SPARKing Data Use: Introducing Social Data Science and Platforms

SPARK is currently running our first run of a new series of talks and demonstrations, under the banner of ‘SPARKing Data Use, Introducing…’. In our first series of 8 sessions, we are introducing sources of social science data (data about people) and how to access data.

Why are Introducing sessions running?

In the digital era, data abounds. It’s everywhere and nowhere! Finding the information you might need, for research or evidence, can be like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack. As part of our Third Sector Research Partnership (TSRP) we have had a number of requests from small organisations looking for information on inequalities. Our partners lacked the know-how or understanding of where to start, or what to look for.

One such project involved identifying sources of data for local areas in East Cardiff. Working with CommonWealth, an activist arts company, we worked to find data that was relevant to them from the 2021 UK Census and the Wales Index of Multiple Deprivation. We wrote guidance on how to access these data sources through NOMIS and StatsWales. The feedback we received was incredibly positive, so we figured, why not open this out and help others who might be struggling to identify robust data sources about the population.

What is the Introducing Series?

This autumn we are focusing on social science data sources and access platforms. This includes free to use websites/services, such as NOMIS and the UK Data Service, as well as more advanced platforms, like the SAIL databank, innovative methods like Natural Language Processing, and resources developed by researchers, such as the Wales Institute for Social Economic Research and Data (WISERD) data portal. Over 8 sessions, we undertake live demonstration of open research resources, as well as inviting research experts to share their knowledge about different data sources (for example, on social care data) and ways to access that data.

Alignment with our goals

Developing the ‘Introducing…’ series not only helps in our goals of undertaking responsible and FAIR research, but helps others to identify sources of data that they might not be aware of, and give people the confidence to use them. In running the sessions, we hope to reach out beyond our academic research community, to students, to professional services colleagues, to our SPARK member organisations, and beyond. This contributes to our aim of being a collaborative and innovative space, in which learning is shared between different communities.

Questions? Contact: HuxleyKL@cardiff.ac.uk