scholarly journals The importance of gaining the public’s confidence to use administrative data for public benefit in social science research

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilse Verwulgen ◽  
Judith Knight
Keyword(s):  
Administrative Data ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Public Consultation ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
The Uk

ABSTRACTBackgroundThe Administrative Data Research Network (ADRN) is a UK-wide initiative, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The Network facilitates safe access to linked de-identified administrative data for research which is aimed at providing a benefit to our society. Administrative data research can provide wide ranging and longitudinal evidence for policy makers which therefore has the potential to improve our society. MethodRecognising the importance of public confidence and trust to the success of the ADRN, the ESRC commissioned a public consultation to gauge understanding of social research and the reactions to the use of administrative data in research. A comprehensive UK-wide communications and public engagement strategy has been developed. From this a number of initiatives been introduced over the past two years to address public concerns and these have been reviewed, revised and extended as the Network has evolved. Now to extend the Network’s reach, the Administrative Data Research Network is developing a UK National Citizens Panel (CP). The panel will provide a representation of public views on potential changes to Network policy, procedures, governance and service provision issues. The CP will also assist with testing our public facing communications such as events, website and promotional materials. ConclusionThis paper presents the previous and current public engagement initiatives that the Administrative Data Research Network has incorporated within its policies and service that enables better knowledge for a better society  Funded by the Economic & Social Research Council, the ADRN, set up as part of the UK Government’s Big Data initiative, is a UK-wide partnership between universities, government bodies, national statistics authorities and the wider research community. www.adrn.ac.uk.

scholarly journals The ADRN and the public’s voice: making administrative data available for research while gaining public trust

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilse Verwulgen
Keyword(s):  
Administrative Data ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Public Consultation ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
Scientific Integrity ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Uk

ABSTRACT BackgroundThis paper presents the way the Administrative Data Research Network (ADRN) has incorporated the results of public consultation into the core of its operations and policies. Administrative data are a rich source of information, but underused in social and economic research. In the past it has been very difficult to gain access to these datasets. The ADRN is a UK-wide initiative, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in 2013. The Network facilitates secure research access to linked, de-identified administrative data to enable real-world analysis that can benefit society. Administrative data research can provide a solid evidence base for policy makers to evaluate the results of active policies or uncover new ways to tackle social problems. ApproachUsing government data for research is still a sensitive topic for the public, and rightly so. Amidst growing concerns about privacy and data security, the use of administrative data is a potentially controversial move. At the beginning of the project, the ESRC commissioned a nation-wide public consultation to gauge understanding of social research and reactions to the use of administrative data in research. ResultsThe ADRN used the results of this consultation to incorporate mechanisms for lay participation as well as accountability towards the public into its governance, and makes a case for engaging the public without compromising the scientific integrity of the research it supports. Funded by the Economic & Social Research Council, the Administrative Data Research Network, set up as part of the UK Government’s Big Data initiative, is a UK-wide partnership between universities, government bodies, national statistics authorities and the wider research community. www.adrn.ac.uk

scholarly journals The Administrative Data Research Network’s National Citizen’s Panel – A step towards bridging public concerns about research using administrative data.

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Knight
Keyword(s):  
Administrative Data ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Public Views ◽  
Public Concerns

ABSTRACT BackgroundThe content of administrative records are both confidential and personal, therefore the use of administrative data for research purposes is rightly and naturally of concern to us all. It is highly likely that unless public concerns can be understood, met and public confidence and support gained, that the role of research using administrative data cannot develop further. AimsAs a member of the general public you may well ask, how will this research help me? The Network enables researchers across the UK to gain access to linked de-identified administrative data to benefit society i.e. research that could change health care systems, improve the distribution of funds to needier areas or has the potential to reduce crime. MethodTo extend the Network’s reach, the Administrative Data Research Network (ADRN) in addition to a breadth of communications and public engagement activities across the UK is developing a UK National Citizens Panel (CP). The panel will provide a representation of public views on potential changes to Network policy, procedures, governance and service provision issues. The CP will also assist with testing our public facing communications, e.g. events, website and materials. ResultsThis paper would like to present the ADRN's case and scope for a Citizens Panel, the model adopted and its progress to date. Funded by the Economic & Social Research Council, the ADRN, set up as part of the UK Government’s Big Data initiative, is a UK-wide partnership between universities, government bodies, national statistics authorities and the wider research community.www.adrn.ac.uk.

ESRC Review

2020 ◽  
pp. 657-698
Author(s):  
Simeon J. Yates ◽  
Jordana Blejmar
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Us ◽  
Levels Of Automation ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Technological World ◽  
Ways Of Being

Two workshops were part of the final steps in the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) commissioned Ways of Being in a Digital Age project that is the basis for this Handbook. The ESRC project team coordinated one with the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (ESRC-DSTL) Workshop, “The automation of future roles”; and one with the US National Science Foundation (ESRC-NSF) Workshop, “Changing work, changing lives in the new technological world.” Both workshops sought to explore the key future social science research questions arising for ever greater levels of automation, use of artificial intelligence, and the augmentation of human activity. Participants represented a wide range of disciplinary, professional, government, and nonprofit expertise. This chapter summarizes the separate and then integrated results. First, it summarizes the central social and economic context, the method and project context, and some basic definitional issues. It then identifies 11 priority areas needing further research work that emerged from the intense interactions, discussions, debates, clustering analyses, and integration activities during and after the two workshops. Throughout, it summarizes how subcategories of issues within each cluster relate to central issues (e.g., from users to global to methods) and levels of impacts (from wider social to community and organizational to individual experiences and understandings). Subsections briefly describe each of these 11 areas and their cross-cutting issues and levels. Finally, it provides a detailed Appendix of all the areas, subareas, and their specific questions.

scholarly journals Users and Social Science Research: Policy, Problems and Possibilities

1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 69-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Rappert
Keyword(s):  
Research Policy ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Policy Problems

Recent times have seen a significant reorientation in public funding for academic research across many countries. Public bodies in the UK have been at the forefront of such activities, typically justified in terms of a need to meet the challenges of international competitiveness and improve quality of life. One set of mechanisms advanced for further achieving these goals is the incorporation of users’ needs into various aspects of the research process. This paper examines some of the consequences of greater user involvement in the UK Economic and Social Research Council by drawing on both empirical evidence and more speculative argumentation. In doing so it poses some of the dilemmas for conceptualizing proper user involvement.

Organising: creating research worlds

2020 ◽  
pp. 79-110
Author(s):  
Paul Thompson ◽  
Ken Plummer ◽  
Neli Demireva
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Community Studies ◽  
Central Statistical ◽  
Major Section

This chapter looks at how social research gradually became organized through the work of our pioneers. It starts by looking at the growth of both universities and academic disciplines (like anthropology and sociology) as key backgrounds for understanding the growth of organized research. A major section discusses a range of early research agencies — the Colonial Research Council, Political and Economic Planning (PEP), the Institute of Community Studies, the CSO (Central Statistical Office), the SSRC, Social Science Research Council, and the UK Data Archive. Some new university-based centres are also considered: medical social science at Aberdeen, methods at Surrey and the BCCS (Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies). There are brief discussions of the Banbury Study with Meg Stacey and Colin Bell; and the Affluent Worker study. The chapter closes with some pioneering work on quantitative research, longitudinal studies and the rise of computing.

A Sociologist's Field Notes to the Mass Observation Archive: A Consideration of the Challenges of ‘re-Using’ Mass Observation Data in a Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 147-160
Author(s):  
Rose Lindsey ◽  
Sarah Bulloch
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Observation Data

This paper explores the challenges arising from the ‘re-use’ of Mass Observation Project (MOP) writing (1981 to present day) encountered by the authors when setting up an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded, longitudinal, mixed-methods research project on civic engagement. The paper begins with a brief review of the present UK social science research environment, highlighting the evidence for an increasing Research Council focus on interdisciplinary research and secondary analysis/re-use of data. It argues that this shift in focus gives rise to unique methodological challenges such as those encountered by the authors in this project. After providing some background and context, the paper discusses different obstacles encountered in the course of setting up this project. These include difficulties in: communicating within and across disciplines; re-using data across disciplines; the use of metadata, and its role in choosing writers from a longitudinal secondary data source; choice of analytical tools and approaches; and the Mass Observation writer's role in the research process. By sharing these experiences, the paper seeks to enable potential users of the MOP to see the value of MOP as a source of longitudinal qualitative secondary data; appreciate its potential for use with other data sources and across different disciplines; and equip other researchers to meet some of the challenges that the longitudinal use of MOP writing throws up.

Ethnographic and Sociological Research in East Africa: A Review

Africa ◽  
1956 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-276
Author(s):  
J. H. M. Beattie
Keyword(s):  
Research Council ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
Science Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
East African ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Science Research Council

Opening ParagraphA good deal of ethnographic and sociological research has recently been undertaken, or is planned or currently in progress, in the four East African Territories of Uganda, Tanganyika, Kenya, and Zanzibar. This research is being and has been carried out under a number of different auspices. These include, as well as the East African Institute of Social Research at Kampala (which has organized and directed a large part of the research so far undertaken), universities and other sponsoring bodies in England and the United States (such as the Colonial Social Science Research Council, the ‘Scarbrough’ Committee, and the Goldsmiths' Company in England, and the Ford, Fulbright, and Carnegie foundations in America), Makerere College, the East African Statistical Department, and the territorial Governments themselves.

scholarly journals Opening up research in social sciences

Impact ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (9) ◽  
pp. 83-84
Author(s):  
Lucy Annette
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
High Quality Research ◽  
The Social

The Open Research Area (ORA) for Social Sciences is an international initiative that provides social science research funding and support. It was founded in 2010 by members of the Bonn Group and based on agreement by European social science funding bodies The Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), France, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Germany, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), UK, and the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), the Netherlands. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Canada, later joined, as well as the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) as an associate member. ORA facilitates collaborative social sciences research by bringing together researchers from participating countries. Researchers from the partner countries who fulfil the eligibility criteria of their national funding organisation apply to the ORA office handling the year's applications and Japanese researchers submit their applications to JSPS Tokyo. ORA accepts applications from all areas of the social sciences and there is a key focus on supporting young researchers at the beginning of their careers, helping them to extend the reach of their work and network on an international scale. Ultimately, ORA exists to drive forward high-quality research and strengthen international collaboration in social sciences research. So far, five rounds of ORA have been successfully completed, with more than 60 international collaborative proposals funded across diverse social sciences fields, including political science, economics, empirical social science, psychology, geography, urban planning and education science.

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