Sources of socio-economic data (Location: Bloomsbury)

Socio-economic data cover a wide variety of:

• themes e.g. wealth, governance and health
• content e.g. political boundaries, demographic information and economic statistics
• formats e.g. spatial, tabular and textual
• scales e.g. individual, household, enterprise, local, regional and global. 

Indeed, many research projects require data in order to answer a proposed research problem, hypothesis or set of objectives.  In addition, the quantity of data, their qualities and how they are sampled and measured have implications for the choice and effectiveness of the data analysis techniques used in subsequent analysis.  Therefore, it is very important that you have the correct data for your specific research project.

Locating relevant secondary data in the digital environment presents us with many opportunities and challenges.  To assist you, we will start off by covering a few basic definitions.  For example, many ‘data’ databases differentiate between microdata and macrodata.  We will then run through how to access statistics from a range of sources, from government websites through to subscription databases – firstly focused on finance and business and then moving to other data archives more generally.

A demonstration will be given to outline the primary features of the UK Data Service.  The UKDS is a comprehensive resource funded by the ESRC and provides access to international macrodata, large-scale surveys (UK, cross-national and longitudinal), business microdata, qualitative studies and census data.  Hands-on exercises will allow you to explore what’s available for yourself, including support materials, and get to grips with the UKDS.Stat interface in order to access, manipulate and visualise data from the World Bank.  Finally, we’ll run through my top tips and learn how to find further help, advice and information.

This session will cover:

• A brief run through the different types of data available, i.e. microdata and macrodata.
• An overview of the main sources of secondary social science data to which UCL has access.
• A summary of the UK Data Service, with a hands-on practical using the World Bank’s World Development Indicators in order to familiarise you with the UKDS.Stat interface.
• Getting further assistance and some top tips with some important questions to address as you explore data for your research.

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Access a wide variety of datasets from a number of different sources.
• Navigate and find data in the UK Data Service, plus the range of support materials and guidance available.
• Use UKDS.Stat to access, export and chart international macrodata.
• Know how to seek further help and advice when it comes to sourcing relevant secondary data.