UK Census 2011 - second round of results released

The latest table layouts for the second release of 2011 Census tables have been added to the website. See the links below.

Key Statistics

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/census-data/2011-census-prospectus/release-plans-for-2011-census-statistics/second-release-of-2011-census-statistics/key-statistics--table-layouts.xls

Quick Statistics

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/census-data/2011-census-prospectus/release-plans-for-2011-census-statistics/second-release-of-2011-census-statistics/quick-statistics--table-layouts.xls

You may also find this link to the 2001/2011 Table Comparison helpful http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/census-data/2011-census-prospectus/release-plans-for-2011-census-statistics/second-release-of-2011-census-statistics/table-look-up-file.xls

2011 Census homepage :-http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/index.html

2011 Census News and Events

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/the-2011-census/news-and-events/index.html

Intergrated Household Survey Consultation

In light of the diminishing sample size of the Integrated Household Survey and subsequent loss of statistical precision for Sexual Identity estimates at the Local Authority level, ONS is asking for feedback from IHS data users on this proposal for the future of the IHS datasets.

ONS do not believe quarterly annual IHS datasets, comprising only the Annual Population Survey and the Living Costs and Food Survey, provide value for money and propose to reduce the IHS to one annual dataset per year – based on the January to December fieldwork period.

The last quarterly dataset ONS is planning to produce will be the April 2011 to March 2012 dataset, which will comprise four quarters of APS and LCF and only three quarters of GLF. This experimental dataset is due to be released in September 2012, with its associated Statistical Bulletin. The next dataset will be the January to December 2012 dataset, due to be released in June 2013. This means that datasets Jul11-Jun12 and Oct11-Sep12 will be omitted from production and delivery.

ONS are interested in IHS data users' views on this proposal and would appreciate feedback by the end of October 2012, using the email addresses below: 

caroline.jones@ons.gsi.gov.uk
dean.fletcher@ons.gsi.gov.uk
simon.woodsford@ons.gsi.gov.uk

Economic Impact Evaluation of ESDS

ESDS generates value for money

An economic evaluation of the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS) reveals that for every pound currently invested in data and infrastructure, the service returns £5.40 in net economic value to users and other stakeholders. This compares favourably with the return on investment previously demonstrated for the British Library and for UK academic libraries in general.

The report, commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and prepared by external consultants, aimed to not only evaluate the economic benefits and impact of ESDS, but also to further develop impact evaluation methods that can provide the research council with robust and consistent estimates for all its investments in data service infrastructure.

The newly announced UK Data Service will draw on these strengths, as ESDS will be a key partner in the integrated service, providing users with a unified point of access to an increasingly extensive collection of research data including census data.

Full news story:

http://www.esds.ac.uk/news/newsdetail.asp?id=3291

ESRC link to full report:

http://www.esrc.ac.uk/impacts-and-findings/impact-assessment/economic-impact-evaluation.aspx

Announcing the UK Data Service

Continuing access to the most valuable collection of social and economic data in the UK has been secured with a £17 million investment over five years for the UK Data Service.

Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the new service is structured to support researchers in academia, business, third sector and all levels of government.

The new service, starting on 1 October 2012, will integrate the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS), the Census Programme, the Secure Data Service and other elements of the data service infrastructure currently provided by the ESRC, including the UK Data Archive.

The UK Data Service will provide a unified point of access to the extensive range of high quality economic and social data, including valuable census data. It is designed to provide seamless access and support to meet the current and future research demands of both academic and non-academic users, and to help them maximise the impact of their work.

Full news story:

http://www.esds.ac.uk/news/newsdetail.asp?id=3290

ESRC press release:

http://www.esrc.ac.uk/news-and-events/press-releases/22231/new-national-digital-repository-for-social-and-economic-data.aspx

Consultation on access to address register data for social science research

The ESRC has initiated a consultation to inform its approach in advocating academic access to GeoPlace address register data. As part of the consultation a survey is being undertaken. This, and further information, is available at

http://www.esrc.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/22050/consultation-on-access-to-address-register-data-for-social-science-research.aspx

UK Census 2011 First Results Released

The first results from the 2011 Census were made available today from 11am. Please see the link below for access to the estimates and supporting information: www.ons.gov.uk/census

2011 Census homepage: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/index.html

2011 Census News and Events: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/the-2011-census/news-and-events/index.html

CASS Short Course Programme 2012/13 announced

Full updated details of the new CASS Short Course Programme for 2012/13 are now available from the CASS website at www.southampton.ac.uk/cass

*** Please note that courses filled up very quickly and early booking is recommended ***

The 2012/13 Programme includes courses on:

• How to Analyse Survey Data: Methods, Software and Applications (by Prof Danny Pfeffermann, Prof Patrick Sturgis, Dr Moshe Feder and Dr Dave Holmes) • Questionnaire Design (by Dr Pamela Campanelli) • Survey Data Analysis I: Introducing Descriptive and Inferential Statistics (by Dr Olga Maslovskaya and Dr Amos Channon)• Survey Data Analysis II: Introduction to Linear Regression Modelling (by Dr Nikos Tzavidis) • Applied Multilevel Modelling (by Dr Ian Brunton-Smith and Dr Gabriele Durrant) • Regression Methods (by Dr James J Brown) • Essentials of Survey Design and Implementation (by Dr Pamela Campanelli) • Data Linkage: From Theory to Practice (by Dr Nathalie Shlomo) • Structural Equation Modelling for Cross-Sectional and Panel Data (by Prof Patrick Sturgis and Dr Katy Sindall) •Event History Analysis (by Dr Hill Kulu) (tbc) • Longitudinal Data Analysis (by Prof Peter Smith, Dr Ann Berrington and Dr Marcel Vieira)

Courses will be held in Southampton, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London.

For a course summary and details of dates and venues, please visit http://www.s3ri.soton.ac.uk/cass/programme.php

CASS (Courses in Applied Social Surveys) is a programme of short courses covering topics in survey design, data collection and data analysis methods. Courses are aimed at academic social scientists and applied researchers in government, market research and the independent and voluntary sectors.

CASS is part of the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods.

Teaching is interactive and responsive to course participants' needs. All courses include practical sessions or computer workshops to enable participants to put the learned methods into practice.

For most courses fees are £30 per day for UK-registered students. £60 per day for staff from UK academic institutions (including research centres), ESRC funded researchers and UK registered charitable organisations. £220 per day for all other participants. However please check the individual course you are interested in for exact fees. The course fee includes course materials, lunches and morning and afternoon refreshments. Travel and accommodation are to be arranged and paid for by the participant.

If you have any further questions please contact us at cass@southampton.ac.uk or look at our website www.southampton.ac.uk/cass

Innovative approaches to methodological challenges facing ageing cohort studies

Day 1: Wednesday 25 July 2012
MANDEC, 3rd Floor, University Dental Hospital, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester, M15 6FH
Booking form

Day 2: Thursday 26 July 2012
Room: TBC

Booking form

This conference brings together key themes explored in the previous NCRM workshops on the methodological challenges to ageing cohort studies (http://www.methods.manchester.ac.uk/ageingcohort/). The focus of this conference will be innovative solutions that have been developed by researchers to deal with problems associated with ageing cohort studies. In particular, some solutions to challenges related to attrition, missingness, comparability across cohorts and over time, and data collection will be highlighted over two days. The first day will feature presentations and where appropriate, a demonstration of syntax programming for statistical packages. The second day will feature practical sessions in a computer lab using statistical software packages.

Please note: It is not compulsory to attend both days.

Day 1 Presentations: 11am- 4pm
James Banks (IFS and University of Manchester)- Attrition and Health in Ageing Studies: Evidence from ELSA and HRS. This presents an investigation into observable characteristics associated with attrition in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), with a particular focus on whether attrition is systematically related to health outcomes and socioeconomic status.
Ian Plewis (University of Manchester)- Using auxiliary variables to adjust for longitudinal missingness. Different sorts of auxiliary variables – variables measured at previous waves, frame variables and paradata - can be used to improve the accuracy of response propensity models, and to enhance adjustments for missing longitudinal data. These variables can be used when constructing iterative probability weights, carrying out multiple imputations, and specifying models that jointly model a substantive process and the missingness mechanism. Data from the first two waves of the UK Millennium Cohort Study are used to illustrate the potential value of auxiliary variables.
Rebecca Hardy (NSHD and UCL)- Statistical issues in meta-analysing multiple ageing cohort studies. This presentation examines recent publications from the HALCYON study team that have overcome methodological challenges to meta-analysis of observational cohort studies. In particular, challenges on data comparability across cohorts and over time will be highlighted.
Natasha Wood (Natcen)- Overcoming problems associated with retrospective data collection in cohort studies. This presentation looks at the development of the lifegrid for retrospective data collection and its CAPI implementation in the ELSA life history interview.

Day 2 Computer based practical workshops: 10am- 4pm
Rebecca Landy (QMW) : A simulation of 1946 birth cohort data under three missing data mechanisms (MCAR, MAR and MNAR), using three missing data methods - complete case, multiple imputation and Heckman selection. This session takes the student through the STATA syntax used when applying these missing data methods.
Gopalakrishnan Netuveli and Morten Wahrendorf (ICLS and Imperial College): The lifegrid data structure for ELSA and the Survey for Health and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) will be described, highlighting similarities and differences. This will be followed by a practical demonstration of handling lifegrid data based on ELSA data using STATA.
The workshop is free for participants to attend but registration is essential. Workshop attendees may claim some travel expenses. Please email veronica.smith@manchester.ac.uk for further details.