TWO fully funded ESRC PhD STUDENTSHIPS linked with the ESRC Administrative Data Research Centre England

The new Administrative Data Research Centre (ADRC) England at the University of Southampton is pleased to announce TWO 1+3 PhD studentships which will be linked to the Centre and based within the University’s ESRC Doctoral Training Centre (DTC).  The studentships will provide up to four years’ funding (1 year Masters + 3 years PhD) including fees, Standard Maintenance Grant (currently £13,726 pa) and Research Training Support Grant (£750 pa). In addition students are eligible for the advanced quantitative methods supplement (currently £3000 pa and £250 pa respectively). High quality applicants will also be considered who have already obtained an average of 60% or more in an ESRC recognised Masters.  Applications are invited in the following topic areas to be supervised by ADRC co-investigators.  Two studentships will be awarded based on the excellence of the applicants.

Topic A: Establishing patterns of error in household and individual level consumption data

This project concerns the relationship between a range of consumption patterns and energy consumption levels. The project will review approaches to the estimation of reported 'consumption error'; combine and/or link consumption and other datasets from various sources to produce a set of experimental linked consumption datasets; develop methods to analyse the characteristics and distribution of error in reported consumption of, for example, water and energy.

Topic B: The Residential Mobility of Mental Health Service Users

The aim of this research is to enhance understanding of the residential mobility of patients receiving NHS mental health treatment.  Tracking geo-referenced patient movements via administrative sources, the project will undertake multilevel longitudinal analysis of individual and area variables to predict the numbers of moves, comparing trajectories of people with mental illness with a comparison sample of others treated for conditions that are also likely to give rise to multiple hospital treatment episodes.

Topic C: Multistage cluster sampling using geo-frame

In traditional approaches to multistage sampling design, the clusters are fixed in advance.  This PhD concerns investigation of multistage cluster sampling methodology in which geo-referenced information is incorporated into the sampling frame. The project will explore the possibility of using administrative data to perform dynamic clustering in order to minimize the intra-cluster correlation subject to the constraints of cost or work load, and thereby achieve to better trade-off between cost and design efficiency.

Topic D: Combining survey and administrative data for nonresponse investigation

This project aims to combine survey data with administrative data to analyse survey nonresponse behaviour. The project will use multilevel modelling to investigate key determinants of nonresponse and representativity indicators and to develop nonresponse adjustment methods. The project will inform survey practice on how to analyse and adjust for nonresponse using administrative data. The research will improve survey designs including adaptive and responsive survey designs.

Details of how to apply are provided on the Southampton ESRC DTC website at http://www.southampton.ac.uk/esrcdtc.  Applicants must apply to the University and submit the additional DTC form downloadable from the website. The closing date for applications is Monday 28^th February 2014 and interviews will be arranged with the short-listed applicants soon after this closing date. These studentships are for entry in October 2014.

For informal enquiries and further detail on any of these topics, contact: Prof Peter W Smith (P.W.Smith@soton.ac.uk), Director, ADRC England; or Prof David Martin (D.J.Martin@soton.ac.uk), Deputy Director, ADRC England

Learn to cost, plan, manage and share social science data effectively

There are still places available for Planning, Appraising, Ingesting and Documenting Social Science Data, a one-day workshop at the UK Data Archive (University of Essex, Colchester) on 27 November 2013.

When it comes to dealing with the ever increasing commitments of research data, the UK Data Service continues to see institutions struggle with the challenges of domain specificity, in particular, how to treat social science data.

How do we help our local researchers cost, plan and manage social science data effectively and following best practice? How do we then appraise, ingest, curate and make accessible that mixed bag of data that a social scientist might have created? How can we effectively demonstrate the impact of sharing?

In this workshop UKDS will showcase our collaborative support and training materials that are being used to support:

• research support staff who face dealing with ensuring compliance with data management responsibilities set out in almost all research applications (as well as persuading them it's the right thing to do)
• institutional repository managers now charged with appraising, ingesting, describing and managing social science research data created by local academics.

The day includes hands-on work getting your hands dirty with data!

The workshop is best suited for those who are actively working with storing and sharing data for use in social science research, or plan to in the near future. This course is unlikely to be suitable for undergraduate or postgraduate students unless working specifically in a data archiving environment.

Course fees include all workshop materials plus refreshments and lunch:

· £30 for UK students

· £60 for UK academic staff (including research centres), ESRC researchers, voluntary and public sectors staff
· £150 for commercial and international participants

For a full programme and booking information: http://ukdataservice.ac.uk/news-and-events/eventsitem/?id=3556

Help shape the content of the LSYPE age 25 survey

Deadline for written submissions: 22 November 2013

Consultative conference: 6 December 2013

CLS is seeking advice on what should be covered in the age 25 survey of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE), scheduled for 2015.

CLS has recently taken on management of the LSYPE. Their first tasks are to re-contact all participants and plan the Age 25 Survey. This is an important stage of life for the participants, and the survey will provide vital insights into the pathways to adulthood. Your expertise will help uthem produce a high-quality survey.

CLS is asking academics, policy makers and other stakeholders to put forward their specific suggestions for content and questions by Friday 22 November 2013 and to join them at the LSYPE age 25 consultative conference on Friday 6 December 2013.

How to contribute to the consultation

CLS have organised the survey content into five key themes (see below), with a theme leader responsible for reviewing and prioritising your proposals, and presenting a summary for debate at the consultative conference. Further information on the themes and theme leaders can be found below, and a copy of the consultation form (to be returned to the relevant theme leader by 22 November) can be found on the consultation website. Please visit website for more details.

 

Register for the conference

Date: Friday 6 December 2013

Time: 10:00am – 4:00pm
Location: Institute of Education, University of London
Email c.battye@ioe.ac.uk to book your place

The conference is free of charge. You do not need to have made a written submission to attend.

Themes and theme leaders

Employment and resources (Claire Crawford, Institute for Fiscal Studies, c.crawford@ifs.org.uk)
This theme covers current economic activity; activity histories; jobs and training; income and benefits; assets and housing; and future plans.

Household formation and relationships (Dylan Kneale, Relate, dylan.kneale@relate.org.uk)
This theme covers relationship and partnership histories; relationship with parents and families; children and childcare; and neighbourhood context.

Education (Alissa Goodman, Institute of Education, a.goodman@ioe.ac.uk)
This theme covers academic and vocational qualifications gained; qualifications being studied for; experience of and attitudes towards education; and aspirations and expectations.

Health and wellbeing
This theme is divided into two sections:

• General and physical health; and risk taking behaviours (Helen Sweeting, University of Glasgow, helen.sweeting@glasgow.ac.uk)
• Emotional health and wellbeing (Amanda Sacker, University College London, a.sacker@ucl.ac.uk, and Yvonne Kelly, University College London, y.kelly@ucl.ac.uk)

Identity and participation (Ingrid Schoon, Institute of Education, i.schoon@ioe.ac.uk)

This theme covers self concept; locus of control; self efficacy; gender, class and ethnic identity; politics; religion; civic participation and engagement; and social cohesion.

Help pick a new study name!

CLS are planning to rebrand the LSYPE to better reflect the broader scope of the study and the life stage of the participants. As part of the age 25 consultation, they are seeking ideas for a new name for the study. Please add your suggestions to your submission form, or email Carole Sanchez c.sanchez@ioe.ac.uk.

Please forward this information on to others you think would be interested in contributing to the consultation.

NIH Call for Information on Methods for 'Big Data' in Biomedical Research

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has just issued a call for information on software tools and analysis methods as part of their Big Data to Knowledge Initiative. Specifically, the call solicits input on needs for software and analysis methods related to data compression/reduction, data visualization, data provenance, and data wrangling for biomedical research. The closing data for responses is September 6th 2013.

Background

Biomedical research is becoming more data-intensive as researchers are generating and using increasingly large, complex, and diverse datasets. This era of 'Big Data' in biomedical research taxes the ability of many researchers to release, locate, analyze, and interact with these data and associated software due to the lack of tools, accessibility, and training. In response to these new challenges in biomedical research, and in response to the recommendations of the Data and Informatics Working Group (DIWG) of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director (http://acd.od.nih.gov/diwg.htm), NIH has launched the trans-NIH Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) Initiative (www.bd2k.nih.gov).

The long-term goal of the NIH BD2K Initiative is to support advances in data science, other quantitative sciences, policy, and training that are needed for the effective use of Big Data in biomedical research. (The term "biomedical" is used here in the broadest sense to include biological, biomedical, behavioral, social, environmental, and clinical studies that relate to understanding health and disease).

Details can be found here: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-HG-13-014.html

 

 

Conference on statistics for adult social care policy

29 January 2013; 10am to 4pm;

Royal Statistical Society, 12 Errol Street, London EC1Y 8LX

The imperative for reform of the system of funding of social care in England has again been highlighted by the report of the Dilnot Commission, and the case for reform has been accepted in principle by the Government. However, the Dilnot Commission also highlighted the lack of a robust statistical base either for analysing the current social care situation or for monitoring and evaluating the effects of future changes in policy. 

This one day Statistics User Forum conference at the Royal Statistical Society will bring together social care policy analysts and data producers together with bodies concerned with the funding of social care, to explore the adequacy of existing statistics to analyse adult social care service availability, utilisation and costs. If we were designing a statistical monitoring system from scratch, what would it look like? What are the gaps in the current system and how might they be addressed? The aim is to identify the major issues for future study and to map out how they might be addressed, as well as providing some pointers for action in the short and medium term.  

The conference will interest a wide range of organisations in both the public and private sectors with an interest in the provision of adult social care data:

* Those concerned with social care policy

* Commissioners of social care data from surveys and from administrative sources
* Analysts and researchers in government, academia and research bodies
* Those concerned with social care policy delivery in both the public and private sectors

Further information and registration details are at:

http://tinyurl.com/ccfn2fe 

Fees are:

Full fee £95
RSS Fellow rate £65
RSS Student Fellow / Retired Fellow rate £45 ______

Introduction to UK Survey Data for studying Attitudes

Thursday 6 December 2012
Basement Lab, Humanities Bridgeford Street building, University of Manchester

This one-day workshop introduces the UK survey data that are available for re-analysis and teaching via the Economic and Social Data Service website. The focus of the workshop will be on data related to attitudes but many of the issues covered are applicable to other areas. The day is appropriate for those with little or no experience of the data.

Participants will learn about the data available, considerations when using the data, the research potential of the data, how to register for and access data and where to go for help. There will also be hands-on computing sessions in SPSS to explore and start analysis using the British Social Attitudes Survey and the British Household Panel Survey.

The meeting is free to attend and lunch will be provided. To view the programme and book a place please go to www.ccsr.ac.uk/esds/events/2012-12-06/

Consultation on the Health Survey for England

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has launched a public consultation to seek feedback from users of the Health Survey for England (HSE) on the proposed changes to the smoking module.

The HSE is a series of annual surveys about the health of people living in England. It is a major study in the ESDS (recently refunded as UKDS) catalogue, sponsored by the Department of Health to provide better and more reliable information about various aspects of people's health and to monitor selected health targets.

The modules and questions within the HSE are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure they are of most benefit to users. As part of this process, the smoking module was reviewed in 2012, with a view to making changes for the HSE 2013.

The consultation will run for 6 weeks and close on Wednesday 3 October 2012.

Following the consultation period, all comments received by the HSCIC will be considered and decisions will be made on the content of the Smoking Module for HSE 2013 onwards.

·         Full details of the consultation

Funding call: Google Data Analytics

ESRC and Google are making funds available for research projects that demonstrate how publicly accessible online data, analytical and presentational tools can be used to further social and economic research.

The Google Data Analytics Social Science Research call is seeking proposals that showcase how academics can use online data analytical tools in creative and intellectual ways. Projects should:

·         Transmit best practice in use of such tools for social science
·         Show how the tools can be used to test social science theories
·         Suggest possible improvements or innovations to help integrate analytics – and open source data tools in general – into the teaching and learning community

Applicants can apply for a maximum of £125,000 from the ESRC towards the total project costs. The ESRC has allocated a total of £600,000 budget to the call and will fund up to a maximum of six projects.

 

The deadline for proposals is 2 October 2012. Full details are available on the ESRC website.

·         ESRC Google Data Analytics Social Science Research call

Webinar: Introducation to ESDS

Title: Introducing ESDS data

Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM GMT

Supporting the ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiative

This hour-long webinar will showcase a range of datasets and supporting materials available free of charge through the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS) along with case studies that demonstrate how they can be used to develop high-impact research. Participants are encouraged to share their research interests and data questions in advance in order to customise content.

This is also an opportunity to learn more about the logistics of finding, downloading and analysing ESDS datasets, specifically covering catalogue records, data documentation, guides, and online data visualisation tools such as Nesstar.

This is one of a series of events being run in support of the ESRC's Secondary Data Analysis Initiative. These events are designed for researchers who are not current users of these ESRC-funded data resources, and who wish to apply for grants under this Initiative.

This webinar is free to attend but registration is essential.

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements

PC-based attendees

Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Macintosh®-based attendees

Required: Mac OS® X 10.5 or newer

Space is limited.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/268535110

Longitudinal studies: lessons for research and policy

Date: 10 May 2011, 10.00-16.45
Location: British Library Conference Centre

Information and booking form: http://www.esds.ac.uk/news/eventdetail.asp?id=2770

The day will focus on longitudinal data sources. This event is organised in conjunction with the UK Data Archive and Longview, and will give you an opportunity to hear talks about major studies, research projects, and their application to policy.

This event will give you an overview of the issues involved in analysing and using data from large-scale studies which track populations over time. The day will focus on how findings from longitudinal studies can contribute to policy development, with contributions from research and policy perspectives. The event will include talks about longitudinal studies from England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The introduction will be given by Jude England, Head of Social Sciences at the British Library. The keynote speaker will be John Hobcraft, Professor of Demography and Social Policy at the University of York. There will be a panel session chaired by John Pullinger of the House of Commons Library. Speakers to include Professor Diana Kuh and Dr Rebecca Hardy, MRC National Survey of Health and Development; Nick Buck, PI of Understanding Society; Dr Dermot O'Reilly, Centre for Public Health, Queen's University Belfast; Gemma Tetlow, the Institute for Fiscal Studies; and Dr Chris Dibben, Director of the Longitudinal Studies Centre - Scotland.

Introduction to the ESRC Secure Data Service

Due to continuing demand another Introduction to the ESRC Secure Data Service will be held at LSE

Wednesday 13th April, 9.45-1.30
LRB532 (5th floor of the Lionel Robbins building above the library)

The event is free but booking is essential. For more information and to book a place please see the website
 http://securedata.data-archive.ac.uk/news-events-training/training?id=2830

Showcasing ALSPAC as a Resource for Social and Health Researchers

2-5pm, 4 April 2011
Royal Statistical Society, 12 Errol Street, London, EC1Y 8LX, UK.

The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents & Children (ALSPAC) has been running since 1991 and has resulted in a rich data set of biomedical and social measurements on children and their carers. While there has already been much high profile research based on ALSPAC, efforts have recently been made to increase awareness of these data among the wider research community.

The aim of this meeting is to showcase the ALSPAC data and its potential for answering research questions concerning health and social factors. The four presentations will cover the following issues: the ALSPAC data and its linkage to important administrative data sources; factors affecting the relationship between gestational weight gain and the health of mothers and their offspring in later life; a comparison of the socio-economic differences in children's behavioural and educational development found in ALSPAC and a US cohort; and the use of genetic data to establish the causal relationship between physical characteristics with a genetic basis, like obesity, and important outcomes, like educational attainment.

Speakers: Andy Boyd, Debbie Lawlor, Liz Washbrook (all University of Bristol) and Stephanie von Hinke Kessler Scholde (Imperial College Business School, London)

Further details (including abstracts) can be found at: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac-social-sciences/workshops

There is no charge for this event but pre-registration is recommended. Please email meetings@rss.org.uk or telephone 020 7273 8010 to register.

English Indices of Deprivation 2010

The Department for Communities and Local Government has published the English Indices of Deprivation 2010
http://www.communities.gov.uk/communities/research/indicesdeprivation/deprivation10/

These statistics update previous indices, published by the Department in 2007 and 2004, using more recent data and provide a nationally consistent measure of multiple deprivation across local areas in England.

The Department would welcome comments regarding your use of the current Indices to help develop statistics that are able to best meet the needs of users.

UN World Contraceptive Use 2010

The United Nations Population Division  has announced the release of  "World Contraceptive Use 2010".

This set of tables in Excel format includes country data as of December 2010 on contraceptive prevalence for 193 countries or areas of the world, and unmet need for family planning for 107 countries or areas of the world. Detailed trend data on contraceptive prevalence (total and by type of method) are available from 1950 to 2010. Data also highlight patterns in use of long-acting and permanent methods and male methods of contraception. Unmet need for family planning data (total, spacing and limiting) are available from 1986 to 2009. Regional and sub-regional time trends in contraceptive prevalence and unmet need for family planning are also presented.

"World Contraceptive Use 2010" can be downloaded free of charge from the Population Division website, http://www.unpopulation.org/

Edubase contract renewal - RLAB members

The CEP's edubase contract is up for renewal. If you are a member of the RLAB (CEP/STICERD/CASE/SERC) and would like to access the data over the next 12 months please contact the data manager.

EduBase is a register of all educational establishments in England and Wales, maintained by the Department for Education. It allows both the general public and government officials to access up to date information.

If you are not a member of the RLAB, but are interested in accessing the data please see the website http://www.edubase.gov.uk/home.xhtml where data for small queries can be downloaded, and details of contracts for the full database can be found.

RSS Workshop on Measuring Wellbeing

Thursday 17th March: 11.00-17.00
Royal Statistical Society, 12 Errol Street, London EC1Y 8LX

The RSS is hosting a one-day workshop as part of tha national debate on measuring wellbeing.

Thanks to support from the Office for National Statistics there is no charge for attendance but places are strictly limited.

To book your place please email conference@rss.org.uk

Programme:

11:00 - 11:30 Registration
11:30 – 12:40 Session 1 – National Wellbeing Key note speakers and panel session
- Jil Matheson (National Statistician)
- Walter Radermacher (EuroStat)
- Adrian Allsop (ESRC)
12.40 – 13:00 Keynote speech: David Willetts MP
13:00 – 13:45 Lunch
13:45 – 15:00 Session 2 – Data gaps and availability
(series of short presentations followed by table discussion)
- Paul Allin (ONS)
- Andrew Rzepa (Gallup)
- David Caplan (Audit Commission)
15:00 – 15:30 Refreshments
15:30 – 16:30 Session 3 - National wellbeing measures – empowering the citizen
(series of presentations on disseminating the data to the wider audience)
- Juliet Michaelson (New Economics Foundation)
- Andrew Collinge (GLA)
- Andrew Walkingshaw (Timetric)
16:30 – 17:00 Next steps and close

The World's Women and Girls: 2011 data sheet

The Population Reference Bureau has just published the 2011 edition of the World's Women and Girls Data Sheet. The publication contains tables of internationally comparative data for demography, reproductive health, education, work and public life, as well as presenting data on 'overcoming barriers to gender equality'.

The publication can be found here http://www.prb.org/pdf11/world-women-girls-2011-data-sheet.pdf

On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Survey

The US Department of Agriculture has released the first-ever nationwide survey that looked at renewable energy practices on America's farms and ranches.

The results are published in tabular form (no microdata) and are available along with the 2007 Census of Agriculture Volume 1 Geographic Area Series and related reports on the NASS website at www.nass.usda.gov/.

Custom-designed tabulations may be developed when data are not published elsewhere. These tabulations are developed to individual user specifications on a cost-reimbursable basis and shared with the public.

http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/
http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/Online_Highlights/On-Farm_Energy_Production/energy09.pdf

Update to EDUBASE data

The Edubase data in the RLAB data library has been updated.

The database no longer includes information about 'British Overseas Establishments'. The old version of the database has been preserved for consistency, the new version is saved as EDUBASE10_update2.

If you are a member of the RLAB and would like access to the data or have any questions please contact the data manager.

If you are not a member of the RLAB and are interested in getting access to the data please go directly to the provider http://www.edubase.gov.uk/home.xhtml;jsessionid=71BC9BF1AB5E86B0F48D52EAAE9F4F20

Introduction to the ESRC Secure Data Service

For people who missed these events the first time, two more introductions to the ESRC's new Secure Data Service have been scheduled for LSE.

Secure Data Service information event

Dates: 13 April 2011, 14.30-15.30 / 11th May 2011, 14.30-15.30

Place: CEP conference room LRB405, London School of Economics and Political Science

The Secure Data Service is an ESRC-funded service designed to allow approved researchers with safe and secure access, from any UK higher education or research institution, to confidential/sensitive data free of charge.

The Service currently provides access to detailed social and health data, including versions of the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society, with grid-references for each respondent.

We anticipate that the Service will also provide access to the business and economic microdata collections currently available only from the ONS Virtual Microdata Laboratory.

This information event is designed to inform you about the Service and the datasets that will be available to you.

To book a place at either event email  securedata@ukda.ac.uk or telephone: +44 (0)1206 874968.

13th April: http://securedata.ukda.ac.uk/news/eventdetail.asp?id=2803
11th May: http://securedata.ukda.ac.uk/news/eventdetail.asp?id=2804