Help on searching the ESDS Qualidata Data Catalogue 
The ESDS Qualidata Data Catalogue contains descriptions of a range of social
science qualitative and mixed methods digital data collections arising from
contemporary research as well as UK-based classic studies.
ESDS holds a vast range of quantitative survey data and macro data, which can be located in
the full ESDS Data
Catalogue.
Searching
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free-text search of the Data Catalogue via the Basic Search
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focused search on specific fields via the Advanced Search
Browsing
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browse complete list of ESDS Qualidata datasets
Basic Search
The Basic Search is performed via a free-text search on All of Study Description.
This will search on all of the fields in the catalogue record (with the
exception of publications), including the abstract and methodology e.g.
sampling methods, method of data collection, and data sources.
More help on Basic Search
Advanced Search
The Advanced Search allows the user to search in specific fields* of
the catalogue record in addition to an All Fields search. As well as
being able to search on multiple terms in one box, as in the basic search, the
user can also combine search terms entered in different boxes with the use of
the Boolean operators AND NOT OR. This means a search can be built up to
include certain criteria and exclude others.
*The fields in the catalogue record that searches are performed on are:
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All Fields - searches on all of the catalogue record except for the
access conditions and variables
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Title - searches on all areas of title - main, sub-title, alternative,
series
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Subject - searches on keywords, subject category, abstract and main
topics
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Keyword – performs a free-text search only on HASSET subject keywords
list
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Geography – searches on geographic coverage (country, region,
county/district, city/town, village etc.) as well as 'location of units of
observation' i.e. National, Subnational or Cross-national
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Data Creator/Funder - searches on names and affiliations for Depositor,
Principal Investigator, Data Collector, Original Data Producer, Funder
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Methodology – searches on Time Dimensions, Sampling Procedures, Method of
Data Collection
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Publications – searches on publications and reports resulting from
primary and secondary analysis
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UKDA Study Number – searches on study numbers
Multiple search terms can be entered within one field and combined by
checking the Any All Exact buttons (the default is All). For
example the words health care are entered with the:
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Any button checked, the search will retrieve datasets which have any of
the words (health or care) somewhere in the field being searched
on
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All button checked, the search will retrieve datasets which have all
words (health and care) somewhere in the field being searched on
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Exact button checked, the search will retrieve datasets which
have the exact phrase (health care) somewhere in the field being
searched on
More help on Advanced Search
More help on Basic Search
Exact phrase search - Basic Search
Put double quotation marks around words to search for an exact phrase. For
example, "family history" will look for the complete phrase family
history. This search will be performed on all areas of the catalogue
record (excluding the publications).
Note: Enclosing the search string in quotes will result in a slower search
response.
Truncation search/wild cards - Basic and Advanced search
Use * to look for words with the same stem. For example, type child*
to find child, children, childbirth, child-care, childminding and so on. A
search on child (without *) will only retrieve records containing the
actual word child.
(Basic Search only) A search on *crim* will retrieve
crime, criminal, discrimination, crime-related etc.
A question mark ? is used to substitute a single letter, for example wom?n
will retrieve either woman or women.
Note: Sort by date does not work for truncated and wild card searches in
the Basic Search.
Name search - Basic Search
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Searching on a personal name:
To search for an individual's name (e.g. depositor) in the Basic Search it is advisable to enter
the surname only.
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Searching for an organisation:
Names of organisations are usually entered in the catalogue record in full e.g. Economic
and Social Research Council rather than as an acronym e.g. ESRC. It
is therefore advisable to search for both the full name and the abbreviation.
Name searches in the Basic Search will retrieve records which contain
that name anywhere in the record. For a more precise search it is
advisable to use the Advanced Search where a more focused search can be
performed on the Data Creator/Funder field.
See
Data
Creator/Funder for more help on name searching.
Results - Basic Search
There is no maximum limit to the number of hits retrieved. The hit number is
displayed at the top of the list.
The default is for retrieved studies to be ordered by relevance. This
order can be changed by clicking on Sort by date where results will be
ordered by date of data coverage with the most recent first. Where the
list contains several datasets with the same temporal coverage these will be
displayed in study number order.
Note:
Sort by date does not work for truncated and wild card searches.
Relevance
The Data Catalogue currently uses Zoom in the search engine for the Basic Search.
The results are sorted in order of a page score system. This score is
calculated based on a number of factors to determine the relevance of a page to
a user's search terms. These factors include:
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the number of times the searched term appears on that page
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the number of search terms that appear on the page
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the individual words that form part of an 'exact phrase' query
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whether the word appears in the title, meta description, or meta keywords part
of the page
Changing the search parameters
From the results page the search can be performed on the web site by clicking
on the Results from ESDS Qualidata web site top tab.
There is also an option to extend the search to all of the Data Catalogue or one
of the other ESDS specialist data services.
The search parameters can also be changed by the use of the any search
words/all search words option.
More help on Advanced Search
All Fields - Advanced Search
A search on
All Fields will search on all of the catalogue record with
the exception of the access conditions.
Title - Advanced Search
A search in the Title field is performed on all elements within the
title i.e. main title, sub-title, alternative title and series title. A
truncation search is recommended if the full title is not known.
Note: A truncation search will not work when the
Exact button is
checked.
Subject - Advanced Search
A Subject search can be used to locate datasets whose subject coverage
reflects the area of interest of the user e.g. health care, social networks,
voting behaviour. The studies located might be wholly about the subject area or
have variables/questions covering the subject. In the Advanced Search this
is performed on several areas of the catalogue record: the subject category,
abstract, main topics and subject keyword list.
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Subject Categories:
One or more subject categories, selected from the UKDA list of subject
categories, are assigned to each dataset to reflect the overall subject scope
of the dataset.
The subject category list reflects the subject scope of the data collection.
There are 20 thematic headings which, in most cases, are further divided into
subheadings. The full list can be viewed on the
Browse by subject page. From this page a separate browse function
is available allowing users to browse the full data collection for datasets
matching their area of interest.
One or more boxes within a category can be checked to retrieve datasets on the
required topic(s). Alternatively selecting a main heading (e.g. Politics) will
retrieve studies on ALL areas within this category.
Note: It is not possible to select from more than one category group within the
same search.
Titles are returned in date order - latest first.
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Abstract and Main Topics:
The abstract and main topics contain information on the aims, purpose and
background to the data collection, they also list the key themes and topics or
variables covered by the data.
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Keywords:
Each catalogue record contains a list of assigned subject Keywords covering
all topics included in the data. The keywords are taken from a controlled
vocabulary list held in the UKDA thesaurus,
HASSET, which is available to help decide on the appropriate search
term.
In the Subject search, the keyword list is just one of the fields being
searched on (the others being the abstract, main topics and the subject
categories) - this provides a broad search, retrieving datasets where the
search term(s) can be anywhere within these fields. This is in contrast to the Keyword
search, where the search is confined to the controlled subject keyword list.
See Keyword - Advanced Search below.
Keyword - Advanced Search
The Keyword search performs a free-text search on the list of keywords
assigned to each study. More than one term can be entered in the search box and
the Any All Exact buttons used, or terms can be entered in more than one
box and combined with the AND NOT OR operators.
Examples:
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select Keyword from the drop-down list and enter crime in the
search box and check the Any box - this will result in a list of
datasets with keywords containing the word crime; it will include such
things as crime, crime victims, fear of crime
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enter fear of crime in the search box and check the Exact box -
this will locate datasets which have been assigned the keyword fear of crime
If the original search term retrieves no studies (i.e. it does not match or
partially match a keyword) or if help is required in choosing appropriate
keywords, then the HASSET
thesaurus is available either to consult for suggested terms or as a
stand-alone search tool. See Thesaurus-aided keyword search using HASSET
below.
Thesaurus-aided keyword search using HASSET
The thesaurus-aided search using the Humanities and Social Science Electronic
Thesaurus - HASSET
allows a more precise search than the keyword search.
Entering a search term (consisting of one or more words) in the HASSET interface
will result in either a match with the word in the thesaurus or, if there is no
exact match, a listing of partial matches. A matched term will automatically be
displayed in its position in the thesaural structure showing its relationship
to other terms. From here broader, narrower, or related terms may be selected
to refine or extend the search. If there is only a partial match then selecting
a term from the resulting listing will display the thesaurus view for that
term.
Once an appropriate keyword has been found in the thesaurus, a search can be
carried out on the Data Catalogue by clicking the Search on Keyword button.
This will retrieve datasets to which the keyword has been assigned.
To search the catalogue for one or more terms simultaneously, check the boxes
to include Narrower terms and/or Related terms
then click on the Search on Keyword button.
Note: Searching on multiple terms can resuly in a slower response time.
It is currently not possible to combine this thesaurus-aided search with other
elements of the catalogue search. Thus if a user wishes to search on a specific
thesaurus keyword combined with e.g. year, geographical coverage, then
once the desired keyword(s) in HASSET have been identified, they should be
manually entered into the appropriate field in the catalogue search.
Geography - Advanced Search
A search on Geography can be performed to locate data which cover a
particular geographic coverage: country, county, region, city/town or village
etc. Two or more geographic areas can be combined within one search box using
the Any or All buttons, or in separate search boxes by using the AND NOT OR
operators on the left hand side.
Data at national or subnational level, or covering more than one country, can
also be located.
Examples:
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a search on Scotland will pick up any studies with a geographic coverage
of Scotland at a national level, as well as data that covers only parts of
Scotland (subnational)
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to find data on Scotland at a national level search Scotland and national
using the AND operator on the left hand side
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to find subnational level data search on Scotland and subnational
using the AND operator on the left hand side
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data covering more than one country may be retrieved by searching on the term cross-national
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to locate global or world data use the search term multi-nation
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it is advisable to search on a full name rather than abbreviation e.g. Great
Britain not GB
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when searching on a two or more word country e.g. Great Britain, Republic of
Ireland the Exact button should be checked
Geographic terms can also be viewed in the
HASSET thesaurus and can be used in either a
Geography or a
Keyword
search.
Data Creator/Funder - Advanced Search
This search is performed on all individuals or organisations associated with
the creation of the data e.g. principal investigator, data collector,
depositor, funder.
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Searching on a personal name:
Names usually appear in the catalogue record in the format surname, followed by
initial(s), e.g. Crewe, I. rather than I. Crewe or Ivor Crewe. However as some
initials will be classed as 'skip' words and will therefore be discounted from
the search, it is strongly recommended to search on surname only.
-
Searching for an organisation:
Names of organisations are usually entered in the catalogue record in full e.g. Economic
and Social Research Council rather than as an acronym e.g. ESRC. It
is therefore advisable to search for both the full name and the abbreviation by using the first
two boxes, check the Exact buttons and combining with the OR operator.
Methodology - Advanced Search
A search on Methodology is performed on Time Dimensions, Sampling
Procedures and Method of Data Collection. These fields are
populated from controlled vocabulary lists i.e. they use standard terminology
to ensure consistency. Using these controlled vocabularies as search terms
ensures consistent and effective retrieval. The terms currently used are listed
below:
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Time Dimensions
- Cross-sectional (one-time) study
- Follow-up to cross-sectional study
- Repeated cross-sectional study
- Longitudinal/panel/cohort study
- Time Series
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Sampling Procedures
- No sampling (total universe)
- Quota sample
- Simple random sample
- One-stage stratified or systematic random sample
- One-stage cluster sample
- Multi-stage stratified random sample
- Quasi-random (e.g. random walk) sample
- Purposive selection/case studies
- Volunteer sample
- Convenience sample
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Method of Data Collection
- Face-to-face interview
- Telephone interview
- Postal survey
- Self-completion
- Psychological measurements
- Educational measurements
- Observation
- Clinical measurements
- Simulation
- Diaries
- Physical measurements
- Transcription of existing materials
- Compilation or synthesis of existing material
- Focus group
- Video recording
- Audio recording
Publications - Advanced Search
Select Publications to search on publications or reports resulting from
the primary or secondary analysis based on the data. This search works on all
areas of the publications lists (bibliographic references) that accompany the
study description. A search may be carried out on author (it is recommended to
use surname only), title, publisher, etc.
UKDA Study Number - Advanced Search
This is a quick, simple search to locate a study where the UKDA study number is
known. More than one study number may be searched at a time (it is advisable to
check the Any box).
Time Period - Advanced Search
Searches can be focused to locate data covering a particular year or a span of
years:
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Single year
Entering a single year in the first box will locate all studies covering the
specific year as well as studies with a date span which includes the specific
year. For example, a search on 2007 will return studies with the
following dates: 2007, 1995-2007, 2001-2008, 2007-2008, etc.
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Year range
Entering the start year in the first box and the ending year in the second box
will locate studies that have data both covering and spanning the range of
years entered. For example, a search on the year span 1990-2001 will
locate studies with data covering 1990, 1991,...etc, 1980-1999, 1990-2008,
1989-2001, etc.
Results - Advanced Search
The number of hits for the search is displayed at the top of the list. There is
no maximum limit to the number of hits retrieved, however where a search
results in 100 or more hits only the first 100 are displayed with the option to Display
All if desired. Depending on the number of records being displayed this
may result in a slow response.
Sort by Relevance - Advanced Search
The ranking used in the sort by Relevance is fair similarity -
this means that datasets are ranked according to how many times the search term
or terms appear in the record. Sort by relevance is the default.
Sort by Date - Advanced Search
Sort by Date is ordered by the date of coverage of the data - with the
most recent first.
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