Establishing a blueprint for administrative data based longitudinal studies in the UK

  • Christopher John Lloyd Dibben (Participant)
  • Paul Joseph Boyle (Participant)

    Impact: Public Policy Impact

    Narrative

    The Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS) is a pioneering study, combining census, civil registration, health and education data (administrative data). It has established an approach that allows the legal and ethical use of personal, sensitive information by maintaining anonymity within the data system. This approach has become a model for the national data linkage systems that are now being established across the UK. The SLS has also enabled policy analysts to monitor key characteristics of the Scottish population in particular health inequalities (alerting policy makers to Scotland’s poor position within Europe), migration (aiding economic planning) and changing tenure patterns (informing house building decisions). Finally, the study has become fully embedded in Scotland’s National Statistical agency, allowing it to produce new informative statistical series.
    Impact statusOpen
    Category of impactPublic Policy Impact

    Keywords

    • REF2014 case study