- Home
- Administrative data
- Our research
- About us
- Contact us
- News and events
- BLOG - Access to secure data during the Covid-19 pandemic - a model for the future?
- Covid-19 and Care Homes: Advances in Administrative Data Research during the pandemic
- DATA INSIGHTS -Deprivation and informal care at the end of life
- BLOG - Reflections on engaging with children & young people about data
- NEWS - Innovative new residential linkage tool launched
- BLOG SERIES - Dramatic increase in deaths at home- No.4
- DATA INSIGHTS - Youth Movements, Social Mobility and Health Inequalities
- NEWS - New report warns of deepening poverty crisis for Scottish families
- New report on Infants Born into Care in Scotland
- Spotlight on Dr Elizabeth Lemmon
- Spotlight on Jan Savinc
- BLOG - Covid-19 fines in Scotland: What we know so far
- BLOG - The value of social science and administrative data research in Scotland: how we are helping respond to COVID-19
- NEWS - Joining together with Research Data Scotland to co-host existing public panel on data
- DATA INSIGHTS - Exploring illegal drug consignments in Scotland
- DATA INSIGHTS -Linking two administrative data sets about looked after children
- NEWS - ADR UK grants 20 PhD studentship opportunities focused on quantitative research using linked administrative data
- NEWS – ADR Scotland data ambassadors launched
- Spotlight on Peter Christen
- The importance of administrative data
- Virtual Conference - Data Linkage: Information to Impact
- An Introduction to Data Science for Administrative Data Research course - March 2023
- BLOG SERIES - Dramatic increase in deaths at home - No.7
- BLOG SERIES - Dramatic increase in deaths at home
- BLOG SERIES - Dramatic increase in deaths at home- No.3
- DATA INSIGHTS - Investigating the effects of class composition and class size on pupils’ attainment in Scottish primary schools
- NEWS - New opportunity to join ADR Scotland’s Public Panel
- BLOG - Engaging the public through our public panel
- BLOG - Exploring the potential of synthetic data
- Children’s Health in Care in Scotland (CHiCS)
- DATA INSIGHTS - Automatic Coding of Occupations: Methods to create the Scottish Historic Population Database (SHPD)
- DATA INSIGHTS - Selective schools: do they improve health?
- DATA INSIGHTS - Were people who died at home less likely to attend hospital at the end of life during the Covid pandemic?
- EVENT - Active Travel: New Data, New Insights
- EVENT - Holyrood Evidence Week: Doing Data Better for Policy and Public Good
- EVENT - Unlocking criminal justice data in Scotland: Findings from Data First
- IPDLN Conference - Data linkage research: informing policy and practice
- NEWS - Making nursing data available to inform policy
- NEWS - New report on The Impact of Covid-19 on Children’s Care Journeys in Scotland: An Analysis of the Administrative Data on 'Looked After' Children
- NEWS - Updated report on Infants Born into Care in Scotland
- Scout and Guide participation boosts later life health
- BLOG - Geospatial Ambitions
- BLOG - Taking historical death records and developing a database for future analysis
- BLOG - Unlocking criminal justice data
- DATA INSIGHTS - Community mortality due to Covid-19
- DATA INSIGHTS - What makes people more likely to cycle to work?
- Future-proofing investment into administrative data research announced in Scotland
- NEWS - Understanding the dynamics of the nursing workforce: the potential of routinely collected data
- Spotlight on Joanna Soraghan
- Spotlight on Katherine Falconer
- Why misconceptions about population data can lead to bad outcomes
- ADR Scotland publishes its strategy for 2022-2026
- BLOG - Developing and re-shaping our public panel
- BLOG - Review of the recent DWP Areas of Research Interest Workshop
- BLOG: Developing a cross-national research agenda on crime and convictions
- BLOG: Working together to make a difference with data
- DATA INSIGHTS - Homelessness duration in Scotland: how long does rehousing take?
- DATA INSIGHTS - Occupation and COVID-19 deaths: Scotland in a comparative perspective
- DATA INSIGHTS -The health and economic benefits of active commuting in Scotland
- EVENT - ADR UK Conference 2023
- EVENT - RSE The secret world of data
- NEWS - New comic on children's rights and data
- NEWS - Report published on our children’s engagement pilot study
- NEWS - When did fines issued by the police for breaking Covid rules peak?
- Scotland’s portfolios: Research and Statistical Data - building a new approach to thematic data linkage
- Spotlight on Cecilia Macintyre
- Spotlight on Dr Evan Williams
- Spotlight on Fernando Pantoja
- Spotlight on Laurie Berrie
- ADR Scotland Winter Partnership Session - **internal event**
- BLOG - AGEING AND HOMELESSNESS IN SCOTLAND
- BLOG - Can we use linked administrative data to identify social disadvantage?
- BLOG - Commuting and its impact on health
- BLOG - The Dynamics of the Nursing Workforce in the UK: Using data to support our nurses
- BLOG: Growing up in kinship care
- Congratulations to Alastair McAlpine, the new Chief Statistician for Scottish Government
- DATA INSIGHTS - Analysing a season of death and excess mortality in Scotland’s past
- EVENT - ADR UK Virtual Half Day event
- EVENT - HDR UK Conference: Data for global health and society
- EVENT - Introduction to Data Science for Administrative Data Research course (IDS-ADR)
- Event - Public data for public good: towards better understanding children's lives
- NEWS - ADR Scotland's first flagship dataset
- NEWS - Data research initiative secures £90 m funding extension
- NEWS: Our role supporting the new Covid-19 research data service in Scotland
- Spotlight on Gina Anghelescu
- Spotlight on Michelle K Jamieson
- Webinar - An Introduction to Looked-After Children Dataset
- ADR Scotland Away Day (**for staff only**)
- BLOG - An Inside Job: Using Criminology, Police Data and a Lot of Nouse
- BLOG - Improving justice data to promote data justice in Scotland
- BLOG - Location of death in 2020: a changing trend from hospitals to homes
- BLOG - Reflecting on the ADR UK Conference: Insights from our new PhD Researchers
- BLOG - Seeking feedback on Research Data Scotland’s core principles via our public panel
- BLOG - What skills, training and support are required by those wishing a career as an administrative data researcher?
- BLOG No. 9 - Final blog in this 'deaths at home' series
- BLOG SERIES - Dramatic increase in deaths at home - No. 6
- BLOG SERIES - Dramatic increase in deaths at home - No.8
- BLOG SERIES - Dramatic increase in deaths at home- No.5
- BLOG: 5 things I've learnt about working with policymakers...
- BLOG: Automating Coding for Large Historical Datasets
- BLOG: COVID-19- How increased deaths at home impact the carer community
- DATA INSIGHTS -Postal deliveries of drugs in Scotland
- EVENT - 'Getting things done with data in government'
- EVENT - Linking public sector data for research: an ADR UK showcase event
- EVENT Seminar - Administrative data for social policy research: potential and pitfalls
- NEWS - ADR Scotland launches new podcast series
- NEWS - Additional funding for Understanding Children’s Lives and Outcomes
- NEWS - Engaging children and young people
- NEWS: Police use of Fixed Penalty Notices under the Covid-19 regulations in Scotland: A new data report highlights links with deprivation and inequality
- NEWS: Police use of the new Covid-19 powers: Using administrative data to analyse and evaluate practice
- Research Data Scotland - New user forum
- Spotlight on Dr Patricio Troncoso
- Spotlight on Renata Samulnik
- Summary of ADR Scotland Winter Partnership session
- Directorship of the International Population Data Linkage Network (IPDLN) for 2021-22.
- BLOG: In the light of experience: InterRAI and the final thousand days of life
- Multiple health conditions and social care
- NEWS - Susan McVie elected as Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences
- SCADR relocates to the Bayes Centre
- EVENT: Four day introduction to using administrative data for social and health research
- BLOG: The value of administrative data: DALYs and the Scottish Burden of Disease study
- BLOG: Where to start with parliamentary and policy engagement
- EVENT - International Conference on Administrative Data Research, Cardiff
- EVENT - Using data to realise the potential of the 'Last 1000 days'
- EVENT: TalkingData: ADR Scotland mini-summit
- EVENT: “Let’s use data to save time, money and lives”: ADR Scotland partners gather for mini-summit
- EVENTS: ADR Scotland researchers present at international conference in Cardiff
Training
There are various training courses available to support administrative data research, some are essential to access data and others build relevant skills.
Working with Administrative Data Training
If you are a first time researcher, we recommend a free online modular course offered by Centric as a first step. This course provides a good overview of best research practice in the use of administrative data.
For those researchers looking for more additional training, we would encourage them to enquire about the four courses listed below, that are comprehensive introductions/overviews of working with administrative data. Each course varies in length, cost and depth so please enquire directly to each training provider for full details.
1. An Introduction to Data Science for Administrative Data Research (IDS-ADR) course:
This course gives a full introduction to administrative data, describing what it is, some particular problems that may arise in working with this type of data and how to deal with them.
Theoretical sessions and hands-on practical sessions using R syntax and synthetic data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS) explain to users how to:
- tidy, clean and recode data
- link datasets
- manipulate data
- conduct data visualisation
- identify data quality issues
- and fit regression models
Data showcases and researcher experience sessions describe how to access data and avoid common pitfalls. We always welcome feedback from previous attendees, and here are a few recommendations. The first is from a researcher who attended the course in 2023:
I’d like to also express my thanks to you and the IDS-ADR team. I’ve really enjoyed being in the course, found the help and support incredibly useful and am sorry it is ending. Please pass on sincere gratitude to all of your team.
The second was from a past attendee of the IDS-ADR training course in 2020/2021 - find out why they gave it a 5 star rating!
The IDS-ADR training online course usually runs twice a year, in Spring and Autumn - please see details for future course dates here.
2. Administrative Data Training - Centric:
Centric’s online self-guided course is for researchers interested in or currently working with UK administrative data and was co-produced by researchers and stakeholders using administrative data.
The online training via Moodle contains interactive slides and learning materials covering the following topics:
- Intro to admin data
- Admin data in the study lifecycle
- Safeguarding Public Data - models of data access and identifiability
- Key Regulatory Considerations
- The Application and Approvals (from key UK providers)
- Working with the Public
Supporting these modules is an extensive resources section for further reading and to advance understanding. Please visit the Centre for Trials Research at Cardiff University or Centric's webpage for further details on training courses available.
3. Data Awareness Training – The Health Foundation & Cancer Research UK:
This course starts with the basics of different types of data, why some is more sensitive and legally protected, and how different access processes are required for different types of data. Further information is given on data access processes and creating safe outputs (Statistical Disclosure Control) from The Health Foundation’s secure data environment.
Please visit the Working Group for Safe Data Access Professionals webpage for further details, where the Slides from this course are available.
4. Analysis of Linked Health Data (introductory and advanced) – Swansea University / University of Sydney:
These in depth courses are ideal for health and social care researchers, social scientists, clinical practitioners and health care managers and introduce the topic of linked health data analysis at an introductory to intermediate level.
Practical exercises using deidentified data use programs such as SPSS, SAS, STATA or R to investigate methods of basic statistical analysis. Topics include:
- Introduction to data linkage and its history
- How record linkage works & quality
- Ethics, data security, application processes
- Types of population health databases
- Constructing study populations
- Arrays, merging datasets, tagging records, creating sequence variables
- Measures of health care utilisation; health care episodes
- Preparing data for analysis & accuracy and reliability of data sources
- Introduction to survival analysis and Cox regression
Please visit the Data Science webpage at Swansea University for further information on either the Analysis of Linked Health Data (PMIM302) or the Advanced Analysis of Linked Health Data (PMIM602) course, or visit the University of Sydney Short Courses webpage.
Skills Training
Researchers
Researchers using administrative data need a variety of skills. Training required depends on their experience, the data accessed and the analysis required.
Before researchers can access any data in the National Safe Haven, they must have successfully completed appropriate training, such as the ONS Safe Researcher Training course (ONS-SRT). Specific data controllers have specific training course requirements, so please do check with your Data Controller or Research Coordinator, that they are satisfied the ONS-SRT course is right for your needs.
Research Methods
- The National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) has a comprehensive course database of methodological courses covering a wide variety of relevant skills.
- The UK Data Service runs multiple training courses and resources including courses specifically on the data within the holding and how to use it, as well as wider skills training in a range of data.
- The Scottish Longitudinal Study Development and Support Unit (SLS-DSU) run courses on specific methods within administrative data research such as survival analysis, and an introduction to the Scottish Longitudinal Study resource.
For those new to quantitative research, most universities run in-depth introductions for staff and students to statistical packages like R, Stata and SPSS.
Output checking/Statistical Disclosure Control (SDC)
- The UK Data Service Handbook on Statistical Disclosure Control for Outputs is available on their website.
- The ONS SRT course delivered by SCADR has an extensive section on SDC and how to create safe outputs.
- The Safe Data Access Professionals group have produced a Guide on Statistical Disclosure Control (SDC) to ensure that your research outputs do not disclose any information about the individuals or organisations in your dataset.
Feedback welcome
We welcome feedback. Have you found any useful courses that we should promote? Are there skills where you need training but have not found suitable provision? Please contact us by emailing scadr@ed.ac.uk with your thoughts.