Ian Diamond 210904

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Ian Diamond21/09/04

• ESRC, Data and Methods

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Goals of longitudinal studies

• Modelling causal processes from birth to
  adulthood leading to current outcomes and
  assessing the risk of future outcomes.
• Assessing the stability of hypothesised causal
  processes across cohorts.
• Comparing the prevalence of behaviour and
  attributes across cohorts, ages and periods.
• Assessing inter-generational continuities and
  discontinuities in circumstances, behaviour and
  attributes.

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National Datasets Strategy

• Aim is to provide a coherent framework through
  which to develop and maintain a robust UK social
  science data infrastructure.
• Will engage a wide range of key stakeholders,
  including the ONS, other national statistical
  agencies, Cabinet Office, a range of Charitable
  Trusts and Foundations and other Research
  Councils.
• Strategic Advisor for Data Resources Professor
  Peter Elias, University of Warwick

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National Data Sets StrategyObjectives will be to
establish

• The key datasets required to meet the needs of
  the UK social science research community, and the
  extent to which these are already available
• Strategies for closing the gaps in current
  provision, and for future provision
• Mechanisms for resolving key issues surrounding
  ethics, disclosure and confidentiality
• Common standards in the processing and
  preparation of data and associated documentation
• Clear, common and complementary protocols over
  access arrangements to key datasets
• Training and capacity building strategies to
  promote the effective analysis of datasets.

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Some Future Data Priorities

• Use of Administrative, Environmental, Medical,
  Spatial data
• Small Area Estimation (often linked to and
  relying on above)
• Need for improved merging strategies, analysis
  which takes into account all the error structures
  and agreement on confidentiality and anonymity

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Confidentiality- Always been important but
increasing so because

• Technical (i.e. E-Science) - greater power to
  identify people within a survey
• Importance of linking with other data (e.g.
  geographical and administrative) gt potential for
  identifying people
• Inclusion of bio-medical data in surveys
• Increased computing capabilities mean datasets
  can be downloaded and sit on machines, which may
  be accessed by anyone
• This means we will have to think carefully about
  how we deposit and access data in the future.
  Question over only accessing in safe settings?
• Work with CST

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ESRC National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM)

• Mission
• To provide a strategic focal point for the
  identification, development and delivery of an
  integrated research and training programme aimed
  at promoting a step change in the quality and
  range of methodological skills and techniques
  used by the UK social science community.

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National Centre for Research MethodsObjectives

• To advance methodological understanding and
  practice, through the development of a strategic
  research programme in both quantitative and
  qualitative research methods
• To enhance the UK international profile in
  methodological excellence and to ensure the UK is
  at the forefront of international developments in
  social research methodology
• To play a strategic role in the promotion of high
  quality research methodology that involves
  inter-agency initiatives, including but not
  limited to those funded by the ESRC
• To co-ordinate and add value to the existing
  investments of the ESRC that are concerned to
  enhance the methodological sophistication and
  techniques and skills of current and future
  generations of social researchers.

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Research Methods ProgrammeAim of the Programme

• To develop qualitative and quantitative methods
  within the context of substantive research. It is
  also geared toward the effective dissemination of
  good practice through a range of related training
  activities.

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New Technology
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E-Science

• The e-Science vision is of a globally connected
  scholarly community made up of virtual
  co-laboratories aimed at promoting the highest
  quality scientific research.
• The realisation of this vision rests on the
  development of an IT infrastructure that will
  support research collaborations through the
  shared use of very large computing resources,
  enormous data collections, remote access to
  specialised facilities and visualisation
  technologies

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E-Social Science

• ESRC s strategy for e-social science aims to
  realise the potential of grid technologies in
  social science research.
• The strategy is made up of three components
• The National Centre for e-Social Science (NCeSS)
• Training and Awareness Programme
• Pilot Demonstrator Projects

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The ESRC National Centre for e-Social Science
(NCeSS)

• The NCeSS hub (Manchester) will
• Raise awareness of e-social science,
• Provide training in the application of Grid
  technologies to substantive social science
  problems,
• Offer a comprehensive advice an support services
  to nodes and users,
• Maintain a repository of online resources
  including an open source software library,
• Act as the central resource base for all e-social
  science activities across the UK academic and
  user communities, and integrate its work with the
  e-science Core Programme.
• The Research Nodes will focus on a specific
  e-social science theme. They will develop grid
  technologies and apply them to substantive social
  science research problems.

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The people
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PhD Students Social Statistics, Research Methods
and Computing
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What we need is

• A strategy for the future human resource
  provision in social statistics broadly defined
• Research Funding Opportunities across the
  lifecourse
• Evangelism