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Teaching users to work with
research data
Dr Sarah King-Hele
Research Fellow, UK Data
Service
IASSIST conference
June 2015
What is the UK Data Service?
• a comprehensive resource funded by the ESRC
• a single point of access to a wide range of high quality secondary social science data
• support, training and guidance
Our data:
• Via our website: www.ukdataservice.ac.uk • Over 6,000 data collections
• Survey data – UK and abroad, international macrodata, UK
census, qualitative data
• Accessible after short registration – UK and elsewhere
Aims of talk
1. Discuss how we as a data service train users to work
with research data – examples and pros and cons
• Webinars
• Workshops
• Guides
• Helpdesk
2. Discuss how we are reaching different types of users
3. How we might approach training with new types of data
1. UKDS training programme for teaching
users to work with research data
• Part of a broader UKDS training programme: including
research data management, secure data training
• Two main kinds of training event
• Webinars - Rolling series and ad hoc
• Workshops
• Online materials – written and video
• Helpdesk queries
UK Data Service Webinars
• Several webinars a month – rolling series and ad hoc
• ~30 minutes presentation, 20 minutes questions
• 40-100 attendees on average
• Use GoToWebinar
Examples of data and what you can do with
them: survey designs vary, access varies Example from Quarterly Labour
Force Survey (QLFS)
Demonstrates use: population
change over time, and within
subgroups
Also that LFS has an
interesting sample design and
comes as:
- quarterly (individual, and
household)
- 2 and 5 quarter longitudinal
(because longi element)
- SL and Secure: explain what
these mean
Workshops
• in depth
• interactive: group activities and individual work
• practical: uses statistical package
• contrast with webinars which are short, reach wider
audience but less depth
• aims: encourage thinking about real data – as well as
using it
• example:
Workshop example: From research question
to exploratory data analysis workshop
Forming a research question
• Reading exercise – around topic (groups)
• Generate questions
• Gather ideas for key variables needed
Searching for data
• Discover ways of finding UKDS data
• Find a relevant and appropriate dataset for your research question
Starting to use data
• Downloading data and reading documentation
• Using data - SPSS
Training guides and videos
Helpdesk- Get in touch pages
2. Are we reaching all types of users?
Some groups are
finding it easier to
attend in person than
others.
Probable factors:
• Convenience
• Location (none if
online)
• Cost
• Time
• Expectations
Oct 2014- Mar 2015: 15 webinars, 9 workshops, 3 user conferences Excludes the secure/safe room training
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Workshops Webinars Userconferences
Non-academic
Higher Educationstaff
Post-graduatestudents
Webinar feedback
0 20 40 60 80 100
secure
introductory
key data
census
useful
interesting
18 months Oct 2014 to Mar 2015:
21 webinars: 5 census, 3 key data, 5 introductory, 6 secure
How our training fits in with other methods
training in the UK
• National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM): UK
training
• Doctoral colleges – for PhD students, UKDS is
collaborating with other “data services” to reach more
potential students and supervisors
• Universities provide methods training courses at varying
levels
3. Developing a training programme for new
kinds of data
E.g. Open data, or “Big data”
• new kinds of data may attract different kinds of users
• may need different skills
Follows on from what we already do:
• awareness that data exists and how to obtain it
• capacity building
• technical skills to gather and analyse it correctly
• best practice and ethics
Questions
ukdataservice.ac.uk/help/
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