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- 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
Spotlight on Fernando Pantoja
We hear from Fernando about life working as a Research Fellow in the Safer Communities project team and the challenges of working with administrative data.
Fernando joined the ADR Scotland Safer Communities research programme in February 2020. Unfortunately, this was just a month before the first lockdown. Therefore not only did he have the same challenge as everyone else to establish a home office, he also had to get to know colleagues through online meetings. However, he was lucky to be part of a very friendly and supportive team, that helped him to adjust to this new way of working. One of his favourite activities is a regular online meeting that the team has every Friday, where they share all their accomplishments and frustrations.
We asked Fernando the following questions to find out more about his role; the challenges he faces and what advice he would give to others starting their journey.
Please tell us more about your job and the projects you are involved in
One of the nice things about this job is that there is no such thing as a typical day. Right now, we are working on three big projects, which means we can spend one day working with the relevant dataset; cleaning data, analysing it and preparing outputs. Then other days we could be doing some literature reviews or preparing and delivering a presentation.
The first project we are working on is about drugs purchased through illegal online markets. For this project, we use data from the National Crime Agency about all packages containing illegal consignments seized by the UK Border Force and destined for Scotland. More specifically, we have explored the spatial distribution of these packages, the law enforcement strategies used to contain the illegal flow of drugs, and the characteristics of these packages and their destination to distinguish between different users.
The second project is about violence and its underlying vulnerabilities. The aim of this project is to analyse the demand for emergency services, due to a violence related incident. In particular, we are investigating whether this demand is driven by people identified as being vulnerable (e.g. suffering from mental health, alcohol and/or drug addiction). Here, we are using linked data from various services including the Scottish Ambulance Service, Emergency Departments, Hospitals, and specialised mental health and drug services.
Lastly, we are currently developing a new project that aims to explore the profile and outcomes of problem drug users that are known to the criminal justice system. Although we are currently waiting for the data, we want to explore how their characteristics and vulnerabilities, including their sociodemographic and illicit drug profile, are related to their criminal career.
One really positive thing about my role, is getting to work across different projects and getting to learn more about Scotland.
What challenges have you had to overcome and do you have any tips for others just starting their Research Fellowships?
Working with administrative data is very challenging, especially when you have not had access to a dataset before.
A former colleague developed a research proposal a few months ago, and after a very long wait, we finally received the datasets. When we began the analysis, we found some issues that were a bit concerning. A big problem for us is that because we did not develop that research proposal, we did not take part in the ‘negotiation process’, and thus, we do not have access to some information (particularly about the inclusion criteria).
I have to say we are very lucky because the eDRIS team has always been extremely helpful not only to solve some practical issues but also to liaise with the data controllers when they are unable to answer our queries. Huge thanks to the electronic Data Research and Innovation Service (eDRIS).
Due to the challenge of working with administrative data, it is best to be clear and upfront about anything you don't know. In my experience, most people are willing to help, and if they do not know the answer to a specific question, I am sure they will tell you who does.
However, I have also learned that we have to be patient. Although most people are friendly and do want to help you, some of them are extremely busy (particularly in the current situation), so it is important to learn how to manage your own time (so you can do other things while you wait for an answer).
Tell us some facts we didn't know about you!
I am from a city called Toluca, which is about an hour’s drive west of Mexico City. I spent the first 21 years of my life there, until I finished my Undergrad studies (with a gap when I did a year abroad in High School). Since then, I have been a bit busy travelling (with the excuse of studying and working). I have had the opportunity to live in the USA, New Zealand, Sweden, Iran and now Scotland (I have been here for over 4 years). If you are needing help with your work, I can usually be persuaded by a tasty coffee or caramel & cheesecake!! I love both and cannot resist either of these things!!
On a good Karaoke night, I will probably try to steal the mic to sing more than one Queen song (Don’t stop me now). I cannot stand Raggaeton songs, like Despacito, as most of the songs have lyrics which are very offensive.
This article was published on 03 Feb 2021