Introduction to cross-sectional government survey data

1. Introduction to cross-sectional government survey data Vanessa Higgins ESDS Government Centre for Census and Survey Research University of Manchester

2. Why should you want to know about the data? Because the data are.......... • Very cost effective: data free of charge to not for profit researchers • Saves time: no need to conduct survey • Access to high quality, well documented data • Can provide nationally representative data ‑ allows generalisation to population • Allows historical and geographical comparisons to be made • ESRC funded data support services

3. What are the data like? • Survey microdata • Up-to-date • Large sample sizes (BCS 46K, Citizenship 14k) • Cross-sectional • Specialist topic surveys • Face-to- face computer-assisted personal interviewing • Identifying information is removed

4. The Survey Microdata • Individual information akin to the sort of data you would collect if you were conducting your own survey • Need to be analysed in an appropriate software package (like SPSS or Stata) • Good quality collected by a professional data collection organisation for policy purposes • British Market Research Bureau • Office for National Statistics • National Centre for Social Research • Has good quality documentation & support services

6. British Crime Survey Commissioned by HO, conducted by BMRB Started in 1982. Latest data from ESDS is 2008-9 (84, 88, 92, 94, 96, 98, 2000 and annually since 2001). Very large sample c.46,000 individuals One adult (16+) randomly selected in household Has ethnic minority and young person (16-24) boosts Includes property crime of the household and personal crimes. Also attitudes to crime, fear of crime and measures taken to avoid crime. Attitudes to CJS 3 main sections: Non-victim form questionnaire Victim form questionnaire (up to 6 incidents) Self-completions (drug use, drinking, stolen goods, domestic violence, sexual victimisation) Provides robust trends for the crime types it covers

7. Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey Commissioned by Scottish Government, conducted by BMRB - Scottish crime survey: 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003 - Scottish crime and victimisation survey: 2004, 2006 (latest data) - Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: 2008-09 Latest data from ESDS is the 2008-9 SCJS: • Approx 16,000 individuals

8. Citizenship Survey • Evolved from HO interest in citizen/community engagement with social problems. Examines community cohesion, community engagement, race and faith, volunteering and civil renewal. • 2001, 2003, 2005 (formerly know as the HOCs) • 2007: moved to annual continuous survey. Commissioned by Dept Communities and Local Government; 2007: c.14,000 people (16+), includes ethnic minority boost of 4,800. • England and Wales • One adult (16+) randomly selected in household • Crime related questions: • Safety in local area (all years) • Trust in police and courts (all years) • Racial prejudice in CJS (all years) • Fear of crime (2004, 2007) • Problems with vandalism, drugs and racial attacks/harassment (2007) • Feelings about community, including community cohesion; trust and influence (2008)

9. ONS Omnibus Survey • Multi-purpose survey since 1990. • Questions vary from month to month (with core) • Used to: • provide quick answers to questions of immediate interest • provide info on topics that don’t require a full survey • test/pilot questions for other surveys • Crime modules from time to time e.g. • Attitudes to domestic violence (June 04) • Anti-social behaviour (June 04) • Trust in police and courts (Oct 03 and Nov 04) • Concern about crime on public transport (Nov 04 & Mar 05) • www.esds.ac.uk/government/omnibus/modules/index.asp • 1,200 adult individuals GB each month • One adult (16+) randomly selected in household

10. Pros… Reasonable amount of comparability Can you pool years/quarters to look at periods? Data is representative at each time point Good at looking at impacts on groups (not individuals) Cons… Limits to continuity in the data (e.g. ethnic) Cannot establish individual change Using successive cross-sectional data over time

11. Trends in crime, 1981 to 2008/09 BCS

12. Looking at small populations • Many surveys with 10+k respondents • Permits minority groups to be represented • Rare subpopulations sample size may be too small… can consider combining years if appropriate

13. Using the flexibility of the data to look at alternative definitions Perceptions of anti-social behaviour: How much of a problem is… …abandoned or burnt-out cars …noisy neighbours or loud parties …people being drunk or rowdy in public places …people using or dealing drugs …teenagers hanging around on the street …rubbish or litter lying around …vandalism, graffiti and other deliberate damage to property Σ 3=very big problem2=fairly big problem1=not very big problem0=not a problem at all 11+ defined as ‘high levels of perceived ASB’ Taylor, Twigg & Mohan, 2008

14. In addition to straightforwardsecondary analysis: • Context to your own primary research • Your research could be quantitative or qualitative • To assess the national context of an area study • To assess whether your sample is typical of national data • To assess the scale of behaviours – how big is the behaviour you are looking at?

15. Resources for research Crime-specific • Introductory guide: using government surveys for crime research • Survey web pages (FAQs, Starting Analysis) • Crime Surveys User Meeting (annual) • Publications & Usage Database • Variables search • Past events: • introductory workshop Oct 2009 • research conference Nov 2009 • past user meetings General • Methodological guides & workshops • Helpdesk • Nesstar

16. Resources for teaching • Teaching datasets • “Data Analysis for your Dissertation” Guides • Nesstar • SPSS & Stata guides • Other methodological guides • Paper registration form www.esds.ac.uk/orderingData/agreements/accessTeaching.pdf www.esds.ac.uk/orderingData/sharingData.asp

17. Registration • All users can access study descriptions, online documentation, including questionnaires, free of charge without registering with ESDS • In order to access the datasets you need to register with ESDS • Register online using your UK Federation username and password • Simple online form, takes about 10 minutes • You need to register a usage of the data as part of this process • Non-commercial users: free of charge • Commercial users: £500 Charge for per study and will need to apply for a UK Federation username and password • You need to agree to the End User Licence when you register

18. The End User Licence • This is not public data! • We need to know who you are, how to contact you and what you are using the data for • Agree not to attempt to identify individuals • Only use the data for your stated purpose (you can re-register if you want to use the data for another use) • Do not pass the data to unregistered parties (that includes deleting the data before passing on PCs!) • Tell us if you publish using the data • Some more sensitive or detailed datasets require more stringent licensing procedures • Special condition • Special licences

19. Obtaining data once registered • Choice of downloading entire files: • SPSS, Stata, tab delimited formats for most files • Comes zipped up with documentation • Or explore the data and download subsets in Nesstar (c. 200 files in this format – including most of the Government surveys) • Allows you to explore metadata without being registered • Can do basic exploratory anlyses (including OLS) online without downloading files • Can define subsets to download in a wider range of formats including SAS

20. Summary • Lots of data available from ESDS • It’s free! • It’s easy to access • Support/resources from ESDS to help you use the data • Access to wider community via jiscmail lists, user meetings, publications/usage database

21. For further info: Helpdesk: help@esds.ac.uk govsurveys@esds.ac.uk Website: www.esds.ac.uk www.esds.ac.uk/government JISCmail: esds-news@jiscmail.ac.uk esds-govsurveys@jiscmail.ac.uk CRIM-BCS-USERS@JISCMAIL.AC.UK