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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 Michelle K Jamieson
We hear from Michelle Jamieson about life working as a Research Fellow in SCADR and what her current research involves.
Michelle joined SCADR as part of the 'Health & Social Care' research programme in May 2021, led by Dr Iain Atherton, and works mainly on the Dynamics of the Nursing Workforce project currently taking place.
Her research interests are around the intersection of inequality and health, including:
- Complex mental health conditions
- Poverty, power, and welfare
- Turning research into policy and policy into practice
- Creative approaches to conducting quantitative research and analysis, particularly centering lived experience and reflexivity in admin data research.
We asked Michelle the following questions to find out more about herself, her role and the challenges she faces:
Please tell us more about your job and the projects you are involved in
The ‘Dynamics of the Nursing Workforce’ project is currently within its pilot stage and is very exciting! It aims to utilise routinely collected data by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), so we can better understand the implications of change in the nursing workforce pre-Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing, such as who enters the nursing workforce, how long they remain, why people leave, retention issues and what are the implications for workforce planning.
What do you like most about your job and in particular this project?
The thing I like most about this job is that it will have a real impact on people's lives. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected our lives in so many ways and it is a privilege to be able to incorporate this understanding into the nursing dynamics project. I also enjoy the overall working culture fostered by SCADR and am especially pleased I can integrate my own thoughts around subjectivity, reflexivity and lived experience and its place within quantitative methodology and routinely collected data. I love that these kinds of ideas are welcomed within the group.
What challenges have you had to overcome with your latest projects?
Anyone involved in working with data knows one of the biggest challenges is time. The process for gaining access to data and engaging with the holders to talk through 'what giving access to their data' means is an important part of the process. These checks and balances are in place for a reason and leads to considered research that respects the data and the people represented in the data.
Anything you have learnt from your current experience, which you will ensure you do on your next project to make life easier – a sort of top tip to others!
My number one tip would be to sort out a project directory structure in your folders! Especially the folders where you keep your code, or the ones that are connected to your stats programme. I am passionate about open and transparent code that can be shared, so I’ve realised the importance of good comments on code scripts. Without fail I have to go back to something I did a few months ago (or even longer), or have to run through code in meetings, and having a tidy structure along with comments on the code and an up-to-date “README” are the saviours of the day (week, or usually month!).
Please tell us why you decided to pursue a career in data
I never saw myself having a career in data as I struggle with dyscalculia and was never confident with numbers. My undergrad degree was in Psychology and the Statistics modules were my most dreaded classes of the week, but this also made me determined to find ways that worked for me in order to pass. Once I moved into my postgraduate training in Public Health and Sociology I realised the potential of data for answering complex questions. I was also really concerned with the positioning of quantitative methods as ‘gold standard’ and objective (in comparison to qualitative methods) - which they certainly are not, when you consider the people conducting the analysis have their own thoughts and biases that can then affect the methodology. It’s been this concern that’s led me to work with data while trying to bring my own life experiences and reflections to the complex questions often asked of it.
Please let us know about one of your professional accomplishments
I’d say my favourite professional accomplishment so far was when I was delivering a talk on a recently published monograph (I had been fortunate enough to have my master's dissertation looking at 'The impact of benefit sanctions on mental health and wider austerity measures' published in 2020), and at the end I was thanking everyone who had been involved and invited anyone there to share their experiences. My Grandad decided to come and share his own experiences of austerity and working-class identity to the audience. He’d also brought along his own copy of the book which he’d carefully annotated so he could talk about it with everyone. I was immensely proud and a wee bit emotional. He still tells all his friends about it.
What’s a fun fact about you many people may not know?
I have two, firstly that I used to play in a rock band in my late teens/early twenties and even had a few gigs (I played drums). I still play the drums, but now feel sick at the thought of playing to crowds, so I suppose it was a good thing we never got past pubs and clubs! Secondly, during the first lockdown in 2020 I adopted a dog from Romania. I named him Sigmund (I couldn’t resist the opportunity of becoming a textbook psychology graduate!) and he now keeps me company while I’m working from home.
Finally, what do you like to do when you aren’t working?
I’ve played the drums for 15 years and have also been (unsuccessfully) teaching myself knitting while working from home. I’m also a big fan of horror movies, and find it actually helps when trying to deal with stats errors! I used to love hiking and even tried some Munros, but the last attempt ended in (my) tears. Maybe next time I’ll be more successful.
This article was published on 03 Nov 2021