Felix Ritchie's Outputs (131)

Using the five safes to structure economic evaluations of data governance (2024)
Journal Article

As the world has become more digitally-dependent, questions of data governance such as ethics, institutional arrangements and statistical protection measures have increased in significance. Understanding the economic contribution of investments in da... Read More about Using the five safes to structure economic evaluations of data governance.

Guide to output checking processes (2024)
Other

This guide reviews good practice, problems and solutions for the design or review of output checking processes in facilities dealing with confidential research data. Using the extant evidence base and a series of workshops, the guide covers:
- what... Read More about Guide to output checking processes.

Revisiting sample bias in the UK's Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, with implications for estimates of low pay and the bite of the National Living Wage (2024)
Preprint / Working Paper

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is based on an annual one per cent sample of employee jobs and provides many of the UK’s official earnings statistics. These statistics are generated using official weights designed to make the achieved... Read More about Revisiting sample bias in the UK's Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, with implications for estimates of low pay and the bite of the National Living Wage.

What can microdata tell us about labour market and wage dynamics in the Western Gateway Area? (2024)
Report

This research uses microdata to analyse labour market and wage dynamics across the Western Gateway Area (WGA) and its constituent parts. It compares the performance of the WGA with national ‘control’ averages. The report covers the period 2004 to 20... Read More about What can microdata tell us about labour market and wage dynamics in the Western Gateway Area?.

The impact of a rising wage floor on labour mobility across firms (2024)
Preprint / Working Paper

In April 2016, a National Living Wage replaced the National Minimum Wage for employees in the UK aged 25 and above, raising their statutory wage floor by 50 pence per hour. This uprating was almost double any in the previous decade and expanded the... Read More about The impact of a rising wage floor on labour mobility across firms.

The inadvertently revealing statistic: A systemic gap in statistical training? (2024)
Journal Article

While concerns around data privacy are well-known, there's a lack of awareness and training when it comes to the confidentiality risk of published statistics, argue Ben Derrick, Elizabeth Green, Felix Ritchie, Jim Smith, Paul White

Trusted research environments for health data (2024)
Digital Artefact

This video captures the workshop on 'Trusted Research Environments for Health Data', delivered by David Western, Felix Ritchie, and Andy Gibson. This was part of the Connect, Collaborate, Create with Data and AI 2023 event organised by UWE Bristol an... Read More about Trusted research environments for health data.

Machine learning models in trusted research environments - Understanding operational risks (2023)
Journal Article

IntroductionTrusted research environments (TREs) provide secure access to very sensitive data for research. All TREs operate manual checks on outputs to ensure there is no residual disclosure risk. Machine learning (ML) models require very large amou... Read More about Machine learning models in trusted research environments - Understanding operational risks.

Using pedagogical and psychological insights to train analysts using confidential data (2023)
Journal Article

With researchers increasingly gaining access to confidentiality data through restricted environments, interest has grown in the training of those researchers to protect confidentiality and to use the secure facility effectively. Researcher training,... Read More about Using pedagogical and psychological insights to train analysts using confidential data.

The present and future of the Five Safes framework (2023)
Journal Article

The Five Safes has become the default framework for confidential data governance across multiple sectors and countries. Since its inception in 2003, the approach has influenced data management in many ways, particularly in the public sector. As it ha... Read More about The present and future of the Five Safes framework.

SACRO guide to statistical output checking (2023)
Other

This guide for output SDC is the first report from the SACRO project. It covers, theory of output SDC, including the new statbarns model, practicalities, operational considerations, and FAQs for output checking teams.

Research data governance in low-and middle-income countries (2023)
Report

Research and policy development on the governance of confidential research data is dominated by the work of academics and government agencies based in high-income countries (HICs). This leaves three quarters of the world’s population faced with a cor... Read More about Research data governance in low-and middle-income countries.

Disclosure control issues in complex medical data (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

The covid19 pandemic assisted the acceleration of routine access to medical records for research. In the UK platforms including OpenSafely and NHSDigital, alongside emerging hospital trust based Trusted Research Environments (TREs), demonstrate the u... Read More about Disclosure control issues in complex medical data.

Towards a comprehensive theory and practice of output SDC (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

In 2000, the statistical disclosure control of outputs (OSDC) was largely limited to models of table protection developed by and intended for national statistical institutes (NSIs), as a particular branch of general SDC theory. However, in this centu... Read More about Towards a comprehensive theory and practice of output SDC.

Research data governance in low- and middle-income countries (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Research and policy development on the governance of confidential research data is dominated by the work of academics and government agencies based in high-income countries (HICs). This leaves three quarters of the world’s population faced with a cor... Read More about Research data governance in low- and middle-income countries.

SACRO: Semi-Automated Checking Of Research Outputs (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Output checking can require significant resources, acting as a barrier to scaling up the research use of confidential data. We report on a project, SACRO, that is developing a general-purpose, semi-automatic output checking systems that works across... Read More about SACRO: Semi-Automated Checking Of Research Outputs.

The perils of pre-filling: Lessons from the UK's Annual Survey of Hours and Earning microdata (2023)
Journal Article

The role of the National Statistical Institution (NSI) is changing, with many now making microdata available to researchers through secure research environments This provides NSIs with an opportunity to benefit from the methodological input from rese... Read More about The perils of pre-filling: Lessons from the UK's Annual Survey of Hours and Earning microdata.

Disclosure control of machine learning models from trusted research environments (TRE): New challenges and opportunities (2023)
Journal Article

Introduction: Artificial intelligence (AI) applications in healthcare and medicine have increased in recent years. To enable access to personal data, Trusted Research Environments (TREs) (otherwise known as Safe Havens) provide safe and secure enviro... Read More about Disclosure control of machine learning models from trusted research environments (TRE): New challenges and opportunities.

Data use externatilies: Report to department for digital, culture, media and sport by Belmana with the University of the West of England (2022)
Report

This study was commissioned by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to:
● Identify the likely positive and negative externalities of data use (that is, the wider social impacts of data use) and
● Provide an assessment of the viabili... Read More about Data use externatilies: Report to department for digital, culture, media and sport by Belmana with the University of the West of England.

Frameworks, principles, and accreditation: Making data governance work (2022)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Presentation to the Royal Statistical Society Data Ethics Section, covering the origins and development of the Five Safes, the EDRU approach to problems-solving, principles-based regulation, and how these all need to work together to achieve effectiv... Read More about Frameworks, principles, and accreditation: Making data governance work.

Can we identify students in ASHE? (2022)
Preprint / Working Paper

ASHE is a key dataset in the UK, the only one which allows long-term analysis of flows in labour market status and earnings, and hence vitally important in the understanding of low pay and wage progression. Separating out students from non-student wo... Read More about Can we identify students in ASHE?.

The incidence of low pay is falling in Britain, but why – and can we trust the figures? (2022)
Preprint / Working Paper

Recent research indicates that the percentage of employees in Britain who are low paid – earning below two-thirds median hourly earnings – has been falling in the last 6-7 years. It points to the increased ‘bite’ of the adult National Minimum Wage (N... Read More about The incidence of low pay is falling in Britain, but why – and can we trust the figures?.

Not just arms and legs: Employer perspectives on student workers (2022)
Journal Article

The student workforce plays a substantial part in several low-paying industries such as retail and hospitality, and this has grown over time. However, there has been little recent research. The usual assumption is that students compete successfully w... Read More about Not just arms and legs: Employer perspectives on student workers.

Enriched ASHE Quick Start Guide (2022)
Preprint / Working Paper

The Wage and Employment Dynamics (WED) project was funded by Administrative Data Research 2019-2022 to review, quality assure and enhance ASHE data. The project was also provided with ASHE data linked to the 2011 Census for England and Wales. This do... Read More about Enriched ASHE Quick Start Guide.

10 is the safest number that there's ever been (2022)
Journal Article

When checking frequency and magnitude tables for disclosure risk, the cell threshold (the minimum number of observations in each cell) is a crucial parameter. In rules-based environments, this is a hard limit on what can or can't be published. In pri... Read More about 10 is the safest number that there's ever been.

A marriage of convenience: How employers and students working in hospitality view the employment relationship (2022)
Journal Article

Since the 1990s, the hospitality industry has been increasingly characterized by temporary and insecure forms of employment, a development, which has coincided with rising numbers of students seeking part-time employment. This provides increased job... Read More about A marriage of convenience: How employers and students working in hospitality view the employment relationship.

Weighting for employer non-response in ASHE (2022)
Preprint / Working Paper

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is based on a 1% sample of employee jobs and provides many of the UK’s official earnings statistics. Weights are provided with the core dataset, which adjust the profile of the annual achieved sample suc... Read More about Weighting for employer non-response in ASHE.

Accounting for firms in ethnicity wage gaps throughout the earnings distribution (2022)
Preprint / Working Paper

Ethnicity wage gaps in Great Britain are large and have persisted over time. Previous studies of these gaps have been almost exclusively confined to analyses of household data, so they could not account for the role played by individual employers, de... Read More about Accounting for firms in ethnicity wage gaps throughout the earnings distribution.

ASHE – 2011 Census Data Linkage: User Guide Drop 1 of the ASHE – 2011 Census Dataset (2022)
Preprint / Working Paper

Longitudinal attrition in ASHE (2022)
Preprint / Working Paper

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) provides many of the UK’s official earnings statistics. The survey operates on an annual 1% sample of employee jobs. However, the method of sampling - based on the final two digits of an employee’s Natio... Read More about Longitudinal attrition in ASHE.

Training analysts in the management of confidential data (2022)
Preprint / Working Paper

With researchers increasingly gaining access to confidentiality data through restricted environments, interest has grown in the training of those researchers to protect confidentiality and to use the secure facility effectively.
Researcher training,... Read More about Training analysts in the management of confidential data.

Using the ‘five safes’ to structure economic evaluations of data governance (2022)
Preprint / Working Paper

The ‘five safes’ is a popular data governance framework. It is used to design and critique data management strategies across the world, and has also been used as a performance framework to measure the effectiveness of data access operations. We repor... Read More about Using the ‘five safes’ to structure economic evaluations of data governance.

Measuring the value of data governance in agricultural investments: A case study (2022)
Journal Article

Summary The study at hand measures the value of improving data governance and access in the Supporting Soil Health Interventions (SSHI) project in Ethiopia. We applied two separate but interlinked models, one qualitative and one quantitative, to crea... Read More about Measuring the value of data governance in agricultural investments: A case study.

Exploring the workplace location problem in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (2022)
Preprint / Working Paper

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is an important source of longitudinal linked employer-employee payroll earnings data for Britain. It provides accurate information on employees’
hours and earnings and information on the location of em... Read More about Exploring the workplace location problem in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

Statistical disclosure control for HESA: Part 1: Review of SDC theory (2021)
Report

This report for the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is a summary of statistical disclosure control (SDC) methods for tabular outputs.

Automatic Checking of Research Outputs (ACRO): A tool for dynamic disclosure checks (2021)
Journal Article

This paper discusses the issues surrounding the creation of an automatic tool to reduce the burden of output checking in research environments. It describes ACRO (Automatic Checking of Research Outputs), a Stata tool written as a proof-of-concept, an... Read More about Automatic Checking of Research Outputs (ACRO): A tool for dynamic disclosure checks.

The present and future of confidential microdata access: Post-workshop report (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

In the summer of 2021, the University of the West of England, in collaboration with UN Economic Commission for Europe, Eurostat, INXEDA and statistical organisations across the world, hosted a workshop to review lessons learnt in microdata access ove... Read More about The present and future of confidential microdata access: Post-workshop report.

The present and future of confidential microdata access [draft] (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

This briefing document was prepared for the DRAGoN conference 'The Present and Future of Microdata Access', 5th-9th July 2021. It provides an introduction to the topics to be covered in the conference.

Measuring the value of improving data governance and access in Gates Foundation programme: A case study of the Supporting Soil Health Interventions in Ethiopia projects (2021)
Journal Article

The Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) and the Open Data Institute (ODI) commissioned a team of economists to measure the value of improving data governance and access in the Supporting Soil Health Interventions in Ethiopia (S... Read More about Measuring the value of improving data governance and access in Gates Foundation programme: A case study of the Supporting Soil Health Interventions in Ethiopia projects.

Process and economic evaluation of the ODI R&D programme: Final report (2021)
Report

The Open Data Institute was funded by Innovate UK to undertake a major programme of Research and Development on "Data Innovation for the UK", which was re-scoped and funded on a yearly basis for a total of 4 years (called, for short, "The R&D program... Read More about Process and economic evaluation of the ODI R&D programme: Final report.

Understanding a pandemic: The power of administrative data (2021)
Book Chapter

This chapter is taken from the book Productivity and the Pandemic. It suggests how administrative data is essential to understanding what is happening now, and what happpens next.

Microdata access and privacy: What have we learned over twenty years? (2021)
Journal Article

Felix Ritchie reflects on lessons learned in twenty years of microdata access in the UK and Canada. Based on his contribution to the panel on "Privacy And Microdata Access: Two Worlds Colliding?" at the October 2020 Canadian Research Data Centre Netw... Read More about Microdata access and privacy: What have we learned over twenty years?.

Financial resilience, income dependence and organisational survival in UK charities (2021)
Journal Article

The financial well-being of the charity sector has important social implications. Numerous studies have analysed whether the concentration of income in a few sources increases financial vulnerability. However, few studies have systematically consider... Read More about Financial resilience, income dependence and organisational survival in UK charities.

Using ASHE to examine trends in low pay: Initial exploration of the data (2020)
Report

Using the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2004-2019 we report consistent time-series estimates of the percentage of jobs on and around the minimum wage; low paid jobs above the minimum; and ‘high paid’ jobs. In doing so we report on some i... Read More about Using ASHE to examine trends in low pay: Initial exploration of the data.

Runners, repeaters, strangers and aliens: Operationalising efficient output disclosure control (2020)
Journal Article

Statistical agencies and other government bodies increasingly use secure remote research facilities to provide access to sensitive data for research and analysis by internal staff and third parties. Such facilities depend on human intervention to ens... Read More about Runners, repeaters, strangers and aliens: Operationalising efficient output disclosure control.

Frameworks, principles and accreditation in modern data management (2020)
Preprint / Working Paper

The Five Safes framework is increasingly widely used for data governance. Since its conception in 2003, it has influenced data management in many ways, particularly in the public sector. As it has become established, both the advantages and limitatio... Read More about Frameworks, principles and accreditation in modern data management.

Understanding output checking (2020)
Report

This report for Eurostat (Methodology) considers the conceptual and practical issues that need to be addressed in designing and implementing automatic disclosure control checking for statistical research outputs.
The report covers
- The basic theo... Read More about Understanding output checking.

10 is the safest number that there’s ever been (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

When checking frequency and magnitude tables for disclosure risk, the cell threshold (the minimum number of observations in each cell) is the crucial statistic. In rules-based environments, this is a hard limit on what can or can’t be published. In p... Read More about 10 is the safest number that there’s ever been.

User-focused threat identification for anonymised microdata (2019)
Journal Article

© 2019 - IOS Press and the authors. When producing anonymised microdata for research, national statistics institutes (NSIs) identify a number of 'risk scenarios' of how intruders might seek to attack a confidential dataset. This approach has been cri... Read More about User-focused threat identification for anonymised microdata.

The five safes of risk-based anonymization (2019)
Journal Article

The sharing of data for the purposes of data analysis and research can have many benefits. At the same time, concerns and controversies about data ownership and data privacy elicit significant debate. So how do we utilize data in a way that protects... Read More about The five safes of risk-based anonymization.

Analyzing the disclosure risk of regression coefficients (2019)
Journal Article

A major growth area in social science research this century has been access to highly sensitive confidential microdata, often via restricted-access remote facilities. These allow researchers highly unlimited access to manipulate the data but with che... Read More about Analyzing the disclosure risk of regression coefficients.

Not just arms and legs: Student working and the local labour market (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Not just arms and legs: The impact of student working on local labour markets (2019)
Preprint / Working Paper

Not just arms and legs: Student working and the local labour market (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Confidentiality and linked data (2018)
Book Chapter

This chapter considers the confidentiality issues around linked data. It notes that the use and availability of secondary (adminstrative or social media) data, allied to powerful processing and machine learning techniques, in theory means that re-ide... Read More about Confidentiality and linked data.

Evidence-based, default-open, risk-managed, user-centred data access (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand from the academic community for more access to confidential data for research purposes, particularly that data collected by government departments. This has happened for three reasons. First, both... Read More about Evidence-based, default-open, risk-managed, user-centred data access.

Re-thinking the indices of multiple deprivation (for England): A review and exploration of alternative/complementary area-based indicator systems (2018)
Report

Power to Change was established by the Big Lottery as an organisation whose mission is to fund community businesses and through such investment make an impact on the most disadvantaged places in England. Through setting its mission to target the most... Read More about Re-thinking the indices of multiple deprivation (for England): A review and exploration of alternative/complementary area-based indicator systems.

Spontaneous recognition: An unneccessary control on data access? (2017)
Book Chapter

Social scientists increasingly expect to have access to detailed source microdata for research purposes. As the level of detail increases, data owners worry about ‘spontaneous recognition’, the likelihood that a microdata user believes that he or she... Read More about Spontaneous recognition: An unneccessary control on data access?.

Open data: Who needs it? (2017)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

This presentation, to introduce and stimulate a panel discussion, argued that we have 50 years worth of experience in knowing how to use data safely for researcher; as such we should be concentrating on practical management problems not theory: "how-... Read More about Open data: Who needs it?.

The "Five Safes": A framework for planning, designing and evaluating data access solutions (2017)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

The ‘Five Safes’ is a popular way to structure thinking about data access solutions. Originally used mainly by statistical agencies and social science academics , in recent years it has been adopted more widely across government, health organisations... Read More about The "Five Safes": A framework for planning, designing and evaluating data access solutions.

Spontaneous recognition: An unnecessary control on data access? (2017)
Journal Article

Social scientists increasingly expect to have access to detailed data for research purposes. As the level of detail increases, data providers worry about “spontaneous recognition”, the likelihood that a microdata user believes that he or she has acci... Read More about Spontaneous recognition: An unnecessary control on data access?.

Ensuring the confidentiality of statistical outputs from the ADRN (2017)
Report

This technical report discusses potential risks to confidentiality from publication of statistical results based on confidential data, and what we can do to minimise that risk while still ensuring that useful research gets published.

Measuring compliance with minimum wages (2017)
Journal Article

© 2017 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved. Identifying genuine underpayment of minimum wages is not straightforward. Some well-known statistical issues affect the measurement of compliance rates, but factors such as processing or behavi... Read More about Measuring compliance with minimum wages.

Improving data quality: The value of the user as data detective (2016)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

In this presentation, we explore how users can contribute to a better understanding of data quality. We illustrate, with reference to minimum wage compliance, how users identify the sort of data problems missed by NSIs

Department of social services data access project final report (2016)
Report

This report reviews the context and options available to the Department of Social Service (DSS) in developing its data access strategy, and proposes future developments based upon international practice. The structure of the report is separated into... Read More about Department of social services data access project final report.

Understanding apprentice pay: Final report (2016)
Report

This is the final report from a study of apprentice pay in the UK. It uses a mixed methods approach. Econometric analysis of the Apprentice Pay Survey and the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings confirms findings of previous reports that the apprenti... Read More about Understanding apprentice pay: Final report.

Financial resilience in charities v.2 (2016)
Report

Document submitted to the Select Committee on Charities; House of Lords. 30th September 2016

Understanding apprentice pay: Interim report (2016)
Report

This is the interim report from a study of apprentice pay in the UK. It uses a mixed methods approach. Econometrics analysis of the Apprentice Pay Survey and the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings confirms findings of previous reports that the appre... Read More about Understanding apprentice pay: Interim report.

Evidence-based, context-sensitive, user-centred, risk-managed SDC planning: Designing data access solutions for scientific use (2015)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Disclosure control planning is characterised by over-reliance on theoretical models, inappropriate disclosure scenarios, worst-case planning, confusion over subjective versus objective risk management, and an unwillingness to consider the evidence ba... Read More about Evidence-based, context-sensitive, user-centred, risk-managed SDC planning: Designing data access solutions for scientific use.

Principles- versus rules-based output statistical disclosure control in remote access environments (2015)
Journal Article

In recent years, the level of detail in confidential data made available to social scientists has increased dramatically. Much of this has been due to the growth in secure data access facilities, which allow access to the most detailed data under str... Read More about Principles- versus rules-based output statistical disclosure control in remote access environments.

Enabling data linkage to maximise the value of public health research data: Summary report (2015)
Report

Summary for the Wellcome Trust report on Enabling Data Linkage, including example case studies, key findings, and recommendations

Enabling data linkage to maximise the value of public health research data (2015)
Report

This project was commissioned by The Wellcome Trust on behalf of the Public Health Research Data Forum. The project aimed to identify the gains to public health research from linking existing data sources, the opportunities in and barriers to such da... Read More about Enabling data linkage to maximise the value of public health research data.

The measurement of apprentice pay: Report commissioned by the Low Pay Commission (2015)
Report

This report considers the measurement of apprentice pay, both the accuracy of that measurement and what can be said about compliance with the National Minimum Wage. In summary, there are substantial problems with accurately identifying apprentice pay... Read More about The measurement of apprentice pay: Report commissioned by the Low Pay Commission.

The measurement of apprentice pay: Interim report (2015)
Report

This is the Interim Report on the LPC's project to review the measurement of Apprentice Pay. It concentrates largely on methodological issues, including a detailed analysis of the 2012 Apprentive Pay Survey; most of the issues raised were addressed i... Read More about The measurement of apprentice pay: Interim report.

Understanding official data sources: Final report for the low pay commission (2014)
Report

The paper is split into three main sections: a review of existing data sources; an analysis of characteristics of the main reference datasets used for the production of research and official statistics; and an investigation into the imputation code u... Read More about Understanding official data sources: Final report for the low pay commission.

Access to sensitive data: Satisfying objectives rather than constraints (2014)
Journal Article

The argument for access to sensitive unit-level data produced within government is usually framed in terms of risk and the legal responsibility to maintain confidentiality. This article argues that the framing of the question may restrict the set of... Read More about Access to sensitive data: Satisfying objectives rather than constraints.

How do knowledge brokers work? Implications for policy and practice in the case of WERS (2014)
Journal Article

© 2014 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. A resource-based view of organizations suggests that internal knowledge is amongst the most important sources of competitive advantage (Hendry and Pettigrew 1990; Leonard-Barton 1995). Regardless of whe... Read More about How do knowledge brokers work? Implications for policy and practice in the case of WERS.

International access to restricted data: A principles-based standards approach (2013)
Journal Article

Cross-border access to restricted government microdata for research has made relatively little progress. Recent developments are notable as exceptions. This paper argues that the situation is made more complex by the lack of a common general frame of... Read More about International access to restricted data: A principles-based standards approach.

Workplace employment relations survey and European social survey impact evaluation (2013)
Other

Impact evaluation workplace employment relations survey and european social survey: Final report to the ESRC (2013)
Report

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) commissioned the University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE) to undertake an impact evaluation of the Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS) and the European Social Survey (ESS) focusing on the... Read More about Impact evaluation workplace employment relations survey and european social survey: Final report to the ESRC.

Can data owners and data users think alike? Designing incentives to shape the provision of access to data (2012)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Access to sensitive data: Satisfying objectives, not constraints (2012)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Sharing risks, sharing benefits: Data as a public good (2011)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Impact of the recession on household expenditure (2011)
Journal Article

Secure data service risk assessment (2011)
Journal Article

Guidelines for the checking of output based on microdata research (2010)
Report

Effective researcher management (2009)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

National Statistical Institutes [NSIs] are increasingly investigating new ways of providing access to confidential microdata for research purposes. These innovations are being driven by the requirement for NSIs to ensure the best possible return for... Read More about Effective researcher management.

UK release practices for official microdata (2009)
Journal Article

This paper describes the principles and practices by which microdata collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is made available to researchers. Access to detailed confidential microdata, often from official sources, is acknowledged to be... Read More about UK release practices for official microdata.

A good night out: Alcohol-related behaviours in young adults (2009)
Journal Article

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate drinking patterns; attitudes towards alcohol consumption and alcohol-related behaviours amongst differing groups of young adults. A further aim is to investigate whether the drinking behaviours of... Read More about A good night out: Alcohol-related behaviours in young adults.

The Polish migrant community in Carmarthenshire: Substance abuse and implications for the criminal justice system (2009)
Report

How can I drink safely? Perception versus the reality of alcohol consumption (2009)
Journal Article

Secure access to confidential microdata: Four years of the virtual microdata laboratory (2008)
Journal Article

Disclosure detection in research environments in practice (2007)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

There is an increasing demand for access to raw confidential data, and NSIs have
responded by setting up controlled research facilities. However, the most common approaches to
statistical disclosure detection and control (SDDC) struggle to accommod... Read More about Disclosure detection in research environments in practice.

Issues in the measurement of low pay (2007)
Journal Article

Measuring low pay: The importance of timing (2007)
Journal Article

Linking ASHE and LFS: Can the main earnings sources be reconciled? (2007)
Journal Article

Measuring low pay: Measures and precision (2007)
Journal Article

Measuring low pay: Focus points and rounding (2007)
Journal Article

Earnings: Summary of sources and developments (2007)
Journal Article

Do company wage policies persist in the face of minimum wages? (2006)
Journal Article

Access to business microdata in the UK: Dealing with the irreducible risks (2005)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Business data linking: Recent UK experience (2004)
Journal Article

Female earnings and gender differentials in Great Britain 1977-1994 (1998)
Journal Article

This paper employs an extremely large but comparatively under-researched dataset, the New Earnings Survey, to construct a model of female earnings in Great Britain from 1977 to 1994. This study is the first to utilise the dataset's panel nature. Unus... Read More about Female earnings and gender differentials in Great Britain 1977-1994.

Operationalising ‘safe statistics’: The case of linear regression
Preprint / Working Paper

The recent growth in research access to confidential government microdata has prompted the development of more general 'output-based statistical disclosure control' (OSDC) methods which go beyond tabular protection. Central to OSDC is the concept of... Read More about Operationalising ‘safe statistics’: The case of linear regression.

Addressing the human factor in data access: Incentive compatibility, legitimacy and cost-effectiveness in public data resources
Preprint / Working Paper

Traditional models of incentivising people suggest that positive incentives are more effective than negative ones. We argue that in data access the opposite can be true, as the assumptions made at the design stage can fundamentally change the user en... Read More about Addressing the human factor in data access: Incentive compatibility, legitimacy and cost-effectiveness in public data resources.

Resistance to change in government: Risk, inertia and incentives
Preprint / Working Paper

There is a popular impression that governments are resistant to change and innovation, and that this is due to a combination of overly bureaucratic processes and a culture of risk aversion. It is debatable that this is well-founded, theoretically or... Read More about Resistance to change in government: Risk, inertia and incentives.

How do knowledge brokers work? The case of WERS
Preprint / Working Paper

A resource-based view of organizations suggests that internal knowledge is amongst the most important sources of competitive advantage. Regardless of whether these ideas are exaggerated, it is not necessary to buy into them all to accept the signific... Read More about How do knowledge brokers work? The case of WERS.

User-focused threat identification for anonymised microdata
Preprint / Working Paper

When producing anonymised microdata for research, national statistics institutes (NSIs) identify a number of 'risk scenarios' of how intruders might seek to attack a confidential dataset. This paper argues that the strategy used to identify confident... Read More about User-focused threat identification for anonymised microdata.

Hellenic statistical authority mission on microdata access: Final report
Report

A mission was convened to review current data access practices at the Hellenic Statistical Authority and make recommendations for future development. The resulting report defines a complete data access strategy for the Greek NSI. The report uses the... Read More about Hellenic statistical authority mission on microdata access: Final report.

Five Safes: Designing data access for research
Preprint / Working Paper

What is the best way of managing access to sensitive data? This is not a straightforward question, as it involves the interaction of legal, technical, statistical and, above all, human components to produce a solution. This paper introduces a modelli... Read More about Five Safes: Designing data access for research.

Behavioural aspects of the national minimum wage: Measuring and interpreting behaviour in the low-wage labour market
Preprint / Working Paper

Report for LPC on how low pay is measured in official data sources. Finds that (a) employers tend to 'round' hourly pay rates, suggesting scope for rent-sharing in these low-paying jobs, and/or high transactions costs associated with wage-setting; an... Read More about Behavioural aspects of the national minimum wage: Measuring and interpreting behaviour in the low-wage labour market.

Measuring non-compliance with minimum wages
Preprint / Working Paper

Many countries have a statutory minimum wage for employees. There is a strong policy interest in knowing the degree of compliance with the law. Quantitative analysis is ideally suited to this, and many countries have rich datasets for employment rese... Read More about Measuring non-compliance with minimum wages.

Can a change in attitudes improve effective access to administrative data for research?
Preprint / Working Paper

The re-use of administrative data for social research holds great potential. From a privacy perspective, administrative data present some additional challenges, including lack of consent, existence of matching databases, and the association with data... Read More about Can a change in attitudes improve effective access to administrative data for research?.

Issues in the measurement of low pay: Revised
Preprint / Working Paper

Output-based disclosure control for regressions
Preprint / Working Paper

What is a manufacturing job?
Preprint / Working Paper

Policy initiatives in the UK targeting manufacturing industries have for a number of years been driven by a perceived importance of this sector to the economy. In order to target such policies, it is important to establish the true size of this secto... Read More about What is a manufacturing job?.

Disclosure control of analytical outputs
Preprint / Working Paper

Statistical disclosure control in a research environment
Preprint / Working Paper

Provision of ONS data for analysis: Safe use, not safe data
Preprint / Working Paper

UK company statistics reconciliation project
Preprint / Working Paper

Sample bias in microeconometric analyses of official microdata
Preprint / Working Paper

Operationalising principles-based output statistical disclosure control
Other

This document is intended to help support staff and managers in research environments to implement principles-based output statistical disclosure control of results generated from confidential sources of data. It contains extensive discussion on the... Read More about Operationalising principles-based output statistical disclosure control.

Accessing the new earnings survey panel: Efficient techniques and applications
Thesis

The New Earnings Survey Panel Dataset is one of the largest datasets of its kind in the world.
Its size and confidentiality restrictions present considerable difficulties for analysis using
standard econometric packages.

This thesis presents... Read More about Accessing the new earnings survey panel: Efficient techniques and applications.

Lessons learned in training ‘safe users’ of confidential data
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Many statistical organisations require researchers using detailed sensitive data to undergo ‘safe researcher’ training. Such training has traditionally reflected the ‘policing’ model of data protection. This mirrors the defensive stance often adopted... Read More about Lessons learned in training ‘safe users’ of confidential data.

Disclosure risks in odds ratios and logistic regression
Presentation / Conference Contribution

When publishing statistics from confidential data, there exists a risk that the statistic might inadvertently reveal confidential information. Statistical disclosure control (SDC) aims to reduce that risk to an acceptable level. Most SDC theory is co... Read More about Disclosure risks in odds ratios and logistic regression.

Sequential mixed methods research: Non-compliance in apprentice pay with owls
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Within mixed methods literature, the relationship between qualitative and quantitative data collection is ubiquitously presented as sequential. Thus, the most followed approach is for the first stage of data collection to follow the second, or to run... Read More about Sequential mixed methods research: Non-compliance in apprentice pay with owls.

Statistical disclosure controls for machine learning models
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Artificial Intelligence (AI) models are trained on large datasets. Where the training data is sensitive, the data holders need to consider risks posed by access to the training data and risks posed by the models that are released. The first problem c... Read More about Statistical disclosure controls for machine learning models.

Working towards a greener Britain: Who, where and for whose benefit?
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Given the urgency of the transition to net-zero, there is a need for a robust evidence base to support green policy interventions. Intelligence in relation to green jobs, however, is partial and fragmented, partially due to the lack of an internation... Read More about Working towards a greener Britain: Who, where and for whose benefit?.

Safety in numbers: Minimum thresholding, Maximum bounds and Little White Lies : The case of the mean and standard deviation
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Reporting the sample mean, sample standard deviation and sample size could in some cases lead to the unique identification of the underpinning sample. The likelihood of this reveal via direct enumeration of the possible search space decreases with i... Read More about Safety in numbers: Minimum thresholding, Maximum bounds and Little White Lies : The case of the mean and standard deviation.

Risk of disclosure when reporting commonly used univariate statistics
Presentation / Conference Contribution

When basic or descriptive summary statistics are reported, it may be possible that the entire sample of observations is inadvertently disclosed, or that members within a sample will be able to work out responses of others. Three sets of univariate su... Read More about Risk of disclosure when reporting commonly used univariate statistics.

The statbarn: A new model for output statistical disclosure control
Presentation / Conference Contribution

A major success for research this century has been the growth of secure facilities allowing research access to detailed sensitive personal data. This has also raised awareness of the problem of output disclosure risk, where statistics may inadvertent... Read More about The statbarn: A new model for output statistical disclosure control.