RSS Event: The Retail Prices Index and the Consumer Price Index

Tuesday 25th January 2011 5pm
Royal Statistical Society, London.
12 Errol Street, London, EC1Y 8LX


The Retail Prices Index is the traditional measure of retail price inflation, and has been widely used for a range of purposes. Recently the Government has been giving more prominence to an alternative measure, the Consumer Price Index. This meeting will discuss whether the CPI is a better inflation measure than the RPI for all or some purposes. The ONS is considering how to improve the CPI and in particular how to include housing costs, which are currently excluded.

Speakers
To include Pam Davies (ONS).
Chairperson
Michael Baxter, Official Statistics Section committee.

Tea and coffee will be provided during the meeting.

Attendance is free and open to all, but pre-registration is recommended. You can register by email: meetings@rss.org.uk or by phone (020) 7638 8998. For further information contact Michael Baxter (michael_a_baxter@hotmail.com

Free data publishing tool

The Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD) has recently announced the availability of version 4.0 of the Nesstar software system for data publishing and online analysis. Starting from this release, the Nesstar Publisher component is now a freeware product and can be downloaded from the Nesstar web site. Also known as the IHSN Metadata Editor, the Publisher is a popular tool for the preparation of Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) based metadata.
For more information, visit http://www.nesstar.com

Changes to ORBIS: 1

BVD have developed a new on-line interface for ORBIS. The LSE will be transferring to the new version shortly, however

saved search strategies won’t carry over from the old version unless you save them and then re-load them to the new version

This only applies to ORBIS accessed on-line.

Details of when the upgrade will occur will be posted here as soon as the date has been set.

Crime Statistics Consultation

The Ministry of Justice today launched a consultation which aims to make statistics covering the Criminal Justice System more transparent and user friendly. A copy of the consultation document and details of how to respond can be found on our website:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/statistics-cp171110.htm

The 'Consultation on improvements to Ministry of Justice statistics' seeks views on:
• the definitions of statistics - making the statistics consistent across MoJ publications and clarifying the definition of certain important measurements.
• introducing a quarterly criminal justice statistics bulletin. This would give an overview of trends in crime, out of court disposals, prosecutions, convictions and sentencing.
• moving to a single measure of re-offending. This would get rid of the six different ways re-offending is measured. This includes consolidating five separate publications on re-offending into a single publication.
These proposals represent significant improvements by:

• making a wider range of data available routinely through our statistical publications;
• presenting a coherent overview of criminal justice statistics to help understanding and ease of comparison; and
• simplifying access to information in line with the National Statistics Code of Practice.
The consultation is a response to a number of separate reports including the UK Statistics Authority Assessment of Criminal Justice Studies, the Stern Review of Rape Reporting and UK Statistics Authority's Barrier to Trust in Crime Statistics as well as our own internal review of criminal justice publications.
The closing date for responses is 18 February 2011 and responses can be submitted by email, post or by using the online survey. If you have any questions about the consultation, please contact: statistics.enquiries@justice.gsi.gov.uk

Monday 22nd November - Working with World Bank Data

Dr. Eric Swanson, senior advisor to the director of the Development Data Group at the World Bank, will discuss the sources and methods used to compile the World Development Indicators and other databases maintained by the World Bank.

The World Bank's recently announced policy of providing free and unrestricted access to its databases has opened up a large amount of new information for students and researchers. Dr. Swanson is an economist who has spent his career collecting, analyzing, and publishing data on developing countries.

There will be a talk and presentation Monday 22nd November 10.30-11.45, in LRB 405 (CEP Conference Room) 4th Floor, Research Laboratory followed by one-on-one meetings with Dr Swanson between 1.00 pm and 5.00 pm.

If you would like to meet with Dr Swanson and discuss World Bank data, or attend the event please go to the event webpage for further details:

For further information

Please visit the Working with World Bank Data
webpage

Staff vacancies at the UK Data Archive

The UK Data Archive is seeking to appoint both a Senior Systems and Applications Developer and a Senior Services and Data Repository Developer.

Both Developers will join the Information Development and Programming section of the UK Data Archive. The section provides support for the critical needs of the other divisions in the UK Data Archive, developing, maintaining and updating internal and external systems which are in everyday use.

The Archive is in the process of redeveloping a number of its legacy applications, using new processes, tools and architectures.

The Senior Systems and Applications Developer will manage a small team of developers and have day to day responsibility for the maintenance and redevelopment of legacy applications, plus the development of new applications, ensuring that work is clearly specified, well managed, completed on time and meets the stakeholders’ requirements.

The Senior Services and Data Repository Developer will manage a small team of developers and have day to day responsibility for the design and implementation of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), plus the maintenance and eventual migration to the SOA of legacy databases.

These are a fixed-term posts until 30 September 2012.

Further details: http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/news-events/news.aspx?id=2651

Synthetic data meets simulation workshop - last call for participants

Date: 22nd October 2010 10AM - 4PM
Venue: University of Manchester

A workshop to explore synergies between synthetic data generation and agent-based modelling.

This workshop has been conceived to explore whether research in both fields could be mutually informative and whether the techniques, methods and data products of each could enhance the other. Some ideas that may be worth exploring include: the use of synthetic data to assign properties to agents so that they possess the multivariate properties of the population of interest; and the use of agent based models to enhance longitudinal aspects of synthetic data (which may well have been generated cross-sectionally).

The workshop is free to attend. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. Register here: http://www.simian.ac.uk/courses/course-registration

Introduction to census data usage

24 November, 2010
London Metropolitan University

Further information and booking form: http://www.esds.ac.uk/news/eventdetail.asp?id=2606

This one-day workshop will enable participants to gain familiarity with census data, and to put this knowledge to practical use. SARs microdata, aggregate statistics and longitidinal data will be covered in more detail and there will also be practical exercises to try.

Labour Market Statistics User Group: Changes in labour demand - A look at the labour market by industry

25 November 2010, 2:30-4:30pm
BIS Conference Centre, 1 Victoria Street, London

This session will look at the impact of the new industrial classification on labour market outputs and also provide analysis by industry on earnings, jobs and hours. Speakers will include:

Ole Black (ONS) - Sponsor of SIC2007 project
Steffan Hess (ONS) - Moving Workforce Jobs to SIC2007
Craig Barratt (BIS) - Hours worked: What lies beneath?
TBC (Low Pay Commission) - Job sectors and low pay

Everyone is welcome. If you would like to attend e-mail business.support.team@ons.gsi.gov.uk

Labour Force Survey User Meeting

Thursday 2 December 2010: Royal Statistical Society, London

This meeting will provide a forum for data users and producers to meet and discuss new developments and exchange information about the Labour Force Survey.

To view the programme and book a place please go to http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/esds/events/2010-12-02/

Census SARS user meeting 2010

The SARs User Meeting will be held on Monday 8 November at the Royal Statistical Society, London.

The meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss requirements and comment on the specifications for the 2011 SARs. Sessions have been split into key topic areas and will be led by an expert in the field to encourage discussion. The Office for National Statistics will give an update on the 2011 Census and the SARs team will talk about general considerations. To view the programme and book a place please go to http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/sars/events/2010-11-08/

For SARS related resources see http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/sars/resources/

Consultation on the 2011 Census SARs

This relates to the future of the Sample of Anonymised Records, the extract of the census that is released for research purposes.

The consultation on the 2011 SARs has now begun with feedback from experts on topic and variable content. The consultation will be opened up to general users on 18 October and you will be able to give your views at http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/sars/2011/consultations/
or by emailing sars-helpdesk@manchester.ac.uk.

If you use the SARS or think you may use them in the future, please contribute to this consultation. This is particularly important if you wish the data released from the 2011 census to be comparable with data you have used for previous years.

LSYPE Introductory Workshop

One-day introductory workshop on the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE).
Monday 13 December 2010: London

The workshop is designed both for researchers who are considering using data from LSYPE in their work and for those in government departments and the voluntary sector who are involved in commissioning research.

Issues to be covered will include: themes and content covered by the survey; survey design; accessing LSYPE via the ESDS; research findings using LSYPE, and i-LSYPE, a new online analysis tool.

Further details including booking form: http://www.esds.ac.uk/longitudinal/news/eventdetail.asp?id=2622

Europeana database

Europeana is an EU funded database of paintings, music, films and books from Europe's galleries, libraries, archives and museums.

It currently contains links to 6 million objects from organisations such as the British Library, the Rijksmuseum and the Louvre.

http://www.europeana.eu/portal/index.html

ESDS International conference

Booking now open for ESDS International Annual Conference 2010: Global issues > Global data > Global thinking.

Monday 29 November 2010 at the Institute of Materials in London.

The event is intended to appeal to policy makers, members of the academic community using the international databanks in their research and teaching, data librarians and producers of international data resources. The event is free and open to all but capacity is limited, so booking is essential.

For further information see http://www.esds.ac.uk/international/news/conf2010.asp

EDUBASE 2010

The 2010 extract of the EDUBASE data is now available in the library. If  you are a member of the LSE Research Laboratory and would like to use the data please let me know. I will be applying for licenses on Thursday 7th October.

Funding for Data Preparation

Are you

- LSE staff or an LSE postgraduate student?
- Involved in collecting data?
- Willing to be involved in a project looking at barriers and solutions to the reuse of research data?

If so there may be funding available for your data preparation work. If you are interested in finding out more please drop me an email.

Introduction to the BHPS using Stata

25th-26th November 2010, ISER, Essex University.

The course is aimed at new users of British Household Panel Study, with a basic working knowledge of Stata.

The main focus is on the data reorganisation techniques required for different types of cross sectional and longitudinal research, rather than the statistical techniques themselves.

There is no charge for the course, but a refundable deposit of £100 is required to secure a place on the course.

For more information see http://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/survey/bhps/courses/stata-intro

CERC bulletin

The French Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion's Information Service Bulletin no. 214 has been published.

The bulletin consists mainly of links to publisheed papers that make use of CERC data. The papers are sorted by subject eg. poverty, employment, income etc.

http://www.cerc.gouv.fr/bulletin/bulletin0214.html

Short Course on Paradata in Survey Research

A short course on 'Paradata in Survey Research' will be held in London on the 7-8th December 2010.

The course objective is to provide participants with an overview of best practices and cutting edge research on the use of paradata, and to help participants gain a thorough understanding of the role of paradata in increasing survey quality and reducing total survey error.

The course costs £30 for UK registered students, and £60 for staff from UK academic institutions.

For more information see http://www.s3ri.soton.ac.uk/cass/showcourse.php?id=95

JournalTOCS - search journal contents pages

JournalTOCS provides free on-line access to the tables of contents of 14,228 journals.

You can search the database by author, publisher, ISSN and keyword. You can also search for words in the titles of papers.

http://www.journaltocs.hw.ac.uk

UCLA ATS - useful resources

UCLA Academic Technology Services website contains some useful resources including introductory courses for statistical software such as STATA, SAS and SPSS; GIS resources; as well as discussions of more advanced statistical methods. Some of the resources are restricted to UCLA, but there is a lot freely available.

South Asians making Britain: 1858-1950

The South Asians making Britain project has released an online interactive database which provides information on South Asians in Britain from 1870-1950: geographical location, the organisations they were involved in, their British connections and the major events they were involved in. The database can be found at http://www.open.ac.uk/makingbritain the project welcomes feedback.

The Guardian newspaper has also published a visual timeline of the impact of South Asians on British life http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/sep/10/south-asians-making-britain to accompany the travelling exhibition that will be launched next week.

The Integrated Health Interview Series (IHIS) has released 4000 new harmonised variables from the US National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from 1969-2009.

New topic areas include child and adult mental health, cancer family history, adult physical activity, and use of complementary and alternative medicines.

IHIS data is available for free via a web based extraction system at www.ihis.us

The Centre for Census and Survey Research at the University of Manchester has just announced a number of one day courses in survey methods:

Questionnaire design - 22nd September 2010
Cognitive Interviewing for Testing Survey Questions - 23rd September 2010
Standardised Multi-Tem Scale Development for Surveys - 24th September 2010

for more information see http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/courses/list