About the conference
Longitudinal population studies currently face a number of challenging issues. How should studies integrate novel data collection methods and emerging technologies? How can the utility of historic data be enhanced? And critically, how can studies keep participants involved for the long term?
At the same time, studies across the world are finding ways to harness the opportunities these challenges can bring. Following the success of CLOSER’s 2018 Preparing for the future conference, we hosted a follow up conference and extended the discussions beyond the UK, to studies around the world. The purpose of this conference was to unearth best practice, and identify ways to tackle shared challenges. It was a collaborative, interactive event with a strong focus on problem solving.
The programme was informed by the results of a consultation exercise with UK and international longitudinal studies. Each session involved short presentations of exemplar work in a given area, followed by facilitated group discussions and the chance for delegates to share their own experiences.
The conference sessions addressed the following topics:
- New forms of data collection
- Data harmonisation
- Data linkage
- Data discoverability
- Reducing attrition and participant engagement
Conference report
The conference report documents the day’s discussions and key learnings.
- Conference report: Preparing for the future II: international approaches to challenges facing the longitudinal population studies (PDF)
- Executive summary (PDF)
Programme
Download the conference abstracts booklet.
09:30 Registration and refreshments
10:00 Welcome to the conference
Prof Bobby Duffy, CLOSER Advisory Committee Chair
10:05 Panel discussion – Setting the scene: our greatest challenge
Chair: Prof Rebecca Hardy, CLOSER Director
Confirmed panellists:
- Alissa Goodman, Director of UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies
- Susan Morton, Principal Investigator, Growing Up in New Zealand
- Shane Norris, Principal Investigator of the Soweto First 1000 Days Cohort & Co-Principal Investigator of the Birth to Twenty Plus cohort
- Narayan Sastry, Associate Director of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics
- Nic Timpson, Principal Investigator of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
11:05 Refreshment break
11:30 Parallel session A:
- A1 Reducing attrition and participant engagement: international perspectives
Session lead: Hazel Inskip, Southampton Women’s Survey- Key strategies for minimising attrition and increasing participant engagement in the PSID and its child and young adult supplements
Kate McGonagle, Panel Study of Income Dynamics - Innovative Protocols and Extensive Local Knowledge: How to Overcome Attrition and Participant Engagement Challenges in Longitudinal Studies
Johanna Choumert-Nkolo and Luca Privinzano, Tazanian Kagera Health and Development Survey
- Key strategies for minimising attrition and increasing participant engagement in the PSID and its child and young adult supplements
- A2 Data linkage
Session lead: Sally Bridges, Born in Bradford- An overview of the benefits and challenges to data linkage in Australia
Galina Daraganova, Australian Institute of Family Studies - Epicosm: a framework for linking and social media data in large-scale birth cohorts
Oliver Davis, MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol
- An overview of the benefits and challenges to data linkage in Australia
- A3 Data harmonisation
Session lead: Dara O’Neill, CLOSER- Maximising comparability: Harmonisation of mental health measures in the British birth cohorts
Eoin McElroy, University of Leicester - Dementias Platform UK (DPUK): Facilitating cross-cohort analysis in a digital age
Sarah Bauermeister, Dementias Platform UK
- Maximising comparability: Harmonisation of mental health measures in the British birth cohorts
12:30 Lunch and networking
13:45 Parallel session B:
- B1 New forms of data collection
Session lead: Lisa Calderwood, Next Steps- New forms of data collection: Using apps to measure household spending
Jon Burton, Understanding Society - Taking phenotype to the population: The ultimate challenge
Melissa Wake, Generation Victoria
- New forms of data collection: Using apps to measure household spending
- B2 Data linkage
Session lead: Andy Boyd, CLOSER Leadership Team and ALSPAC- Linking data on proximity to fast foods to the Millennium Cohort Study
Emla Fitzsimons, Millennium Cohort Study - Challenges and solutions – linking additional data to the UK Census Longitudinal Studies
Oliver Duke-Williams, CeLSIUS
- Linking data on proximity to fast foods to the Millennium Cohort Study
- B3 Data discoverability in the biomedical sciences
Session lead: Nic Timpson, ALSPAC- Longitudinal data discoverability with MIDUS and DDI
Barry Radley, Midlife in the United States - ATLAS: making the UK’s cohorts discoverable
Phil Quinlan, HDRUK Atlas Project
- Longitudinal data discoverability with MIDUS and DDI
14:45 Refreshment break
15:00 Parallel session C:
- C1 Data harmonisation
Session lead: Rebecca Hardy, CLOSER- Data harmonisation: The LifeCycle Experience
Angela Pinot de Moira, LifeCycle - Growing Up Healthy across the Globe – exploring harmonisation as a tool to understand what shapes wellbeing across population contexts
Susan Morton, Growing Up in New Zealand
- Data harmonisation: The LifeCycle Experience
- C2 Reducing attrition and participant engagement
Session lead: Andy Wong, MRC 1946 National Survey of Health and Development- The experience of the Uruguayan Survey of Nutrition, Child Development, and Health (ENDIS)
Christian Berón and Nathalie Martinez, Uruguayan Nutrition, Child Development and Health Survey - In it for the long haul: addressing attrition and boosting participant engagement at TwinsUK
Paz Garcia, TwinsUK
- The experience of the Uruguayan Survey of Nutrition, Child Development, and Health (ENDIS)
- C3 Data discoverability: issues in interoperability
Session lead: Nathan Cunningham, CLOSER Advisory Committee and University of Sheffield- Building a consensus on both technical and semantic interoperability
Jon Johnson, CLOSER - Challenges and successes of CESSDA ERIC
Mari Kleemola, Finnish Social Science Data Archive
- Building a consensus on both technical and semantic interoperability
16:00 Reflections from the day
16:30 Drinks reception
18:00 Conference ends
About CLOSER
CLOSER is a partnership of eight leading UK studies, the British Library and the UK Data Service. We aim to maximise the use, value and impact of the UK’s longitudinal studies by stimulating interdisciplinary research, developing shared resources, providing training, and sharing expertise. We are funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Preparing for the future I: CLOSER’s 2018 conference
CLOSER held its inaugural Preparing for the future conference in December 2018. The event brought together around 70 delegates from across the UK longitudinal community, in both the social and biomedical sciences. Delegates discussed key issues in new forms of data collection, data harmonisation, data linkage, biosample management, impact, and engagement with policymakers. The conference report documents the day’s discussions, and the actions proposed by delegates to address key challenges, and fill knowledge & skills gaps.
The full report and recommendations from the event can be found on our Preparing for the future of longitudinal science page.
Further information
If you have any queries or require further information about this event, please contact our Communications and Events Officer, Jennie Blows (j.blows@ucl.ac.uk).
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