user engagement and collaboration: challenges and tools sarah king-hele esds government, university...
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User Engagement and Collaboration: Challenges and Tools
Sarah King-HeleESDS Government, University of Manchester
IASSIST Conference, Vancouver, 3 June 2011
The context
• Comparison of approaches to user engagement and collaboration by:– ESDS Government– And MethodBox
• Two services:• separate teams both based at the University of Manchester (but have
shared some investigators)• both offer UK social sciences survey data to download• data available via registration with ESDS• Aimed at academics and other researchers• Aim to help users to understand and use the data correctly
ESDS Government
• Economic and Social Data Service– Social Science data in UK
• ESDS Government– UK Government survey data– Users must be registered– Our data:
• Micro-data• Large-scale repeated cross-sectional surveys• National: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Great
Britain or the United Kingdom
MethodBox (MB)
A website• End result of a project to bring together obesity researchers• Users must be registered with ESDS• Supplies UK social sciences data to download:
– Only the General Household Survey and Health Survey for England at the moment
– But hope to extend to more data sets• Prototype: Currently invite onlyWebsite: http://www.methodbox.org/
Two approaches to user engagement and collaboration
‘Real world’ approach ‘A virtual research environment’
ESDS
Users: social science researchers
Need: informed substantively and methodologically
MethodBox
Users: Not necessarily academics
Need: to get and use data without ploughing through guides
ESDS Government: ‘Real world’ solutions
Data and documentation - as supplied by data providers
Materials and events - to help users to navigate data and documentation supplied
Introduction to Government Data on Housing and the Local Environment
ESDS Government, 24 May 2011
- Key UK Government data sets on theme
- Talk about English Housing Survey: Dept for Communities and Local Government
- Hands-on with data using SPSS
General Lifestyle Survey user meeting 23 March 2011
• Data suppliers talk about data• Opportunity for direct reply to a
user consultation: – ONS presentation followed by
discussion– ONS propose: end GLF– Place questions in other
surveys• Research presentations
HelpdeskData for teaching
Guides: themes and methods
Conferences
ESDS user collaboration
• Share user lists• Share publications lists• Give attendees a list of participants at events• Provide forums for research presentations• Organize events where users meet others with similar
interests
Data and documentation - manipulated to allow multiple ways of exploring and downloading
Allows users-to access data-to share data and knowledge-to network
MB creates a virtual space for researchers
Users decide how they want to explore the data
Download from multiple data sets
View variable properties
Download just the variables wanted
Upload and share scripts e.g. syntax or do-files
Users can upload and share surveys and data extracts
User collaboration: Sharing data and scripts
Users can create a profile
- Use social features • Messaging• Notes• Comments• Favourite
- Find experts in your area
…linked to their methods and data
A network of researchers
Controlling sharing
To upload data or scripts:• Requires the answer to a series of questions e.g. who produced the data
etc. • MethodBox know who uploaded data/scripts via registration• In a service context, data would only be allowed online after checking
To download: • Only those registered to use that data can actually download data from
MethodBox
Pros and cons of the two approaches
ESDS Government
Pros:We know what we are talking about!We make an effort to be accurate and
professional
Cons:We cannot be experts on everythingLimited manpower and time
MethodBox
Pros:Potential access to experts in a wide
range of fields, data and methodsUnlimited potential manpower and
timeCons:Users may not know what they are
talking about!
‘Wisdom of the experts’ESDS decide what is important
‘Wisdom of the crowds’MethodBox allows users to decide what is important
Behind the scenes...
A lot of work behind the scenes in both models: but the emphasis is different:
ESDS Government: preparation of the guides, organising user meetings, workshops, answering the helpdesk etc.
MethodBox: preparation of the website and data and document access
Working together
Do they work together? – and should they work together?
• Currently operate separately• But interact and discuss future collaboration• Where relevant share knowledge and people• Future: interesting to aim for a service that combined both approaches
Contacts and further information
ESDS GovernmentWebsite(s): https://www.esds.ac.uk/government/Contact: [email protected] team: Angela Dale, Vanessa Higgins, Jo Wathan, Sam Smith, Sarah King-Hele, Pierre Walthery
MethodBox Website: https://www.methodbox.org/Contact: [email protected] team: Iain Buchan, Angela Dale, Carole Goble, Shoaib Sufi, Dexter Canoy, Sarah Thew, Ian Dunlop, Urara Hiroeh, ChristianBrenninkmeijer, Robert Haines, John Ainsworth, Sean Bechhofer,Georgina Moulton
Summary: Two models
ESDSReal world approach“top down”Intermediary between data and usersData – as it isBuilt on top of data as it already isHelp users to understand data and
documents with expert materials and events
Encourages collaboration: face-to-face events: research talks, breaks, share research uses
MBVirtual environment approach“everyone is equal”Interactive Data – changing structures: data stripped
and put together differently Allows users to see what is available and
interact “playpen”Encourages collaboration: social
networking and sharing of data and scripts
Online Events Email/ telephone
Print/ Other
User engagement
Data access and exploration using Nesstar
User meetings Helpdesk Newsletter
Guides: themed and data use
Workshops ESDS news
Data sets for teaching
Conferences
User consultations
Collaboration
User meetings/ workshops/ conferences
ESDS Government: tools
How ESDS and MethodBox fit in
UK Data Archive(UKDA)
MethodBox
Economic and Social Data Service(ESDS)
Survey Curation
Survey Access &Mapping
diagram not to scale
Navigating and Sharing Methods and Surveys
Survey Commissioning & Collection
etc…
Impr
ovin
g Ac
cess
& U
se
ESDS: ‘Local college model’
• ESDS provides ‘real world’ solutions: like workshops and guides
• Act as the intermediary between data and user
• Approach: accept the data and documents as they are provided by the supplier
• To help people navigate the data and user guides– Produce guides and tools to find data provided– Provide opportunities for people to share research formally in user
meetings and to meet informally during coffee breaks at events.
Look at the programme to see if anyone else is talking about anything
related
• And look at the other talks in my session
MethodBox ‘Wikipedia model’
• Creates a virtual world• Interactive, takes the data and documentation
and manipulates how it is presented – like a ‘playpen’
• Users decide how they want explore it??• Breaks down and recreates the data and docs
US websites
• Don’t do a slide• But look them up so you know what they
are/do• Prepare to comment on how they are the
same or different
US similar to MB
• Look up ICPSR – the UKDA equivalent to see how similar MB is.
MB
• Not so much helping people to get the data but…
• Aim to get to what the data mean
Their aims
• Both ESDS and MB help people to get the data • but in addition they aim to help users to get to
what the data mean
ESDS: ‘Local college model’• ESDS provides ‘real world’ solutions: like workshops and guides• Act as the intermediary between data and user• Approach: accept the data and documents as they are provided by
the supplier
Materials and events - to help users to navigate data and
documentation supplied
Data and documentation - as supplied by data providers
MethodBox ‘Wikipedia model’
Data and documentation - manipulated to allow multiple
ways of exploring and downloading
Virtual space - to allow users to access parts of the data and to share data and knowledge
• MethodBox creates a virtual research space• Interactive, takes the data and documentation and manipulates how it is presented – like a ‘playpen’• Users decide how they want explore it• Breaks down and recreates the data and docs
Enabling access to data and docs – by helping them with guides etc• Guides to
– Themes: e.g. Health, crime data, housing and the local environment data
– Survey methods: e.g. Small area estimation, weighting surveys
• Data for teaching– e.g. British Crime Survey teaching
data set 2007/08: • real data • smaller number
of variables • added scalar variables to help with teaching statistics
Meeting at events• User meetings:– User presentations of their
work
• Workshops about using survey data– Themes: Health, Crime,
Housing– Methods: Small area
estimation
• Conferences– Theme-based– Aimed at non-academic
users – e.g. Government users
User consultations
Call by data supplier for users to give opinion about proposed changes to data
ESDS Govt link directly the opinions of data users with data providers
e.g. on the future of the GHS/GLF with the Office for National Statistics. GHS user meeting: presentation from ONS and discussion session
Pros and cons of the two approaches
• ESDS: top down approach• MB: everyone is equal approach
MB enables access to data and docs – in a different way
Download and search survey data
Easily view variable information
Easily create and download subsets of
data
Why did two different approaches develop?
• ESDS started with users who are social science researchers. They need to be informed substantively and methodologically for their research. So we provide guides and courses to teach them and allow them to meet up with other people directly through our events.
• MethodBox started from thinking about how the data are used, often by people who don’t want to be academics. They often don’t want to plow through guides to get the information they want . They just want the statistics and to learn from each other. MethodBox provides an environment for this.
ESDS user engagement and collaboration:
‘Real world’ solutions
- we receive the data and documents as they are provided by the supplier and add extra materials and events to help users to understand and engage with the data
Materials and events - to help users to navigate data and
documentation supplied
Data and documentation - as supplied by data providers
Why did two different approaches develop?
ESDSUsers: social science researchersNeed: informed substantively and methodologically
MBUsers: Not neccesarily academicsNeed: to get and use data without plowing through guides
Access to data
Not public data– reflect promises given by data suppliers to the respondents – anyone can browse either website to look at documentation and at
univariate analysis
Two-tier access• General access (“End User Licence”)
– Most data– available to ESDS-registered users (for MB as well!)– Free to UK not for profit
• Special Licence access– Contains extra, potentially disclosive variables– Available after application for special (“Approved”) researcher status
and on explaining why SL data are needed
MB creates a virtual space for researchers
Data and documentation - manipulated to allow multiple
ways of exploring and downloading
Virtual space - to allow users to
access parts of the data and to share
data and knowledge
MethodBox creates a virtual research space -Interactive, breaks down and recreates the data and documents and manipulates how they are presented - like a ‘playpen’ -Users decide how they want explore it
Pros and cons of the two approaches
MB ‘Wisdom of the crowds’ Pros:Potential access to experts in a wide range of fields, data and
methodsUnlimited potential manpower and time
Cons:Users may not know what they are talking about!
Why did two different approaches develop?
ESDSUsers: social science researchersNeed: informed substantively and methodologically
MBUsers: Not neccesarily academicsNeed: to get and use data without plowing through guides
Why did two different approaches develop?
• ESDS started with users who are social science researchers. They need to be informed substantively and methodologically for their research. So we provide guides and courses to teach them and allow them to meet up with other people directly through our events.
• MethodBox started from thinking about how the data are used, often by people who don’t want to be academics. They often don’t want to plow through guides to get the information they want . They just want the statistics and to learn from each other. MethodBox provides an environment for this.