Social Science Data Alison Weir

ESRC – who are we? ▶ We are the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. ▶ We support independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. At any one time we support over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes. ▶ Researchers require access to world-class data and pioneering research methods to deliver high quality research and maximise impact. We take a strategic lead in driving the expansion of the UK's data infrastructure and supporting cutting-edge methodological developments.

What is social science? ▶ Social science is, in its broadest sense, the study of society and the manner in which people behave and influence the world around us. ▶ It tells us about the world beyond our immediate experience, and can help explain how our own society works. ▶ Evidence from social science research influences policy and practice in areas ranging from tax policies to business innovation and low-carbon economies.

Where could you use it – some ideas! ▶ Understanding consumer choices: – Weather forecasts and consumer behaviour data inform supply and demand for energy generation and supply. – Household energy and water use, bills and take up of new initiatives. – Weather patterns, transport modes and user behaviour to predict and manage congestion. ▶ Understanding people movement: – Migration and the built environment; where to build houses and potential impact on natural environment. – Tourism and impact on environment; managing business supply and demand; local area economics. ▶ Understanding community response: – Linking social, economic and environmental data relating to occurrence and impacts of natural hazards to understand implications for the insurance industry and housing market, and increase our understanding of the potential for disruption to supply chains, logistics etc.

Energy Epidemiology: What is really going on in our built environment? RCUK Centre for Energy Epidemiology ▶ Systematically bring together measured data on people, buildings and energy use, with appropriate safeguards for privacy and confidentiality, to illuminate the causes of energy use and of changes in energy use. ▶ Engage with and assist government, industry and academia to define problems in end-use energy demand and support wider access to new and existing datasets. “Energy data only becomes powerful when you link it with other datasets – that’s when we can look at the link between the effectiveness of policy… when we do that, we get results that are, surprising,” T. Oreszczyn (June 2013)

UK Data Service: access social and economic data ▶ Over 6000 major collections of social and economic data produced by government and by researchers ▶ Contains key socio-economic datasets highlighted by UK-Environmental Observation Framework ▶ Including: – data on changes in travel behaviour that has helped governments plan effective transport systems and policies – access to the International Energy Agency stats on various key environmental indicators across the world.

UK Data Service: access more social and economic data ▶ Holds a large number of “ad hoc” datasets, with information on public attitudes towards the environment: – Defra Public Attitudes to the Environment Survey and Scottish Government’s sister survey. – The British Social Attitudes Survey – “Public Perceptions of Climate Change and Energy” survey (University of Cardiff). ▶ Holds a number of research data files constructed as part of the Rural Economy and Land Use Programme (RELU) on interaction of man and the environment.

Understanding Society: Environmental attitudes and behaviour ▶ UK household study capturing information every year about the social and economic circumstances and attitudes of people living in 40,000 UK households. ▶ Findings include: – “Women are more likely to put on more clothes when cold and to pay more for environmentally friendly products.” – “Respondents with degree-level qualifications are more likely to buy recycled products but less likely to use public transport rather than travel by car.”

Find out more: UK Data Service centre-energy-epi