Analysing Large-Scale and Complex Social Survey Data: A Brief But Practical Introduction for Non-Academic Researchers

This is a free event for non-academic researchers who would like to get a brief practical introduction to analysing large-scale complex social surveys (e.g. Understanding Society and the Millennium Cohort Study).

The UK has a wealth of high quality large-scale social survey data resources. These resources include Understanding Society (the UK Household Longitudinal Study), which is the largest household panel study in the world, and the British Birth Cohort Studies. A positive feature of many modern social surveys is that they have complex designs and selection strategies. These datasets are general infrastructural resources and they are designed so that they can support the widest range of research investigations (for example the analysis of sub-samples and special groups). Complex selection strategies are used to ensure that the datasets provide good representations of populations. The challenge of using surveys with complex designs and selection strategies is that they require techniques that go beyond standard analysis methods. In our experience researchers often find the structure of complex large-scale surveys initially difficult to understand. Researchers who are new to analysing these surveys also report that understanding how best to represent the sample designs and selection strategies is far from obvious.

The overall goal of the event is to provide researchers with a brief, accessible and practical introduction to analysing survey datasets with complex survey structures. The workshop will be particularly suitable for non-academic researchers, but academic researchers are also welcome.

This event is organised as part of an ongoing academic project Have Socio-Economic Inequalities in Childhood Cognitive Test Scores Changed? which is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

The meeting is FREE.