Census consultation: Future provision of population statistics

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is launching a three month public consultation on the census and future provision of population statistics in England and Wales today.

After each census, ONS reviews the future needs for information about the population and housing in England and Wales, and how these needs might be met.

Improvements in technology and in government data sources offer opportunities to either modernise the existing census process, or to develop an alternative census method that reuses existing data already held within government.

The ONS' research has resulted in two approaches for taking the census in future:

• a census once a decade, like that conducted in 2011, but primarily online
• a census using existing government data and compulsory annual surveys.

ONS believe that both approaches would provide annual statistics about the size of the population, nationally and for local authorities. A census using existing data and surveys would provide more statistics about the characteristics of the population every year. An online census would provide more detailed statistics once a decade.

The consultation document describes these approaches, their strengths and weaknesses and the different types of information they could provide:

http://ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/get-involved/consultations/consultations/beyond-2011-consultation/beyond-2011-consultation-doc-c1.pdf

No decision has yet been made, and we welcome your views. Please respond using the online questionnaire:

http://ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/get-involved/consultations/consultations/beyond-2011-consultation/index.html

CONTACTS

Queries relating to tables or the census in general should be addressed to: census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk.

Queries relating to boundaries/geography should be addressed to: ons.geography@ons.gov.uk

Data Information Literacy sypmosium - live stream

Purdue University Libraries will be live streaming a symposium on Data Information Literacy (DIL) on Sept 23^rd and 24^th .

 

The DIL symposium will explore roles for practicing librarians in teaching competencies in data management and curation to graduate students. With support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, librarians from Purdue University, Cornell University, the University of Minnesota and the University of Oregon have investigated this topic through developing and implementing “data information literacy” (DIL) instruction programs for graduate students in a range of science and engineering disciplines. 

 

No registration for viewing the live stream is required. The DIL Symposium will be recorded and made available afterwards through e-pubs, Purdue University’s Institutional Repository.

The URL for the live stream is: http://www.kaltura.com/tiny/i82md

More information about the DIL Symposium can be found at: http://wiki.lib.purdue.edu/display/ste/Symposium

The schedule for the symposium is available at: http://wiki.lib.purdue.edu/display/ste/DIL+Symposium+Schedule

 

The twitter hash tag for the symposium is #datainfolit.

Please note that, Purdue will make an effort to review the twitter feed during the symposium, but will be unable to respond to any questions or comments directly.

The organisers  have asked that attendees read two articles before coming to the DIL Symposium. They are:

· Carlson, J., Fosmire, M., Miller, C. & Sapp Nelson, M. (2011).Determining data information literacy needs: A study of students and research faculty. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 11(2). 629-657. Pre-print: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/lib_fsdocs/23/

· Carlson, J., Johnston, L., Westra, B., & Nichols, M. (2013). Developing an approach for data management education: A report from the data information literacy project. International Journal of Digital Curation, 8(1). 204-217. http://www.ijdc.net/index.php/ijdc/article/view/8.1.204/306

 

DANS video promoting data sharing

DANS, the Netherlands Data Archiving and Networked Services, has published a video to promote storing and sharing data within the research community. The video is available in Dutch and English, and shown on the DANS Youtube channel. The title of the English video is 'Sharing data: good for science, good for you': http://youtu.be/HJbo-OAaJ1I

"Scientific research produces data. The lifetime of these data varies greatly. Stored on a hard disk or USB stick they are likely to be lost in the near future together with the storage medium. Luckily, there is another, more sustainable option, which benefits science.'

In this video Dutch historian Martijn Kleppe (Erasmus University Rotterdam) explains why he opened up his big photo database for other researchers to use, and quantitative data analyst Manfred te Grotenhuis (Radboud University Nijmegen) speaks about the treasures in data archives that are waiting to be discovered by researchers.

Both scientists made use of the online archiving system EASY from DANS (Data Archiving and Networked Services) in the Netherlands. As an institute of KNAW and NWO, DANS promotes sustained access to digital research data."

Census Research User Conference

Friday 27 September 2013

Birkbeck College, London

The first annual Census Research User Conference will be held at Birkbeck College, London, on 27 September from 9.30 – 5.30.

This one-day event will be an opportunity for data producers and research users of the census to gather and discuss data developments, research undertaken and work in progress. Presenters include the UK census offices and academic researchers.

Presentations will include:

 

· ONS Census Quality and Output plans
· ONS Census Analysis Work Programme
· Characteristics of and living arrangements amongst informal carers at the 2011 and 2001 censuses
· Using 2011 Census data to populate the Measurement Framework for equality and human rights
· Migration and population profiles of city-regions in England & Wales
· Assessing potential exposure and vulnerability to surface water flooding

Places are free but limited so booking is required. Tea and coffee will be provided in the morning and afternoon breaks, however lunch will not be provided.

 

To book a place please go to http://census.ukdataservice.ac.uk/news-and-events/eventsitem/?id=3539

How to set up and run a data service: the challenges of social science data

A once-a-year opportunity for data archivists to go behind the scenes and learn first-hand from specialists at the UK Data Archive is happening on 28 and 29 November 2013.

Over two days participants will learn about the strategies and practices used in the Archive's daily work, with a focus on storing and sharing social science data, including microdata, aggregate, qualitative and historical data.

The Archive has over 40 years’ experience in selecting, ingesting, curating and providing access to data. We are a designated Place of Deposit for The National Archives and are internationally acknowledged experts in this field.

The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) will be supporting fully funded scholarships to attend this workshop.

Applications to join this event are now being taken. Further details and booking can be found at: http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/news-events/events.aspx?id=3543

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

 

 

BSA Presidential Event: The Challenge of Big Data

25 October 2013: 09:30-16:45
British Library Conference Centre, London, UK

BSA President, Professor John Holmwood has announced a one-day seminar/workshop on 'The Challenge of Big Data', organised in collaboration with Dr Emma Uprichard, Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies, University of Warwick and Dr Abby Day, Department of Sociology, Goldsmiths.

Speakers include: Evelyn Ruppert (Goldsmiths), Ken Benoit (LSE), Emma Uprichard (University of Warwick), Alan Warde (University of Manchester), Abby Day (Goldsmiths), Emer Coleman (dsrptn), Peter Elias (University of Warwick), Paul Martin (University of Sheffield), Paul Taylor (UCL), Andrew Goffey (University of Nottingham).

The Government White Paper on Open Data and the Finch Report on Open Access to Research publications were both published in June 2012, inaugurating a discussion about the changing nature of social science research and its role in the evaluation of policy and practice. Administrative data and its linkage to other large data sets, data mining, and the increased proprietorial interest in large data all pose a fundamental challenge for the social sciences to confront big data with big questions. This joint event of the British Library and the British Sociological Association uses a workshop format to address these issues.

Places for this event are allocated on a first come, first served basis. Lunch and refreshments are included. BSA Members can attend this event for £10. Non-Members of the BSA may also attend this event for a registration fee of £30. 

For more information see http://www.britsoc.co.uk/events/bsa-presidential-event.aspx