‘Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics’: Playing the Numbers Game in Policy

Whether the phrase comes from Disraeli or Dilke, or even The West Wing, there have long been arguments about the accuracy and impact of statistics. Information collected in the Census has major political implications, but who decides what’s included? How is it used? And does it end up improving policy or practice? 
The event will be chaired by Ceridwen Roberts, AcSS and Research Fellow, University of Oxford. Our speakers include David Walker, Contributing Editor Guardian Public, Richard Alldritt, Director General, Monitoring and Assessment, UK Statistics Authority and Nigel Hawkes, Director of Straight Statistics. 

The Centre for Longitudinal Studies will hold a one-day introductory workshop on the 1958 National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study, focusing on data from the surveys carried out in 2008 when the study members were aged 50 and 38 years respectively. This event is designed for new and intending users of data from the studies and is jointly organised by CLS at the Institute of Education and the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS). 

The taught component of the workshop includes presentations on: survey design, data coverage and methodology; patterns of attrition; using the data dictionaries; and accessing the data.

The hands-on component provides participants with the opportunity to carry out SPSS or Stata analyses using sub-sets of NCDS/BCS70 data, with support from members of the CLS cohort studies team.

There is a non-refundable charge of £60 (£30 for HE students) for attending, which includes lunch and workshop documentation.

For further details and to book a place please visit:  http://www.esds.ac.uk/longitudinal/news/eventdetail.asp?id=2767

 SN 6678  National Awareness And Early Diagnosis Initiative: Cancer Awareness Measure, Arden Cancer Network, 2009

SN 6687  National Awareness And Early Diagnosis Initiative: Cancer Awareness Measure, Anglia Cancer Network, 2009-2010: Special Licence Access

SN 6677  National Awareness And Early Diagnosis Initiative: Cancer Awareness Measure, Arden Cancer Network, 2009: Special Licence Access

SN 6688  National Awareness And Early Diagnosis Initiative: Cancer Awareness Measure, Anglia Cancer Network, 2009-2010

SN 6681  National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative: Cancer Awareness Measure, North East London, 2009-2010: Special Licence Access

 SN 6659  Dairy Intervention in Rural India, 2009

 SN 6605  Flood, Vulnerability and Resilience, 2007-2009

 SN 6657  Annual Population Survey, July 2009 – June 2010: Special Licence Access

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The following new editions  have been released:

 SN 6472  ONS Opinions Survey, Disability Monitoring Module, January, February, March, April, June and August 2008: Special Licence Access

 SN 6534  International Passenger Survey, 2010: Quarters One, Two and Three

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To order or to view further information on these data collections, or for access to the whole collection, please see the online catalogue webpage: http://www.esds.ac.uk/search/searchStart.asp

This workshop is open to researchers who are interested in using data from the study and to existing users who want to find out more about the different datasets available and new additions.

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask one-to-one questions to the ELSA team during a help desk surgery.

The user day will give an overview of the study and highlight some feature topics such as:

as well as an overview of longitudinal studies of ageing in Europe and United States.

Numbers are limited so booking is essential. There is a small charge of £10 for students and £20 for non-students.

Further details including booking form:
http://www.esds.ac.uk/longitudinal/news/eventdetail.asp?id=2753