Economic and Social Data Service

Internet for Social ResearchSocial Sciences Online, Oxford

14 June 2005

Dr Celia Russell

© Copyright 2004 Universities of Essex and Manchester. All rights reserved

What is ESDS?• principal UK service for social and economic data

dissemination and archiving, started 1 Jan. 2003

• provides access and specialist support for key economic and social data

• jointly supported by: – Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)– Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)

• partners:– UK Data Archive (UKDA), Essex – Manchester Information and Associated Services (MIMAS),

Manchester– Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research

(CCSR), Manchester – Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), Essex

ESDS has 4 specialist data services

• ESDS Government• ESDS International• ESDS Longitudinal • ESDS Qualidata

provide: dedicated web sites data and documentation enhancements user support training

ESDS Government

• Labour Force Surveys/Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey• General Household Survey/Continuous Household Survey

(Northern Ireland)• Family Expenditure Survey/Northern Ireland Family Expenditure

Survey• National Food Survey/Expenditure and Food Survey (new combined

National Food Survey and Family Expenditure Survey)• Family Resources Survey• ONS Omnibus Survey• Survey of English Housing• Health Survey for England/Welsh Health Survey/Scottish Health

Survey• British Crime Survey/Scottish Crime Survey• British Social Attitudes/Scottish Social Attitudes/Northern Ireland Life

and Times Survey (and the former Northern Ireland Social Attitudes)/Young People's Social Attitudes (periodic offshoot of the BSA)

• National Travel Survey• Time Use Survey

Benefits of the large-scale government datasets

• good quality data– produced by experienced research organisations– usually nationally representative with large samples– good response rates– very well documented

• continuous data– allows comparison over time– data is largely cross-sectional

• hierarchical data– individual and household– intra-household differences– household effects on individuals

Using hierarchy to look within households

Workless households (source FES, various years 1968-1996)

0

5

10

15

20

25

68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96

Year

Pe

rce

nta

ge

(o

f p

res

en

t

wo

rkin

g a

ge

ho

h)

workless households

children in worklesshouseholds

Household ID Household type

Person 140 yearsFemaleWorking

Person 242

MaleUnemployed

Person 314

MaleStudent

ESDS Qualidata

• qualitative data is non-numeric data

• diverse data types: in-depth interviews ; semi-structured interviews; focus groups; oral histories; mixed methods data; open-ended survey questions; case notes/records of meetings; diaries/research diaries

• multimedia: audio, video, photos and text (most common is interview transcriptions)

• formats: digital, paper, analogue audio-visual

ESDS Qualidata

• examples of sociology datasets:• SN 5072 -Mothers Alone : Poverty and the Fatherless

Family, 1955-1966

• SN 5040 -Innovative Health Technologies at Women's Midlife : Theory and Diversity Among Women and 'Experts', 2001-2003

• SN 4747 -Outsiders : Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and the New Europe, 1999-2001

• SN 4688 -US-UK Working Families : Work, Life and the City, 1996-2001

• SN 4523 -Mental Health of Chinese Women in Britain, 1945-2000

ESDS Longitudinal

• longitudinal surveys involve repeated surveys of the same individuals at different points in time

• allow researchers to analyse change at the individual level

• can be complex to analyse

Longitudinal Data

• five main studies:

– British Household Panel Survey (BHPS)– English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)– British Birth Cohort studies:

› National Child Development Survey (NCDS)› British Cohort Study 1970 (BCS70)› Millennium Cohort Study (MCS)

• also possible forthcoming Medical Research Council population study datasets – 1946 Birth Cohort

Longitudinal data example: the British Cohort Study

• following the lives of the 17,000 babies born in the UK between 5th and 11th April 1970

• in year zero used clinical records and talked to mother and midwife about the birth

• at ages 5, 10 and 16 talked to class teachers and parents and carried out medical tests

• at 26, 29 and 32 interviewed subjects about their work, relationships, health, family, politics and values

• anonymised data can be used to follow individual life courses

ESDS International

• provides the UK academic community with free web-based access to a range of key international macro databanks produced by organisations such as the United Nations, OECD and World Bank

• helps users to locate and acquire international micro level datasets such as the European Social Survey, Eurobarometer, International Social Survey Programme

• promotes the use of international datasets in research and teaching across a range of disciplines

Social capital in EES-15, 2002

SOCIAL TRUST SCALE

201816141210

ME

AN

AS

SO

CIA

TIO

NA

L M

EM

BE

R

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

.5

0.0

REGION

Postcommunist Europe

Southern Europe

Northern Europe

Nordic

Rsq = 0.8460

Slovenia

Sw eden

PortugalPoland

Norw ay

Netherlands

Israel

Ireland

HungaryGreece

GB Finland

SpainCzech Rep

High social capital

Low social capital

Note: The mean level of membership in 12 types of voluntary association and the mean score on the Social Trust scale by nation. Source: European Social Survey 2002 Weighted by dweight.

ESDS International data portfolioIMF Direction of Trade Statistics Balance of Payments StatisticsGovernment Finance StatisticsInternational Financial Statistics

OECD Main Economic IndicatorsInternational DevelopmentInternational Direct InvestmentInternational Migration StatisticsMain Science and Technology IndicatorsMeasuring Globalisation StatisticsStatistics in International Trade in ServicesStatistics on Value Added and EmploymentSocial Expenditure StatisticsQuarterly Labour Force Statistics

UN Common Database

ILO Key Indicators of the Labour Market

World Bank World Development IndicatorsWorld Bank Global Development Finance

Eurostat New Cronos

UNIDO Industrial Statistics DatabasesDemand Supply Databases

Example:Human fertility in Europe

ContactContact

www.esds.ac.ukhelp@esds.ac.uk

• conferences to highlight research, discuss methodologies, and bring together the user base and the data providers including MIMAS Open Forum on the 29 June and Social Inequality 20 June!

• If you want us to deliver a course at your institution, please ask!