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

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 ______