Introduction to the ESRC Secure Data Service

Date: 17th February
Time: 15.30-16.30
Location: CEP Conference Room, London School of Economics

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

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.

It is anticipated 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.

For queries, please contact the Secure Data Service at securedata@ukda.ac.uk

Census 2011 consultation

The second consultation on the main set of 2011 statistical outputs is now available online. The documents include:

- a user guide
- the consultation
- an indicative set of tabular outputs, which ONS intends to produce following the 2011 Census
- a spreadsheet defining the geographical levels at which outputs will be produced in England and Wales

Here is a link to the material:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011-census/consultations/open-consultations/2011-output-consultation---main-statistical-outputs---second-round/index.html

You can feed back your reactions to the revised designs at one of the Output Roadshows, which commence on 14th February. Places are currently still available at all events. If you have not already booked a place, details of dates and venues and the Registration form can be found in the Downloads panel on this page:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011-census/news-and-events/events/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

View the Census News archive :-
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/census_news_archive.asp

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