Tuesday 28 June 2011

Census 2011 Latest News

Over the past two years extensive consultations have taken place defining a range of 2011 Census products and services that will meet the needs of users; the most recent of which closed in April 2011. It was proposed in January 2011 that following this consultation a timetable for the release of outputs would be made available in May/June 2011. Whilst plans for Census outputs are progressing well, ONS need to ensure that any planned release timetable for the 2011 Census is both accurate and achievable. As a result a full release timetable will now be issued alongside a 2011 Census Prospectus in early 2012. In the meantime ONS will provide an agreed running order for 2011 Census outputs in July.

For further information on the release of information relating census outputs see :- http://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011-census/produce-deliver-data/2011-census-outputs/index.html

View the latest news on the 2011 Census :- http://2011.census.gov.uk/
View further information regarding the background of the 2011 Census :- http://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011-census/index.html

Thursday 23 June 2011

ESDS International Seventh Annual Conference 2011 - Understanding the world: evidence and impact

***CALL FOR PRESENTERS***

Date: Monday 28 November 2011
Venue: Institute of Materials, London.

The theme of the 7th ESDS International Annual conference is 'Understanding the world: evidence and impact' and we are now looking for UK academics who have used ESDS International data to present their research. We would welcome submissions on the key issues and topics, set out in the Economic and Social Research Councils (ESRC's) strategic priorities (see

http://www.esrc.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/key-issues-and-topics.aspx):

• Economic Performance and Sustainable Growth
• Influencing Behaviour and Informing Interventions
• Vibrant and Fair Society

Last years submissions included research on ‘Job insecurity and the local economic climate across Europe’, ‘World Electricity Cooperation' and ‘The Dynamic of Institutions and Economic Growth: The Asian Experience'.

Other speakers at the conference will include representatives from Inter Governmental Organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Energy Agency and other publishers of international data. See our Annual Conference page at http://www.esds.ac.uk/international/news/conf.asp for links to previous conference programmes, reports and proceedings.

There is no need to write a paper specifically for the conference but any papers submitted will be published on the ESDS International website as conference proceedings. If you are interested, please send a title and brief abstract (max 200 words) to ESDS International at international@esds.ac.uk by the 31st August 2011.

Reasonable UK travel costs (i.e. standard class rail travel) for academic speakers will be reimbursed but we are unable to cover accommodation costs.

As a specialist data service of the ESRC/JISC funded Economic and Social Data Service, ESDS International provides the UK academic community with free access to the high quality socio-economic data sets produced by inter-governmental organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, the International Energy Agency, the United Nations and the World Bank. We also help users to locate and acquire international micro-level datasets, such as Eurobarometer, ISSP and the World Values Surveys.

For further information on the conference please contact the ESDS International Helpdesk at international@esds.ac.uk, tel: +44 (0)161 275 6109.

Thursday 16 June 2011

Resource on scales/instruments and harmonised questions used in UK surveys

The Survey Question Bank has recently added a resource on scales/instruments used in UK surveys: http://www.surveynet.ac.uk/sqb/scales/introduction.asp
and a resource promoting the Office for National Statistics's harmonised questions: http://www.surveynet.ac.uk/sqb/harmonisation/introduction.asp.

Funding to investigate the feasibility of a rolling census.

ESRC and ONS are inviting applications to investigate the feasibility of implementing a Rolling Census to provide population and wider socio-demographic statistics in the UK. Further information about the proposed study is currently being advertised on the ESRC website:

http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/RCSS.aspx

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Managing and Sharing Data: Best Practice for Researchers

To support researchers in producing high quality research data for long-term use, the UK Data Archive has revised and expanded its popular and highly cited Managing and Sharing Data: best practice for researchers, first published in 2009.

The new third edition is 36 pages covering:

* why and how to share research data
* data management planning and costs
* formatting data
* storing data
* ethics and consent issues
* copyright strategies

These are augmented with a list of third-party references, 19 case studies that demonstrate best practice examples and a checklist to guide data management planning. A suite of more detailed online information on the UK Data Archive website complements this guide.

Like previous editions, the revised guide is free of charge to higher education researchers in the UK thanks to funding from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), the Rural Economy and Land Use (Relu) Programme and the UK Data Archive. JISC and Relu have joined the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in officially endorsing the guide.

The guide is available online in PDF format http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/media/2894/managingsharing.pdf. Printed copies can be requested from comms@data-archive.ac.uk

Invitation to tender: Economic impact evaluation of ESDS

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is seeking to commission an exploratory evaluation study to assess the economic impact and benefits of its main research data infrastructure, the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS). This study is also intended to further develop the ESRC's approach to economic impact evaluation.

The purpose of the evaluation will be to identify and assess economic impact by:

• applying economic valuation techniques where appropriate to derive a quantitative estimate of the economic benefits of ESDS data and services
• presenting the results of the economic assessment within the context of a broader qualitative analysis of the benefits of the ESDS
• conducting case studies of the impact generated by research based on ESDS data
• reflecting on the results and identifying best practice and lessons for:
               o maximising the benefits from research data infrastructure investments and
               o developing approaches for future economic impact evaluations

Further details and a copy of the full specification are available from Jonathan Smith at the Research Councils UK Shared Services Centre Ltd.: Jonathan.Smith@ssc.rcuk.ac.uk, 01235 446394

Reference PS110004
Submission deadline is Tuesday 14 June 2011 at 11.00am

Workshop on Respondent Driven Sampling

http://www.norface-migration.org/eventdetail.php?id=57

Date and Venue:  16 & 17 June, Institute of Education, London

The purpose of this conference is to bring together statisticians and survey methodologists developing Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) with researchers using the method to survey immigrants. RDS utilizes social networks to find, survey, and develop inference on "hidden populations" like sex workers, drug users, and migrant workers. The method was introduced in 1997 and has since become widely used, yet RDS is often incorrectly implemented and the most recent statistical developments can take years to come into practice. Bringing together researchers using RDS methodology with leading statisticians and survey methodologists will further the aims of all three, by informing theory with practice and practice with the latest developments in statistical and methodological theory. The conference will also inform future applications of the method on migrant populations.

An international group of invited speakers include: Douglas Heckathorn, Simon Frost, Krista Gile, Matthew Salganik, Richard White, Peter Muhlau, Lisa Johnston, Andrew Cleary, Tetiana Saliuk, Guri Tyldum and Renee Luthra.

Registration: The workshop is free to researchers interested in RDS methodology, but space is limited. If you would like to attend, please email Renee Luthra: rrluthra@essex.ac.uk

This seminar has been organised under the auspices of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) and the UK Longitudinal Studies Centre (ULSC). Support for the conference is also provided by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through the Research Centre on Micro-Social Change (MiSoC) (award no. RES-518-28-001), and the Norface Migration Research Programme.

Thursday 2 June 2011

Review of HMRC Tax Credits Publications

HM Revenue & Customs are carrying out a formal review of our Tax Credits National and Official Statistics publications (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm ).


The responses will help them to evaluate whether any changes are needed to the publications. HMRC would like to know if other information would be useful that is not currently available, or whether there are any areas of the statistics which you feel are irrelevant. There may also be issues with the format of the tables that need to be addressed, or presentational amendments that could be useful.

The survey can be found here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/tax_credits  

The survey will take 5-10 minutes, and the results will be published but all results and all views will be completely anonymous. The deadline for reply is 31st August.

UK Census 2011 - Specification for the 2011 SARS

The specifications for the 2011 Sample of Anonymised Records have now been sent to the Census Offices and are available on the SARs website at www.ccsr.ac.uk/sars/2011/