CLOSER Research Fellow, Dr Neil Kaye demonstrated the Learning Hub and how it can help researchers using longitudinal population study data in their research at this year's UKDS Health Studies User conference.
The annual Health Studies User Conference is a one-day conference organised by the UK Data Service in collaboration with UCL and the National Centre for Social Research.
The keynote speaker for this year’s conference was Laura Johnson, Director of the Centre for Health Research at the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), who discussed how the pandemic has affected health and health related behaviours.
The conference also featured parallel research presentation sessions on the themes of:
- COVID-19
- Mental health
- COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health inequalities
Attendees also heard updates from the data producers of key UK social surveys (cross-sectional and longitudinal studies) with health-related content, such as:
- Health Survey for England
- Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey
- Birth Cohort Studies
- Understanding Society
- English Longitudinal Study of Ageing
- and more
The programme and abstracts are available on the UKDS conference website.
Follow the event on Twitter: #UKDSHealth22
CLOSER’s presence at the conference
As part of the ‘Using and accessing health studies and training resources’ session, CLOSER Research Fellow, Dr Neil Kaye demonstrated the CLOSER Learning Hub. Please see below for Neil’s presentation abstract:
What is the CLOSER Learning Hub and how can it help me in using longitudinal studies for my research?
There is a wealth of rich social and health data to be found in the UK birth cohort studies, household panel studies, and on-going longitudinal studies that cover the whole life course. However, it is not always intuitive how to access and use the data from these studies, especially for newcomers to longitudinal research.
CLOSER, based in UCL’s Social Research Institute, works with our 19 partner studies – including Understanding Society, the UK birth cohort studies, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, Born in Bradford, Generation Scotland and many others – to increase the visibility, use and impact of using longitudinal study data for social and biomedical research.
CLOSER’s Learning Hub is an online educational resource which helps those new to longitudinal studies, including students and policy makers, to better understand the value of these studies and how to use their data.
This presentation provides a demonstration of the Learning Hub, including a short introductory animation that has been designed to give a broad overview of how it can help users to get started with their research.
It took an in-depth look at the resources available on the Hub, including its learning modules, data access guidance and research case studies. From understanding the benefits of longitudinal research, to accessing longitudinal data sets and thinking about analysing and writing up research, this presentation provided a clear guide for anyone considering using longitudinal study data in their research