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Looking for data on health and health behaviour?
Case studies
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 A good
deal of research in the field of health and health-related behaviour centres on
the use made of large-scale, quantitative survey data. For example,
representative national surveys held by the ESDS - such as the Health Survey
for England - allow researchers to account for, and predict, health-related
outcomes (e.g. the likelihood of suffering from hypothyroidism) based on other
variables such as gender, age, socio-economic status, location and behaviour
(e.g. physical activity, diet). These surveys allow for estimates to be made of
the ‘health of the nation’ and provide policymakers with baseline and trend
data at the national level.
Below the national level, many researchers are interested in comparing the
health of local populations both in order to make comparisons with other
populations of interest and to check progress against government targets. For
this kind of research, the ESDS has rather less data available: certainly no
individual-level survey data that relate to health at very low geographical
levels such as primary care trusts. For the most part, those interested in
profiling local areas need to look outside the ESDS, though see
Other key data publishers for a large and growing list of online
resources useful to this kind of research.
Many other researchers are interested in making cross-national comparisons
within the field of health research. The ESDS is a particularly useful resource
for this kind of endeavour as it holds a vast array of cross-national
macro-level indicators provided by authoritative sources such as the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD). A key feature of these comparative data is
the problem of measurement presented by differences in definition and data
collection across different jurisdictions.
A significant proportion of research on health is conducted on
qualitative data resources. ESDS Qualidata provides access to and support for a
number of landmark studies that relate to health, including Severalls Hospital:
Interviews for 'Madness in its Place', 1913-1997, and Mothers and Daughters:
Accounts of Health in the Grandmother Generation, 1945-1978. These interview
data provide deeper and richer information on people’s behaviour and motivation
than is possible to account for via closed-ended survey questions.
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