B: survey results
Respondent C: longitudinal studies
Respondent D: financial statistics
Respondent E: law reports
Respondent F: newspaper articles
Respondent G: just about anything

4. Social science data services
New mothers spend £400 on average on toddler’s wardrobes, a survey says.
Tea is the number one night-time drink for men and women
Research shows that 52 per cent of men in the city admit to wearing odd socks at least once a week (survey by online sock retailer)
More than 20 million British homeowners have spent more than £150bn in tasteless home improvements that have reduced the value of their homes.
Blastlan and Dilnot (2010) The Tiger That Isn't: Seeing Through a World of Numbers, p. 144

5. Finding statistical data

6. Finding statistical data

7. Finding statistical data

8. Social science data services

10. Social science data services

11. Main categories of statistical data
Macro data
National and international level
Size and shape of nations, populations, economic activity, trade etc.
Tends to be published by state and inter-governmental agencies (UN, World Bank, IMF, OECD, WHO)
International standards for comparing nations
Usually long time series available
Not all variables available for all countries

12. Main categories of statistical data
Micro data
Data on individuals, discreet activities
Via surveys, observation, administrative records
Often aggregated to give larger picture
Produced by state agencies, polling agencies, organizations, researchers
Includes government studies: household surveys, cohort studies, longitudinal studies
Otherwise mostly one-off studies, or in waves
Individual distribution (e.g. official website), by publication, and/or data archive

13. Main categories of statistical data
Economic and financial data
International, national, or sub-regional economic statistics
Timeseries
Data from financial institutions (e.g. markets)
Public data from inter-governmental organizations, national, banks, financial institutions, companies
Commercially sensitive data on commercial databases, analyst reports etc.

14. Social science data services
Finding data, a checklist:
What – define what data you need
Who – is likely to have collected the data?
Search – develop a search strategy
Access – how can the data be accessed?

15. Social science data services
Finding data, a checklist:
What? Define your data need
Type of data (e.g., survey, financial, macroeconomic, reported, observational)
Subject/content (e.g., public opinion, prices, national debt, health)
Time span (e.g., now, last 10 years, annual, monthly etc.)
Geographic (country, international, city)

16. Social science data services
Finding data, a checklist:
Who?
Individual researchers/research groups
Government (national statistical offices, central banks)
Inter-Govenmental Organizations (UN, World Bank etc.)
Non-Governmental Organizations (charities, policy centres)
Commercial (Financial organizations, companies, commercial banks etc.)

17. Social science data services
Finding data, a checklist:
3. Search
Key data services (ESDS, UKDA, ICPSR etc. Nuffield Data Library)
Offical sites: National Statistics, IGO sites (UN, World Bank, ILO, OECD)
Library databases (OxLIP+, Libguides
Google!

18. Social science data services
Nuffield Data Library
Holds Oxford’s collection of major datasets from national archives
Members of the University can register
Jane Roberts, Data Services Officer
Oxford contact for national services
Advice on data

19. Finding statistical data
UK data service for HE researchers
Access to UK and International Data
Free via Single Sign On and registration
Select data and download, selective online analysis (NESSTAR)
Guides and training

20. Social science data services

21. Finding statistical data
UK Data Archive
ESRC funded archive based at Essex
1967 –
Stores data from ESRC funded research, UK official statistics and major surveys
Browse by subject
Medieval to Modern

22. Social science data services

23. Social science data services

24. ICPSR Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
1962-
Largest social science data archive
US research data
National and international survey data
Download data directly after simple registration process
Related literature

25. Social science data services
OECD iLibrary:

26. Finding statistical data

27. Social science data services
Other major data services/sources:
Business school (libguides):
UNdata:
World Bank data:
WHO
U.S. census:
UK National Statistics:

28. Social science data services

29. Social science data services
Still can’t find it?
Sometimes the data you want may not be available:
No one thought to count it
Wars, natural disasters, government crises
Organizations did not exist to gather the data (e.g., pre-1945)
Not available for general purchase
Commercial data is often too expensive for universities