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Study Spotlight

Our Study Spotlight series showcases our partner studies and how to make the most of these world-class scientific assets through CLOSER’s research resources.

Each month, we’re turning the spotlight on a new theme and delving into the backgrounds of studies that share similar characteristics, such as their study sample, design, or topics of research interest. ‘Study Spotlight’ will illustrate how we can help you gain a deeper understanding of the longitudinal population studies in our partnership and utilise these on your research journey. Take a look below at the studies we’ve shined a light on so far this year.

June 2024

This month’s Study Spotlight focused on the Southampton Women’s Survey.

  • Southampton Women’s Survey (SWS)
    Funded by the Medical Research Council, the University of Southampton and several other funders, the SWS is the one of very few birth cohorts in which mothers were recruited before conception of the child.

March 2024

The March Study Spotlight focused on the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England: Cohort 2 (LSYPE2).

February 2024

This month’s Study Spotlight features a guest blog from our partner study Born in Bradford on how it has evolved since starting as a single birth cohort and the study’s new ‘Age of Wonder’ project.

  • Born in Bradford (BiB)
    Born in Bradford is an applied research programme based in Bradford, one of the largest cities in the north of England.

January 2024

We continued our focus on our partner studies in the devolved nations in January 2024 with a look at the Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing (NICOLA).

October 2023

In October, we head over the border once more to explore CLOSER’s other Scottish partner study – Generation Scotland.

  • Generation Scotland
    Generation Scotland is a Scotland-wide family-based study following over 24,000 people from around 7,000 families from childhood to old age. 

September 2023

This month we went ‘back to school’ and focused on one of our partner studies following children and young people – Growing Up in Scotland.

  • Growing Up in Scotland (GUS)
    Launched in 2005, Growing Up in Scotland (GUS) follows the lives of around 14,000 children and their families from the early years, through childhood and beyond.

July 2023

This month, we featured two of our partner studies with distinctive study designs – Understanding Society and the ONS Longitudinal Study.

June 2023

We featured the three British birth cohorts in our partnership managed by the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies this month – the Millennium Cohort Study, the 1970 British Cohort Study and the 1958 National Child Development Study.

  • MCS and the British birth cohorts
    The Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) follows the lives of around 19,000 young people born across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2000-02.
  • BCS70 and the British birth cohorts
    The 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) follows the lives of around 17,000 people born in England, Scotland and Wales in the same, single week of 1970.
  • NCDS and the British birth cohorts
    The 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS) is following the lives of an initial 17,415 people born in England, Scotland and Wales in a single week of 1958.

May 2023

We showcased three of our partner studies that follow the UK’s ageing population in May – the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, the Hertfordshire Cohort Study, and the National Survey of Health and Development.

  • ELSA and the ageing population
    Established in 2002, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) tracks the dynamics of ageing by following the lives of over 12,000 men and women aged 50+ and living in England.
  • Hertfordshire Cohort Study and the ageing population
    The Hertfordshire Cohort Study is a unique study of 3,000 men and women born during the period 1931–39 in the English county of Hertfordshire and still resident there in the late 1990s.
  • MRC National Survey of Health and Development
    The National Survey of Health and Development follows 5,362 people born in England, Scotland, and Wales in a single week in March 1946.

April 2023

We kicked off the series with a look at the two partner studies following the millennial generation – the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and Next Steps:

  • ALSPAC and the millennial generation
    The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (also known as Children of the 90s) has followed the health and development of 14,500 women, their partners, and their children since 1992. 
  • Next Steps and the millennial generation
    Next Steps, formally known as the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, follows the lives of 16,000 people born in 1989-90 in England.

 

On X/Twitter? Follow #StudySpotlight to keep up to date with the series throughout the year.