social media postings on health forums can also be collated and analysed. For example, in this anonymized Mumsnet post, a contributor seeks advice about what to do about a potential case of flu:
Not sure if this is just a bad cold or something worse but daughter and I both have it and husband, who’s had the flu jab, is fine. Is this risky to the baby? Do I go to the GP in the morning? I thought you weren’t supposed to go to the GP with flu symptoms in case you spread it about? Should I look out for reduced movements? argh don’t know what I’m supposed to do! Someone please advise as NHS Direct is on a four-hour call back. (‘ISS’, 2011)
Here a social science researcher could code for information including: language, location references, health, flu, use of services, anxiety levels, gender, responsibility for health within the family and health communication issues. The researcher could also look at replies and related posts. Such self-published data are rich in detail and of great potential value in providing examples of individual experiences. Innovation in research design and sampling techniques could aid the development of research that could go beyond qualitative data and individual stories.
It is notable that in health research, crowdsourced data gathering techniques have also been used as part of structured research projects. Examples include researchers using social media to identify people with specific diseases and using online discussion groups to identify examples of side effects of particular drugs. People identified in this way may then be asked to take part in follow-up studies. These developments have been described as akin to an ‘eBay for health research’, where researchers seek to recruit participants or where people might put themselves forward for participation in studies (Swan, 2012).58 For health research, a link could also be made to administrative data and FOI requests, such as for data held on government meeting notes in relation to disease monitoring and decisions on vaccination programmes and drug stock piling.
2.3.4 Data on Education, Training and Employment
Key data sources in the UK for examining patterns in education and training include the Census and the Labour Force Survey as discussed above. The cohort studies in the UK also provide access to information on education and training and its role in people’s lives in the longer term. There are three large UK cohort studies, which each include over 17,000 people in their samples: the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS), the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS) and the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS).59 Participants are surveyed usually every 6–8 years, although the MCS is surveying at higher frequency during the early years. Each of these studies includes questions on family background, education, socio-economic circumstances, attitudes, life transitions and health. Both the 1958 cohort and the 1970 cohort are now very rich data sources with detailed information on substantial periods of people’s lives. Access to such data is free.
The Longitudinal Study of Young People in England60 includes questions on key demographics and covers such issues as school course options, extra-curricular classes, parental expectations and aspirations, household responsibilities, resources, absences, truancy, police contact and bullying.
Consequential administrative record data are also available for examining qualification levels of school pupils. The School Census61 is an annual exercise collated from UK school records. As well as school performance scores, the data includes information on each pupil’s: home postcode, school name, Free School Meal (FSM) entitlement, Special Educational Needs (SEN) status, gender, ethnicity and mother tongue. Access to such data is free, though researcher approval is required and the data have to be used under certain confidentiality conditions.
Other sources of data on education, training and employment might include: online discussion boards of career changes, training feedback, returning to work and individuals searching for work who create their own blogs. One anonymous example reads:
Hard working 19 year old farm worker looking for work placement on a mixed farm to progress onto an advanced apprenticeship level 3 ideally in the South/SW. (Anonymous, 2011)
Here a social science researcher could code for: type of job, age, gender and geography as well as language use and skills. They could also follow the blogger’s Twitter feed to see if the person’s circumstances change. Of course, as discussed in Chapter 12 (section 12.6), this does raise ethical issues concerning identification and disclosure. An anonymous example from a discussion forum reads:
The chances of getting another job with a company that will allow me to work part time and are understanding of the caring issues (so emergency time off when carers don’t come) is zero. And I am 45. (Anonymous, 2011)
A social science researcher could code for: age, caring roles, type of employment desired as well as linking with other posts. The data has similarities with ‘vox pop’ interviews where there is no structured sample frame. But the nature of social media provides the tools for follow-up contact, and linking to other information and sources. However, as has been outlined above, without a sample frame the value of such data is predominantly in terms of the details of individual experiences rather than as a basis for generalizing to a wider population. Moreover, blog posts need to be checked for being accurate representations, as far as that is possible.
2.3.5 Data on Public Attitudes
Many surveys in the public and private sector collect data on the attitudes of the UK population. A key source is the annual British Social Attitudes survey,62 which began in 1983. It captures the views of a representative sample of around 3,000 people. Alongside key demographics, questions cover a huge range of topics including: public expenditure, welfare benefits, health care, childcare, poverty, the labour market and the workplace, education, charitable giving, the countryside, transport and the environment, the European Union, economic prospects, ethnicity, religion, civil liberties and immigration. Access is free.
Longitudinal surveys are powerful tools for examining people’s attitudes over time. The British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) can capture changing attitudes over time. The BHPS began in 1991, initially covering around 10,000 individuals in over 5,000 households across Great Britain. In 2009, it was absorbed into the Understanding Society panel survey.63 Alongside the attitudinal data there is information covering: key demographics, employment, socio-economic circumstances, residential mobility, marital and relationship history, and social support. Some of the measures are comparable across equivalent European surveys.
Internationally, the European Social Survey64 and the World Values Survey65 provide access to data on public attitudes over 200 countries (see also the European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions66). Again, access is free though a registration fee can be required.
Commercial organizations also conduct on-demand surveys, which include online panels. YouGov67 is an online opinion-polling organization, which uses signed-up panel members to respond to surveys in return for a small fee. Surveys can be commissioned and completed
