CLOSER's upcoming short course, Secondary Data Analysis with Longitudinal Population Studies offers participants a comprehensive introduction to understanding, accessing and utilising secondary data from longitudinal population studies for research purposes.
About this short course
Longitudinal studies provide valuable insights into trends, changes, and relationships over time, making them hugely beneficial for researchers in a wide range of social science disciplines.
Our upcoming short course, Secondary Data Analysis with Longitudinal Population Studies (SDA with LPS) offers participants a comprehensive introduction to understanding, accessing and utilising secondary data from longitudinal population studies for research purposes.
Taught over five 2-hour webinars, our tutors Dr Neil Kaye (CLOSER Head of Education and Training) and Dr Charlotte Campbell (CLOSER Research Fellow) will cover an introduction to LPS survey research methods, discovering and understanding LPS data, data management essentials, working with real-world secondary data, and techniques for analysing LPS data.
When will the course run?
The course commences the week beginning 5th May 2025 and includes five 120-minute webinars on consecutive weeks:
- Wednesday 7 May, 13:00-15:00 BST
- Wednesday 14 May, 13:00-15:00 BST
- Wednesday 21 May, 13:00-15:00 BST
- Wednesday 28 May, 13:00-15:00 BST
- Wednesday 4 June, 13:00-15:00 BST
Session overviews
Please see below for a summary of what topics each session will cover:
Wednesday 7 May
Session 1 – LPS survey research methods: an introduction
- Overview of longitudinal studies
- Study design, sampling and data collection
- Practical considerations
- Examples of research questions that can be answered using LPS data
Wednesday 14 May
Session 2 – Data accessibility: discovering and understanding LPS data
- Overview of the research data infrastructure in the UK
- Advantages of using secondary data
- Demonstration of CLOSER Discovery
- How to access datasets via UKDS
- How to understand study- and data-level documentation
Wednesday 21 May
Session 3: Data management essentials: a practical guide
- Introduction to research data management
- Understanding metadata
- Planning data management
- Collecting, storing and processing your data
- Documenting, preserving and sharing your code
Wednesday 28 May
Session 4: Working with real-world secondary data: how to prepare and clean your dataset
- Introduction to statistical software
- Introduction to Stata, do files and syntax
- Importing and merging across data waves and respondent types
- Assessing missingness and applying weights
- Exporting outputs to Excel or Word
Wednesday 4 June
Session 5: Techniques for analysing longitudinal data
- Which technique for which research question
- Overview of statistical techniques:
o Repeated Measures ANOVA
o Regression modelling
o Multilevel modelling
o Latent Growth Curve Modelling
o Event History/Survival Analysis
Who should attend?
This is an introductory course aimed at students and researchers who are considering using LPS data for their research.
No previous experience with statistical analysis of longitudinal data is necessary, though prior knowledge of quantitative methods and/or use of Stata would be expected.
Accessing the short course
Course materials and webinar joining information will be made available via our UCL Moodle page.
UCL students and members of staff interested in joining the course, should sign up via the Moodle page to gain access with their UCL credentials.
Non-UCL participants must register via our Eventbrite page to gain guest-access to the Moodle page.
Registration information
Places on the course are limited meaning participants will be required to register their place. Completing the registration form will confirm your attendance for each of the five webinars. Participants are expected to be able to attend all the live webinars.
- UCL students and members of staff should register via the UCL Moodle page with their UCL credentials
- Non-UCL participants should sign up via our Eventbrite page.
Further information
If you have any questions or require further information, please contact CLOSER Administrative and Events Assistant, Becky England.