User Engagement and Collaboration: Challenges and Tools Sarah King-Hele ESDS Government, University of Manchester IASSIST Conference, Vancouver, 3 June 2011

The context Comparison of approaches to user engagement and collaboration by: – ESDS Government – And MethodBox Two services: separate teams both based at the University of Manchester (but have shared some investigators) both offer UK social sciences survey data to download data available via registration with ESDS Aimed at academics and other researchers Aim to help users to understand and use the data correctly

ESDS Government Economic and Social Data Service – Social Science data in UK ESDS Government – UK Government survey data – Users must be registered – Our data: Micro-data Large-scale repeated cross-sectional surveys National: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Great Britain or the United Kingdom

MethodBox (MB) A website End result of a project to bring together obesity researchers Users must be registered with ESDS Supplies UK social sciences data to download: – Only the General Household Survey and Health Survey for England at the moment – But hope to extend to more data sets Prototype: Currently invite only Website:

Two approaches to user engagement and collaboration ‘Real world’ approach‘A virtual research environment’ ESDS Users: social science researchers Need: informed substantively and methodologically MethodBox Users: Not necessarily academics Need: to get and use data without ploughing through guides

ESDS Government: ‘Real world’ solutions Data and documentation - as supplied by data providers Materials and events - to help users to navigate data and documentation supplied

Introduction to Government Data on Housing and the Local Environment ESDS Government, 24 May Key UK Government data sets on theme - Talk about English Housing Survey: Dept for Communities and Local Government - Hands-on with data using SPSS

General Lifestyle Survey user meeting 23 March 2011 Data suppliers talk about data Opportunity for direct reply to a user consultation: – ONS presentation followed by discussion – ONS propose: end GLF – Place questions in other surveys Research presentations

HelpdeskData for teaching Guides: themes and methods Conferences

ESDS user collaboration Share user lists Share publications lists Give attendees a list of participants at events Provide forums for research presentations Organize events where users meet others with similar interests

Data and documentation - manipulated to allow multiple ways of exploring and downloading Allows users -to access data -to share data and knowledge -to network MB creates a virtual space for researchers

Users decide how they want to explore the data Download from multiple data sets View variable properties Download just the variables wanted

Upload and share scripts e.g. syntax or do-files Users can upload and share surveys and data extracts User collaboration: Sharing data and scripts

Users can create a profile - Use social features Messaging Notes Comments Favourite - Find experts in your area …linked to their methods and data A network of researchers

Controlling sharing To upload data or scripts: Requires the answer to a series of questions e.g. who produced the data etc. MethodBox know who uploaded data/scripts via registration In a service context, data would only be allowed online after checking To download: Only those registered to use that data can actually download data from MethodBox

Pros and cons of the two approaches ESDS Government Pros: We know what we are talking about! We make an effort to be accurate and professional Cons: We cannot be experts on everything Limited manpower and time MethodBox Pros: Potential access to experts in a wide range of fields, data and methods Unlimited potential manpower and time Cons: Users may not know what they are talking about! ‘Wisdom of the experts’ ESDS decide what is important ‘Wisdom of the crowds’ MethodBox allows users to decide what is important

Behind the scenes... A lot of work behind the scenes in both models: but the emphasis is different: ESDS Government: preparation of the guides, organising user meetings, workshops, answering the helpdesk etc. MethodBox: preparation of the website and data and document access

Working together Do they work together? – and should they work together? Currently operate separately But interact and discuss future collaboration Where relevant share knowledge and people Future: interesting to aim for a service that combined both approaches

Contacts and further information ESDS Government Website(s): Contact: The team: Angela Dale, Vanessa Higgins, Jo Wathan, Sam Smith, Sarah King-Hele, Pierre Walthery MethodBox Website: Contact: The team: Iain Buchan, Angela Dale, Carole Goble, Shoaib Sufi, Dexter Canoy, Sarah Thew, Ian Dunlop, Urara Hiroeh, Christian Brenninkmeijer, Robert Haines, John Ainsworth, Sean Bechhofer, Georgina Moulton

Summary: Two models ESDS Real world approach “top down” Intermediary between data and users Data – as it is Built on top of data as it already is Help users to understand data and documents with expert materials and events Encourages collaboration: face-to-face events: research talks, breaks, share research uses MB Virtual environment approach “everyone is equal” Interactive Data – changing structures: data stripped and put together differently Allows users to see what is available and interact “playpen” Encourages collaboration: social networking and sharing of data and scripts

OnlineEvents / telephone Print/ Other User engagement Data access and exploration using Nesstar User meetingsHelpdeskNewsletter Guides: themed and data use WorkshopsESDS newsTwitter Data sets for teaching Conferences User consultations Collaboration User meetings/ workshops/ conferences ESDS Government: tools

How ESDS and MethodBox fit in UK Data Archive (UKDA) MethodBox Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS) Survey Curation Survey Access & Mapping diagram not to scale Navigating and Sharing Methods and Surveys Survey Commissioning & Collection etc… Improving Access & Use

ESDS: ‘Local college model’ ESDS provides ‘real world’ solutions: like workshops and guides Act as the intermediary between data and user Approach: accept the data and documents as they are provided by the supplier To help people navigate the data and user guides – Produce guides and tools to find data provided – Provide opportunities for people to share research formally in user meetings and to meet informally during coffee breaks at events.

Look at the programme to see if anyone else is talking about anything related And look at the other talks in my session

MethodBox ‘Wikipedia model’ Creates a virtual world Interactive, takes the data and documentation and manipulates how it is presented – like a ‘playpen’ Users decide how they want explore it?? Breaks down and recreates the data and docs

US websites Don’t do a slide But look them up so you know what they are/do Prepare to comment on how they are the same or different

US similar to MB Look up ICPSR – the UKDA equivalent to see how similar MB is.

MB Not so much helping people to get the data but… Aim to get to what the data mean

Their aims Both ESDS and MB help people to get the data but in addition they aim to help users to get to what the data mean

ESDS: ‘Local college model’ ESDS provides ‘real world’ solutions: like workshops and guides Act as the intermediary between data and user Approach: accept the data and documents as they are provided by the supplier Materials and events - to help users to navigate data and documentation supplied Data and documentation - as supplied by data providers

MethodBox ‘Wikipedia model’ Data and documentation - manipulated to allow multiple ways of exploring and downloading Virtual space - to allow users to access parts of the data and to share data and knowledge MethodBox creates a virtual research space Interactive, takes the data and documentation and manipulates how it is presented – like a ‘playpen’ Users decide how they want explore it Breaks down and recreates the data and docs

Enabling access to data and docs – by helping them with guides etc Guides to – Themes: e.g. Health, crime data, housing and the local environment data – Survey methods: e.g. Small area estimation, weighting surveys Data for teaching – e.g. British Crime Survey teaching data set 2007/08: real data smaller number of variables added scalar variables to help with teaching statistics

Meeting at events User meetings: – User presentations of their work Workshops about using survey data – Themes: Health, Crime, Housing – Methods: Small area estimation Conferences – Theme-based – Aimed at non-academic users – e.g. Government users

User consultations Call by data supplier for users to give opinion about proposed changes to data ESDS Govt link directly the opinions of data users with data providers e.g. on the future of the GHS/GLF with the Office for National Statistics. GHS user meeting: presentation from ONS and discussion session

Pros and cons of the two approaches ESDS: top down approach MB: everyone is equal approach

MB enables access to data and docs – in a different way Download and search survey data Easily view variable information Easily create and download subsets of data

Why did two different approaches develop? ESDS started with users who are social science researchers. They need to be informed substantively and methodologically for their research. So we provide guides and courses to teach them and allow them to meet up with other people directly through our events. MethodBox started from thinking about how the data are used, often by people who don’t want to be academics. They often don’t want to plow through guides to get the information they want. They just want the statistics and to learn from each other. MethodBox provides an environment for this.

ESDS user engagement and collaboration: ‘Real world’ solutions - we receive the data and documents as they are provided by the supplier and add extra materials and events to help users to understand and engage with the data Materials and events - to help users to navigate data and documentation supplied Data and documentation - as supplied by data providers

Why did two different approaches develop? ESDS Users: social science researchers Need: informed substantively and methodologically MB Users: Not neccesarily academics Need: to get and use data without plowing through guides

Access to data Not public data – reflect promises given by data suppliers to the respondents – anyone can browse either website to look at documentation and at univariate analysis Two-tier access General access (“End User Licence”) – Most data – available to ESDS-registered users (for MB as well!) – Free to UK not for profit Special Licence access – Contains extra, potentially disclosive variables – Available after application for special (“Approved”) researcher status and on explaining why SL data are needed

MB creates a virtual space for researchers Data and documentation - manipulated to allow multiple ways of exploring and downloading Virtual space - to allow users to access parts of the data and to share data and knowledge MethodBox creates a virtual research space -Interactive, breaks down and recreates the data and documents and manipulates how they are presented - like a ‘playpen’ -Users decide how they want explore it

Pros and cons of the two approaches MB ‘Wisdom of the crowds’ Pros: Potential access to experts in a wide range of fields, data and methods Unlimited potential manpower and time Cons: Users may not know what they are talking about!

Why did two different approaches develop? ESDS Users: social science researchers Need: informed substantively and methodologically MB Users: Not neccesarily academics Need: to get and use data without plowing through guides

Why did two different approaches develop? ESDS started with users who are social science researchers. They need to be informed substantively and methodologically for their research. So we provide guides and courses to teach them and allow them to meet up with other people directly through our events. MethodBox started from thinking about how the data are used, often by people who don’t want to be academics. They often don’t want to plow through guides to get the information they want. They just want the statistics and to learn from each other. MethodBox provides an environment for this.