In the first of a series of podcasts about our work at the Institute for Employment Research, Professor Peter Elias talks about his work assisting the research councils in the UK with the development of a research infrastructure in the social sciences.

An article by IER Professor Peter Elias, ESRC Strategic Advisor (Data Resources), has been published in the Autumn issue of ESRC Society Now (pages 22-23). The article explores the issue of data linking and its potential to add high value to existing surveys, or to create new data sources.

Peter Elias attended the American Statistical Association 2011 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) in Miami, Florida which took place from 30 July to 4 August. The JSM is the world’s largest gathering of statisticians, where discussions centred around sharing research and information on topics including hurricanes and global warming, maintaining data privacy, and challenges for economic policy. Peter was panellist and presenter at a session on the topic of “The New World of Data on Human Beings: Challenges and Solutions to Promoting Research While Ensuring Confidentiality” alongside colleagues from Carnegie Mellon University, National Science Foundation, The University of Chicago, University of California at Berkeley. This session attracted over 50 people, many from the major state and federal statistical agencies in the US, to listen to and discuss views on the ways in which new forms of data (administrative records, transactions data, internet activity and imaging) are likely to be harnessed in the near future to supplement more traditional forms of statistical information obtained from censuses and surveys.

Sunday 27 March marks the date for the UK's Census of Population 2011. Every 10 years, the Office for National Statistics carries out this census to take a snapshot of the UK's population and to provide key information to help national and local government in planning for service delivery. IER's Professor Peter Elias, writing for the University of Warwick's Knowledge Centre, explains the importance of census data as a key resource for research, and one of the country's most important assets for statistical research.