Support #484
Matching data to new administrative datasets
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Description
I am exploring the prospect of using Understanding Society data for a research project on teachers, as there are around 1,000 or so in the data according to industry/occupation codes. Your data linkage webpage helpfully sets out the existing data linkage with administrative data, but it prompts several questions I have:
• How feasible is it, or would it be, to link participants to their records in new datasets? Specifically, matching individuals identified in US as teachers to their records in the School Workforce Census (an annually-collected English administrative dataset holding information on serving teachers 2010-present). The dataset is owned by DfE, who have already helped link National Pupil Database data to US, so may be receptive to such a match (though I have not asked this of anyone at DfE yet).
• Would separate linkage permission specific to a new match be required from participants?
• If so, what would the likely timescale be? Would it be retrospective (i.e. stretch back to Wave 1)? Is it likely that those who oversee US would be willing to make such a match?
Updated by Victoria Nolan over 8 years ago
- Status changed from New to In Progress
- Assignee set to Jack Worth
- % Done changed from 0 to 80
Dear Jack,
Many thanks for your enquiry.
Unfortunately, linking respondents to the School Workforce Census would indeed require additional consent from our participants, and given that this is quite a specific topic we don’t think it is something we would consider, given the costs of collecting consent and the administrative burden around actually linking the data.
Also, given our 2 year data collection cycle per wave it would take several years until we had consent from everyone and were able to link the data.
I'm sorry that we can't be more help in this case.
Best wishes, Victoria
On behalf of the Understanding Society User Support Team
Updated by Jack Worth over 8 years ago
Hi Victoria,
Thank you very much for your quick reply. I feared this would be the case, but thought it worth checking. If the rules or procedures on data linkage change in the future to more easily accommodate such a match, I think it would be worthwhile and I am convinced DfE would be supportive.
Many thanks for your help,
Jack
Updated by Victoria Nolan over 8 years ago
- Status changed from In Progress to Closed
- Assignee changed from Jack Worth to Victoria Nolan
- % Done changed from 80 to 100
Dear Jack,
Many thanks - I have passed on your comments to our data linkage team.
Best wishes, Victoria.