ESDS Government Surveys: Accessing and Analyzing Large-scale Government Datasets

1. Introductions • Who you are and where you are from? • Have you used any government datasets? (which, what for?) • What is your area of interest?

2. Introduction to the government surveys Vanessa Higgins ESDS Government Centre for Census and Survey Research University of Manchester Lancaster University 6 Oct 2009

3. My mission • ESDS and the support we offer • What data is available? • Choosing the right data • Working with the data • Access and registration

4. ESDS Government ESDS Management • ESDS Government provides access and user support for key large-scale government surveys such as British Crime Survey & General Household Survey • Helpdesk • User Meetings (7 Dec, Crime Surveys) • Workshops – methodological and themed • User guides – methodological and themed • Teaching datasets • Databases to search for publications, usage, variables, survey finder • Survey pages www.esds.ac.uk/government Government Longitudinal International Qualidata

5. ESDS Government Surveys With crime content • British Crime Survey • Scottish Crime & Justice Survey • Citizenship Survey • ONS Omnibus Survey • (NI Crime Survey) • General Household Survey/Continuous Household Survey • British Social Attitudes/Scottish Social Attitudes/Northern Ireland Life & Times/Young People’s Social Attitudes • Survey of English Housing No crime content • Labour Force Survey (and Annual Population Survey) • Health Survey for England/Wales/Scotland • Expenditure and Food Survey • Family Resources Survey • Time Use Survey • National Travel Survey (NI Travel Survey)

6. Other datasets with crime content • Offenders Crime & Justice Survey • Offenders Index Cohort Data • Commercial Victimisation Survey • Smoking, drinking and Drug use among young people • Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey • Arrestee Survey 2003-2006

7. 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

8. What are the data like? • ‘Nationally’ representative 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

9. All of these microdata are: • 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

11. British Crime Survey Commissioned by HO, conducted by BMRB Started in 1982. Latest data from ESDS is 2007-8 (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

12. 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 Latest data from ESDS is the 2006 SCVS: • Approx 5,000 individuals • One adult (16+) randomly selected in household • Content similar to BCS – main questionnaire, victim forms, modules

13. 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)

14. 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

15. Other datasets • General Household Survey • Continuous Household Survey • Social Attitudes Surveys: • British Social Attitudes • Scottish Social Attitudes • Northern Ireland Life & Times • Young People’s Social Attitudes • Survey of English Housing Other crime data (not cross-sectional household surveys) • Offenders Crime & Justice Survey • Offenders Index Cohort Data • Smoking, drinking and Drug use among young people • Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey • Arrestee Survey 2003-2006 • Commercial Victimisation Survey • Police recorded crime

16. Choosing data 1. What data is available for my topic? • Which surveys cover my topic? • What other topics am I interested in? 2. Are the variables I need available? 3. Does it cover the population I’m interested in? • Sampling strategy (geography, respondents, sample size)

17. What data is available for my topic? • ESDS Government www.esds.ac.uk/government • survey pages • survey finder • omnibus module pages http://www.esds.ac.uk/government/omnibus/modules/ • variables search • publications and registered usage pages • nesstar • ESDS Data Catalogue • ESDS theme page on crime: http://www.esds.ac.uk/themes/crime/ • Survey Question Bank (Survey Resources Network)

18. Are the variables I need available? • To understand the variables you have available • View the documentation/user guide • A list of variables & codings should be available • Information on how derived variables were created should be available • Double check in the dataset!

19. What do the variables mean? Unless... • you can track your variable back to the question(s) asked on the questionnaire • Know who the questions were asked of • And what was done with the raw data to turn it into the final data... You don’t understand the data

20. Routing in the documentation: SCVS

21. Derived variables: BCS example

22. Derived variables: BCS example (cont)

23. Does it cover the population I’m interested in? • Most large scale surveys are conducted within private households This will exclude people in institutions • Surveys tend to gather limited information about children • May only relate to their existence age and relationships to other household members • There may also be other age restrictions on all or part of the survey • Most large scale surveys seek to be nationally representative but what is a nation? • British Crime Survey = England & Wales! • Not always apparent from the name • Increase of country-specific surveys following devolution

24. Working with the data

25. The sampling strategy will affect your results • Few data sources approximate simple random sampling. Many major surveys use stratification and clustering • E.g. British Crime Survey has: • Stratification increases the precision of estimates • Clustering reduces the precision of estimates • Guidance should be available in the documentation • Practical Exemplars in Analysing Surveys (PEAS): www2.napier.ac.uk/depts/fhls/peas/index.htm • Complex Surveys Guide (forthcoming)

26. Disproportionate sampling • The British Crime Survey takes only 1 person per household • If left like this the chance of selection in the sample is related to the size of one’s household so probabilities of selection are unequal • Over-sampling in order to obtain satisfactory sample sizes for minority groups (often referred to as ‘boosts’) • Citizenship Survey has done this with ethnic minorities

27. Weighting can be used to prevent bias from disproportionate sampling Dataset: British Social Attitudes Survey, 2003

28. Practical research uses of the data • Looking at change over time • Look at sub-populations • Using the flexibility of the data to look at alternative definitions

29. 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

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

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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?

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

35. Registration and Access

36. 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

37. 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 conditions: British Crime Survey • Special licences: Annual Population Survey, Labour Force Survey, Family Resources Survey and recent General Household Surveys at the moment

38. Special conditions for the BCS • Agree to additional condition of use • Acknowledge HO • Publications clearance • Publications deposit • Certain self-completion modules such as drug use or domestic violence. Apply online, ESDS seeks permission from HO. • Self-completion not allowed for teaching

39. 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

40. Summary • Different types of data on “crime” • Issues to consider when choosing data • Consider the sampling and weighting when using survey data • You can use survey data to look at change over time, sub-populations and to use flexible definitions • Use for secondary analysis, context to your own research and/or teaching • Registration and access • Support from ESDS

41. For further info: Helpdesk: govsurveys@esds.ac.uk (0161) 275 1980 Website: http://www.esds.ac.uk/government JISCmail: esds-govsurveys@jiscmail.ac.uk CRIM-BCS-USERS@JISCMAIL.AC.UK http://x4l.data-archive.ac.uk/home/