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ESRC Future Strategy for Resources and Methods Professor Ian Diamond Chief Executive ESRC. A 10 year strategy for developing a social science research infrastructure. Create a world leading data infrastructure Maximise easy and effective access to that infrastructure
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ESRC Future Strategyfor Resources and MethodsProfessor Ian DiamondChief Executive ESRC
A 10 year strategy for developing a social science research infrastructure • Create a world leading data infrastructure • Maximise easy and effective access to that infrastructure • Drive forward the development and uptake of leading edge methodological tools and techniques • Promote the widespread exploitation of the data infrastructure across and beyond the social science community; and • Develop and promote access to the broader information resources
A world class data infrastructure • The National Strategy for Data Resources for the Social Sciences • Maintain a commitment to the further funding of its existing collection of longitudinal studies • Improve access to existing longitudinal resources • Develop new longitudinal resources – a new UK Longitudinal Household Study and a new 2012 Birth Cohort Study? • Continue to support the expansion and development of other major studies
A world class data infrastructure (2) • Secure access to census of population and survey data • Work with government departments and agencies to develop the research potential of administrative data sources. • Expand access to commercial data sources • Extend our portfolio of international data resources.
The UK Longitudinal Household Study • Key features of the UKLHS: • A projected sample size of 40,000 households • The integration of a wide range of social and economic variables with bio-medical data. Linked to newly available administrative data sources and to text, voice and video information • A unique dataset, with over 3 times as many households and four times as many data points (around 3 billion) as any comparable study.
The UK Longitudinal Household Study (2) • Key features of the UKLHS (cont): • Will truly revolutionise our capacity to study society in key areas such as demographic change, poverty, migration, labour market dynamics, crime and ageing. It will provide ground breaking opportunities to test new scientific hypothesis and give momentum to the development of new methodological tools and techniques. • It will open up major opportunities for more in depth and informed national and regional policy analysis on such key topics as the provision of public services, tax and pensions, crime, health and education.
Maximising data access • The development and application of grid intensive technologies that promote global data sharing • The use of grid technologies to ‘e-enable’ major social science data resources • National and International initiatives aimed at improving access to social science data resources • Initiatives aimed at opening up access to sensitive data
Developing methodological tools and techniques • Develop new initiatives in survey data collection and measurement • Extend support for multi-method approaches • Develop new initiatives in comparative research methods • Support pioneering developments in quantitative and qualitative data analysis
Promoting the use of the social science data infrastructure • Support strategies to improve quantitative skills in schools and undergraduate teaching • Expand postgraduate training in quantitative methods • Extend fellowship and mid career re-skilling programmes • Develop targeted programmes of secondary data analysis • Create a national social science advanced training infrastructure
Supporting the broader social science information environment • Support the further development of ESRC Society Today • Support the future development of information services • Promoting open access initiatives • Work with other agencies to promote access
Conclusion • The ESRC has set itself an ambitious strategy for developing a world class social science research infrastructure. • It will require a sustained commitment, not only from the ESRC, but from a range of stakeholders. • By working together, it will be possible to build a world class social science infrastructure that will keep the UK at the international forefront of economic and social research.