Economic and Social Data Service

Finding politics data online

The Internet for Politics, SOSIG 7 June 2005Louise Corti, ESDS

ESDS Overview

• national data archiving and dissemination service, running from 1 Jan. 2003 – 2008

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

• UK Data Archive is a service provider of ESDS and preserves and supplies most of the data

• other partners include MIMAS and the Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research (CCSR) and the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER)

Sources and type of data

Data for research and teaching purposes and used in all sectors and for many different disciplines

• official agencies - mainly central government

• international statistical time series

• individual academics - research grants

• market research agencies

• public records/historical sources

• qualitative and quantitative

• other data archives worldwide

UKDA Collection

• 5,000+ datasets in the collection

• 300+ new datasets are added each year

• 9000+ registered users

• 38, 000+ datasets distributed worldwide

p.a.

• history data service in-house (AHDS)

Specialist data services

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

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

Large-scale government surveys

• General Household Survey• Labour Force Survey• Health Survey for England/Wales/Scotland • Family Expenditure Survey• British Crime Survey• Family Resources Survey • National Food Survey/Expenditure and Food

Survey • ONS Omnibus Survey • Survey of English Housing • British Social Attitudes• 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– intra-household differences– household effects on individuals

Longitudinal data

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

• allow researchers to analyse change at the individual level

• more complex to analyse

British Household Panel Survey

• collected and deposited by the ULSC at Essex

• follows the members of 5500 households first sampled in 1991 - interviews conducted annually

• major resource for understanding the dynamics of British households

• coverage includes:– income, labour market behaviour, social and political

values, health, education, housing and household organisation

• recently large new samples were introduced in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

British Birth Cohort Studies• impact of childhood conditions on later life and understanding

children and families in the UK

• National Child Development Study follows a cohort born in a single week in 1958 - data collected at birth and ages 7, 11, 16, 23, 33, 42

• 1970 British Cohort Study follows a cohort born in a single week in 1970 - data collected around birth and ages 5, 10, 16, 26 and most recently at age 30

• Millennium Cohort Study focuses on children born in 2000/2001 - first sweep at 9 months, second sweep at 3 years

• wide range of social, economic, health, medical and psychological issues

International datasets• regularly updated macro-economic time series datasets from

selected major international statistical databanks that collectively chart over 50 years of global economic, industrial and political change:

• International Monetary Fund • OECD • United Nations• World Bank • Eurostat• International Labour Organisation• UK Office for National Statistics

• access to microdata surveys• Eurobarometers• International Social Survey Programme• other social data via other national data archives

ESDS politics datasets

• British Election Studies (inc. BEPS)• Welsh Election Surveys• Scottish Election Surveys• British Social Attitudes• Dissension/Free Votes in the House of

Commons, 1979-1997• Seyd and Whiteley’s Party Membership

surveys• Comparative Manifestos Project• Historical MORI and Gallup poll data

ESDS Qualidata• 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

• examples of political datasets:• SN 4824: Liberal Democrats: Structure, Strategy and Contemporary

Party Politics in Britain, 1999-2001

• SN 4802 Devolution and Decentralisation in Wales and Brittany, 2001-2002

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

• SN 4730 The Power of Law in Municipal Politics, 1983-1992

• SN 4692 Trade Union Campaigning in the British General Election, 2001

Census Registration Service

The Census Registration Service provides one-stop registration with Athens login for:

• Census Dissemination Unit from MIMAS (University of Manchester)

• Census Geography Data Unit (UKBORDERS) from EDINA (University of Edinburgh)

• Census Interaction Data Service (Universities of Leeds and St Andrews)

• Samples of Anonymised Records from the Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research (University of Manchester)

AHDS History• 7th century through to mid 20th century• particularly strong in 19th and 20th century economic and

social history• census data (1881 100% sample; 1851 2% sample; lots of

local census returns)• Great Britain Historical Database online• taxation materials• large-scale datasets of Welsh and Irish historical statistics • electoral data (poll books for local areas) • criminal court records (e.g. a collection of datasets on

violent crimes 1600-1900) • agricultural statistics (prices, output) • surveys of Scottish witchcraft• state finance data• economic indicators/industrial production data

Secondary analysis potential

• descriptive/background population information

• comparative research, restudy or follow-up

study

• re-analysis or secondary analysis

• research design and methodology

• verification

• teaching and learning

Online access to datasets

• web pages– online catalogue with variable level searching– subject browsing and major series– access to online doc - pdf user guides including

questionnaires

• registration– one-off registration with userid/password– online account management and ‘Shopping Basket’

ordering

• data access– web Download in 3 software formats - SPSS, STATA and

tab-delimited– Nesstar – online data analysis, visualisation and subsetting

Supporting the user

• courses and training

• specialist support, including helpdesk, mailing list, discussion lists and newsletters

• web-based user guides to the datasets

• teaching datasets, online samplers

• online workbooks, exemplars and FAQs

• web-based visualisation interface

X4L project: Survey Data in Teaching: enhancing critical thinking and data numeracy

• increase the use of real data sources in the classroom

• improve the data literacy of GCE A level and university students to: – enable a better understanding of the use of social science data as applied to

real-life problems – enhance skills in manipulating numerical data in textbooks, newspapers or

reports– become critical consumers of this data

• uses the study of crime in society to show how existing data sources can be utilised

• project is relevant to a range of social science disciplines:– sociology, politics, psychology and media studies & citizenship studies

• resources can be used for A level syllabi but are also highly applicable for undergraduate and postgraduate learning

x4l.data-archive.ac.uk

ESDS specialist data services: www.esds.ac.uk

UK Data Archive:www.data-archive.ac.uk

help@esds.ac.uk