1 Welcome to the Williamson Building… In the event of fire alarm Alarm is a constant ring Head left down corridor, down stairs Assembly point on grass opposite Owens Bldg. Toilets are at the end of corridor

2 Using Government Surveys and International Datasets for Research: Introductory workshop Overview of the large-scale government surveys How to get started: registration, access and resources Coffee Using the data in employment research Introduction to the international data

3 The large scale government datasets Jo Wathan (CCSR) What is ESDS & what data do we support? What are the Main ESDS Surveys (and what are they like?) What ESDS support is available for users?

4 Economic and Social Data Service New national data service that came into operation in January Provides access and support for an extensive range of key economic and social data, both quantitative and qualitative, spanning many disciplines and themes. Over 4,000 datasets housed at the UK Data Archive, others housed at MIMAS Number of specialist data services that aim to promote and encourage data usage in teaching and research...

5 ESDS Specialist Services Government International Longitudinal Qualidata Core function deals with data not covered by specialist services Management based at the UK Data Archive

6 ESDS Government Role Promoting increased use of the surveys Training and publicity Additional derived variables Introductory documentation designed for researchers Maximising complementarity of interest between data depositors, commissioning departments and researchers User support For the large-scale government surveys (eg. Labour Force Survey, General Household Surveys):

7 Which surveys? General Household Survey Labour Force Survey Health Survey for England/Wales/Scotland British Crime Survey Family Resources Survey Expenditure and Food Survey (previously the National Food Survey and Family Expenditure Survey) ONS Omnibus Survey Survey of English Housing British Social Attitudes National Travel Survey Time Use Survey

8 Characteristics of the large-scale government surveys Microdata Good quality Well documented Well-used by secondary analysts Large sample sizes Continuous Heirarchical

9 Microdata

10 Good quality data Two main data collectors: –Office for National Statistics (ONS) –NatCen Both have considerable experience –ONS Social Surveys started in 1941 –Natcen founded in 1969 (as SCPR) Permanent panels of highly trained field interviewers Management and Quality Checking (Relatively)high response rates – but falling Widespread use by secondary analysts

11 Example of data collection: GHS Stratified sample of British private households Response rate dropped to 68% In CAPI

12 Good quality documentation Questionnaire Code book of Variables Description of Derived Variables Definitions Methodology including Sampling method Response achieved Population base Published reports Information on other secondary analysis

13 Other ESDS government resources Additional links to web-based resources relevant to each survey Indices of comparable variables over time Derived variables –User variables –Census-comparable variables Topic based user guides –Year 1 : Employment and the Labour Market –Year 2: Health Workshops / methods courses and meetings User support – –Tel: (0161) –FAQs list User groups

14 Summary ESDS Government sub-service of ESDS dealing with large-scale government survey datasets Wide range of microdata Good quality Good documentation Additional resources for users Easy to access…