Economic and Social Data Service
Encyclopedia
The Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS) is a national data archiving and dissemination service that was founded in January 2003. It is funded jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council
(ESRC) and the Joint Information Systems Committee
(JISC).
, Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), both based at the University of Essex
; Manchester Information and Associated Services (Mimas) and Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research (CCSR), both located at the University of Manchester
.
These centres work in collaboration to acquire, process, preserve and disseminate a wide range of data across the social sciences. ESDS also provides enhanced user support and training for the secondary use of data for the research, learning and teaching communities.
is responsible for the overall direction and management of the ESDS. Within ESDS, four specialist data services provide value-added support as follows:
Study descriptions and online documentation, including questionnaires, of datasets can be accessed online free of charge and without registering. Access to data requires registration and uses federated access management (shibboleth) user authentication. Registered users can also download and explore/analyse online a large and growing number of datasets.
Economic and Social Research Council
The Economic and Social Research Council is one of the seven Research Councils in the United Kingdom. It receives most of its funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and provides funding and support for research and training work in social and economic issues, such as...
(ESRC) and the Joint Information Systems Committee
Joint Information Systems Committee
JISC is a United Kingdom non-departmental public body whose role is to support post-16 and higher education and research by providing leadership in the use of ICT in learning, teaching, research and administration...
(JISC).
Scope of work
ESDS provides access to and support for a wide range of key economic and social data in the UK. The collection covers both quantitative and qualitative data which span many different disciplines and themes.Structure
ESDS service is a distributed service, based on collaboration between four key centres of expertise: UK Data ArchiveUK Data Archive
The UK Data Archive is a national centre of expertise in data archiving in the United Kingdom . It houses the largest collection of digital data in the social sciences and humanities in the UK....
, Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), both based at the University of Essex
University of Essex
The University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...
; Manchester Information and Associated Services (Mimas) and Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research (CCSR), both located at the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
.
These centres work in collaboration to acquire, process, preserve and disseminate a wide range of data across the social sciences. ESDS also provides enhanced user support and training for the secondary use of data for the research, learning and teaching communities.
Data services
The UK Data ArchiveUK Data Archive
The UK Data Archive is a national centre of expertise in data archiving in the United Kingdom . It houses the largest collection of digital data in the social sciences and humanities in the UK....
is responsible for the overall direction and management of the ESDS. Within ESDS, four specialist data services provide value-added support as follows:
- ESDS GovernmentESDS GovernmentESDS Government is a ESRC/JISC funded service which provides large-scale government surveys, such as the General Household Survey and the Labour Force Survey, as well as other key data resources for understanding population structure and change in the UK and its constituent countries.-Service...
promotes and facilitates the use of large-scale government surveys, such as the Labour Force Survey and Health Survey for England in research, learning, and teaching. - ESDS InternationalESDS InternationalESDS International is a JISC/ESRC funded service which provides the UK academic community with free online access to the major databanks produced by international governmental organisations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the United Nations...
provides access to, and support for, international (typically comparative) datasets from both survey and aggregate sources. - ESDS LongitudinalESDS LongitudinalESDS Longitudinal is a specialist service of the Economic and Social Data Service , led by the UK Data Archive at the University of Essex and the , jointly funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee and the Economic and Social Research Council .-Service overview:The service currently...
supports a range of the key UK longitudinal data. - ESDS QualidataESDS QualidataESDS Qualidata is a specialist service of the Economic and Social Data Service , led by the UK Data Archive at the University of Essex, jointly funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee and the Economic and Social Research Council...
provides access to, and support for, qualitative datasets, from classic studies from the 1960s and 1970s to contemporary data.
Study descriptions and online documentation, including questionnaires, of datasets can be accessed online free of charge and without registering. Access to data requires registration and uses federated access management (shibboleth) user authentication. Registered users can also download and explore/analyse online a large and growing number of datasets.