Longitudinal Area Effects Network & Data-Linkage Workshop

Creating a central resource for researchers interested in geographical analysis using the major UK longitudinal social surveys.

A two-stage workshop bringing together leading researchers of geographical impacts on individual outcomes, such as individual health and wellbeing, to contribute towards the creation of a central resource for geographical and area level data. 

The first stage of the workshop brought together academics internationally with detailed knowledge of geographical data currently available in the UK and overseas longitudinal studies, and data that would ideally be available in all studies. The second stage of the workshop brought together data guardians of UK longitudinal studies to discuss further data linkage possibilities that arise from the first stage of the workshop. The data were placed in an online central resource that identifies and describes all area/geographical data currently available in the major UK longitudinal studies, or available through further data linkage. 

In addition to the creation of a central data resource, the workshops facilitated the development of a data profile describing these data that will be submitted for publication. The data profile summarised in detail the data that have been collected in UK longitudinal studies, the sources of the data, and additional data linkages that can be made. The first workshop was followed with a symposium on area effects at the British Society for Population Studies Annual Conference 2020, building on the impact of the workshops. 

A longer term impact is the creation of a research network of academics interested in longitudinal neighbourhood and geographical research to foster greater interactions and collaborations in this area.